The Spanish bull referred to as the Miura may have first entered the pop-culture lexicon with the publication of Ernest Hemingway’s enduring 1926 classic The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway’s disaffected expatriates travel to Spain to watch the bullfights, and there they are impressed by the brutal capabilities of the Miura, a creature that is muscular, powerful, lithe and menacing.
Forty years later, Ferruccio Lamborghini introduced his automotive interpretation of the Miura, and in every way the new model lived up to the values of its namesake. Replete with all the grace and power of Pamplona’s bulls, the Miura P400 was a revolutionary sports car in every sense, from its transversely positioned mid/rear-mounted V12 engine, to the sinewy and voluptuous coachwork designed by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini.
It is believed that this Lamborghini was originally distributed to the Rome-based dealer Carpanelli for sale to an Italian client residing in Louisiana. After passing through collections in Idaho and Florida, the Miura was eventually sold in 1990 to Bill Young of Arizona, the owner of one of the most respected suppliers of parts for vintage Italian performance cars. The P400 SV was acquired in 2001 by the well-known dealer/film producer Randy Simon, and he soon commissioned a full refurbishment by the Bobileff Motorcar Company in San Diego, one of the foremost restorers of classic Lamborghinis.
The four-year restoration reportedly addressed every mechanical and cosmetic aspect of the car, including a complete rebuild of the V12 engine by Bob Wallace, the former racing driver and Lamborghini factory test driver/engineer.
Following completion of the work, the Miura was presented at several concours, winning its class at the 2005 Concorso Italiano and at the 2007 Los Angeles Concours d’Elegance, where it was also awarded Best in Show and Most Elegant. The SV was also exhibited at the 2007 Le Belle Macchine d’Italia and won another class award at the Lamborghini Club of America’s National Meet in Monterey, CA.
Sold to the current owner in January 2011, the Lamborghini was treated to a host of measures through 2013, as indicated by invoices on file, including a rebuild of the transmission, carburetors and master cylinder. The engine and carburetors were tuned, the wiring system was repaired, a Tubi-style exhaust was installed, and the air conditioning was charged. Since then, the Miura has largely remained in climate-controlled storage, although in preparation for the current offering the car underwent a fluid service in November 2022.
Beautifully finished and powerfully specified, this rare example of the last batch of a special breed exemplifies all the remarkable traits for which the Miura is so celebrated, perpetuating the model’s mythos in a fashion that even the noted sportsman Hemingway could hardly match.
