The Original Supercar Pinup:

Unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Salon de l’Automobile, only three years after Ferruccio established his company in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the Lamborghini Miura P400 was the uncontested star, stealing the complete attention of photographers, enthusiasts and onlookers. Everyone was amazed at the mind-engined masterpiece presented by Lamborghini. This was Lamborghinis third production car after the 350GT and 400GT and its first mid-engined car, but this was the car which revolutionised the design of sports cars, being widely accepted as the world’s first supercar.

Lamborghini’s top three engineers, Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace dedicated their own time to developing a prototype car, known as the P400, which they unveiled to Ferruccio Lamborghini. The team were successful in winning the approval of Lamborghini, who quickly placed Bertone in charge of styling the prototype. The prototype was finished only days prior to its unveiling at the 1966 Geneva Salon with none of the engineers finding time to confirm the engine would fit its compartment. To save any potential embarrassment, it was decided the engine would not be fitted to the prototype, instead filling the engine bay with ballast and keeping the hood locked for the duration of the show.

After the positive reaction to the unveiling, the P400, for Posteriore 4 litri, was put into production the following year. Its sensational design was powered by a developed version of the 3.9 litre V12 engine used in the 400 GT series at the time. The engine was mounted transversely, producing 350 BHP, mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox and given a price tag of $20,000 with a top speed of 163 mph!

The first 125 Miura’s were built using 0.9 mm steel and are therefore lighter than the later cars, with all cars receiving steel frames and doors with aluminium front and rear skinned body sections. Another desirable feature of the P400 is that they have the purest and cleanest interior of all Miuras, with the two large dials directly in front of the driver behind the large diameter, three spoked steering wheel and toggle switches in the roof. The door cards, with the diagonal stitching pattern are also a great feature of the early P400’s.

This Lamborghini Miura P400:

The purest of all Miura design is the earliest, the P400, of which only 275 were built. The car we are offering here is one such car, being completed on 28^th December 1967 and delivered new to concessionaire Moscini in Italy.

As can be seen from copies of the original Lamborghini and Bertone registers from 1967, this Miura was delivered new in Rosso with a Nero interior. Interestingly, this car was delivered new to Italian Concessionaire, Moscini, although in these registers, ‘USA’ is noted. It is understood that this car was delivered new to the USA through Moscini.

Contained within the cars history file is a copy of the 1981 USA title, at which point it was registered to Andrea Geralt, a resident in Birmingham, Michigan who retained ownership until February 1990 when it was bought by Michael Faraut. A resident in Marseille, France, Faraut returned the Miura to Europe, with the cars history file containing a copy of the transportation invoice from New York to Europe aboard the Theresa Del Mar. In 1992, Faraut commissioned a full restoration by Lamborghini specialists, Ciclet Automobiles in Bagneux, France. Copies of the invoices for this restoration are contained within the cars accompanying history file with the total costs in excess of 240,000 French Francs and the mileage at this time noted as 35,235 kms.

Faraut maintained ownership until 1996 when he sold the car to Domenico Zappacosta, a resident in Nereto, Italy who registered the car with Italian license ‘ZA805GY’. In June 1996, Zappacosta returned 3300 to its birthplace, the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese where it was serviced with the invoice totalling over 15,000,000 Italian Lire. Then, in December 1997, this car again returned to Sant’Agata for another service with Lamborghini also replacing the clutch and fuel filter, whilst also cleaning the carburettors, this time the invoice totalled 3,696,192 Italian Lire, clearly Zappacosta was keen to maintain this car in the best way possible.

 In 2004, Zappacosta allowed for his Miura to be featured in Classic Cars magazine, where it also appeared on the cover. Rory James Wordsworth-Sweet was the next owner, in July 2005, arranging for the car to undergo a mechanical inspection in May 2008. Later the same year 3300 was displayed by request at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Concours d’Elegance before again being featured in Classic Cars magazine, again appearing on the cover.

3300 was next sold to Mr Rory James Wordsworth-Sweet, Malmesbury, UK, in July 2005. Wordsworth-Sweet registered the car in the UK with license number ’PWP 220E’ having passed it UK MOT on 17^th August 2005. In March 2009, 3300 was sold to Mr Taalib Shaah of Esher, UK, who is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector. Taalib quickly sent the car to Lamborghini Service Wycombe with the mileage noted as 42,172 kms at the time. In 2011, this car was purchased by its current, German-based custodian, who added the car to his growing collection.

Later, in May 2013, this car was sent to Cuntz Autotechnik in Nurnburg, Germany. The engine was removed, fully disassembled, inspected and rebuilt with many new components being fitted. With the engine being disassembled, the owner chose to also replace a large number of the internal components for the gearbox too, ensuring the engine and gearbox unit were rebuilt to the best possible standard. The invoice for this work totalled over €109,000 with the mileage at the time noted as 42,601. Today, the car is displaying 42,900 miles, only 300 miles since a complete engine rebuild!

After 100 kms, the car returned to Cuntz Autotechnik in June 2013 where it was checked over, with the clutch master cylinder also being replaced. Several new water pipes and fittings were also fitted along with various ancillary seals etc. The invoice for these works totalled over €14,000.

Having covered only 300 miles since a full engine and gearbox rebuild, and being presented in its original colour combination, this Miura offers the next owner a special opportunity to hit the road in the original supercar!

Price Upon Request