Super-rare Lamborghini finds a new home
For the 1968 Brussels Motor Show, legendary design house Bertone took the wraps off of the Lamborghini Miura Roadster. The Miura, one of the earliest exotic supercars, was first unveiled at Turin in 1965 with a body designed by Nuccio Bertone, so who better than him to chop off the roof? Like other Lambo roadsters since, the Bertone Miura was really more of a targa, only while the modern-day Murcielago Roadster's roof might be a pain and a half to put up, at least it has a roof. Bertone's Miura Roadster never had one at all.
While the design was copied by many, only one authentic example was ever produced. The roadster version of the Miura never saw production, and the prototype was sold to a metal consortium as a publicity showcase. It changed hands several times since then, at one time joining the collection at the Boston Museum of Transportation. Now it's fallen into the hands of one lucky collector by the name of Adam Gordon, who recently purchased the prototype raging bull for an undisclosed sum. The New York real estate developer is undertaking a two-year restoration project to bring it back up to original spec.
You can bet Gordon paid big for this car, hailed as the rarest Lamborghini of all time, and will have spent even more by the time the restoration is complete.
[Source: Lamborghini Cars via German Car Blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chuck goolsbee 12:01PM (2/06/2007)
Now THAT is a gorgeous car!
--chuck
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DriftPunch 12:33PM (2/06/2007)
I'm not sold on it's appearance. It looks like an amalgam of Corvettes C2-C5.
Of course, I'd still love to have it...
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Richard 12:40PM (2/06/2007)
The Miura was the original (if engine placement is the measure) and best (IMHO) looking exotic ever!
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gkz 1:14PM (2/06/2007)
i'd not seen pictures of this car before, but i'm not sold on its appearance either. personally, i think the deletion of the roof makes the back of the car look too squat and shapeless... it needs the roofline to maintain the flowing, graceful nature of the design.
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Richard 1:13PM (2/06/2007)
DriftPunch, how can you say a car looks like another one that was made some thirty years later? The inverse may be true though.
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Dolan Halbrook 2:09PM (2/06/2007)
The Muira has always been gorgeous, topless or not. I'd say easily one of the ten most beautiful cars every created.
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DriftPunch 2:24PM (2/06/2007)
I didn't say that it was a rip off, just that there is a resemblence. It has a C3 nose, C2 rear window, and C5 tail. IF you were told to combine those features, whatever you came up with would likely not be far away from this car.
IMO, of all the Italian exotics through the years, this one would probably rate among the lowest in terms of beauty.
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CJ 4:30PM (2/06/2007)
Funny reading this blog. Posters like DriftPunch and so many others, just here to 'hear' themselves blab on about things they know nothing about. Somebody who knows the codes for a Corvette, yet has no idea that this is 'the' car that started the modern age of super exotics, way back in '65....there is a reason why you see elements of its design in cars bulit many years later.
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John from Chicago 1:15AM (2/07/2007)
CJ,
I can understand where DrfitPunch is coming from. The first thing I thought of was the Mako Shark II concept car that was envisioned in 1963 after the release of the Stingray and introduced to the public in April 1965 at the New York International Auto Show.
I don't think anyone is interested in a pissing contest, as the Miura is truly spectacular. But there is no denying that there are similarities between the two cars.
Here's a link.
http://www.corvettelegends.com/mako.htm
John
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DriftPunch 6:29PM (2/06/2007)
Yes, and after GM invented the time machine they went back from '65 and put the second generation corvette into production for '63 with some of the 'exotic' features they saw in the future.
Please accept my humble apology for crossing your personal vision of the world. I will no longer tread upon your internet...
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charmingDeviant 11:30PM (2/06/2007)
It is worth noting that while Nuccio Bertone was head of the coachbuilder at the time, it was actually Marcello Gandini that penned the Muira (as well as just about every other vintage Lamborghini of note).
I'll refrain from bashing DriftPunch, as you others have, but will say that creased rolling fenderlines and "coke bottle" shapes were shared by numerous cars of the vintage (from vette's to italian exotics) just as the doorstop or "wedge" shape permeated the late 70's & early 80's. That however, is where the similarities end.
The sheer width and length of a muira, as well as the low sill and convex windsheild, convey a totally different impression than any mid 60's vette. I once had the pleasure of photographing and closely examining a beautifully restored black one at the Brian Redman Classic (in Elkart Lake, WI at Road America) and can say that a Muira is a mindblowing thing to behold in the flesh. There's nothing quite like it.
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