Without the Lamborghini Miura, there would be no supercars. It was the first — a car penned in the 1960s that would capture generations to come and breed a new class of automobile. It is the grandfather to all that have since come. It is, for many, genesis.
The Miura took the world by storm. It was lower than anything that had ever come before it. It was powerful too, featuring a naturally aspirated V-12 engine behind the driver’s ear, something that would become a tradition for the company. But most of all, it was different. Far more wild than anything on the market. It would lead Lamborghini into the business of not just making cars, but making cars meant for bedroom wall posters.
According to Lamborghini, only 763 Miuras ever left the company’s Sant’Agata factory. Of those 763 supercars, just one Miura SVR was built, and the Miura SVR only came about due to a loss.
Lamborghini was building a Miura Jota, a racier evolution of the standard car developed by then test driver Bob Wallace. However, during an outing of the original Jota, it was lost to the world via an accident. After a number of years, customers began demanding Lamborghini build something similar to that original Jota for consumption. What they came up with was the Miura SVJ, a hardcore model ready for more punishing pursuits.
It, however, wasn’t enough, and Lamborghini decided to build the wildest Miura ever: the Miura SVR.
Built atop Miura chassis number 3781, the car was originally a Miura S and displayed at the 1968 Turin Motor Show. But after changing owners eight times, it was bought by Heinz Staber in 1974 who then brought it back to Lamborghini, which led to its SVR evolution. It took 18 months. During that time, the V-12 was upgraded to produce 418 horsepower. The car was given extensive aerodynamic changes and went on a massive weight reduction — nearly 800 pounds were shaved. It was given Girling disk brakes that were found on the Porsche 917 and repainted from the original Verde Miura to the Rosso Speciale you see today.
Years later, the only Miura SVR recently went through a rigorous restoration at Polo Storico, Lamborghini’s in-house restoration department. Paolo Gabrielli, director of Polo Storico, said this after the restoration was complete:
“The full restoration took 19 months and required a different approach to the way we normally work. The original production sheet wasn’t of much help, as we relied mostly on the specifications from the 1974 modifications. The challenge for the Polo Storico team was even more daunting as the car arrived in Sant’Agata in pieces, although the parts were all there, and with considerable modifications. The only variations on the original specifications were the addition of four-point safety belts, more supportive seats and a removable roll bar. These were expressly requested by the customer and are intended to improve safety during the car’s racetrack exhibitions.”
The car recently re-debuted at a special event in Japan’s Nakayama Circuit and will likely be shown off around the world in both static and dynamic fashion. Though not expressly stated, the value of this one-of-a-kind Lamborghini is likely staggering — standard Miuras sell for around $1 million each. But with this kind of restoration, history, and story behind the car’s creation, it’s likely to fetch, if ever sold, a truly Lamborghini lunacy-esque price.
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