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Speaking of prototypes, factory rebuilds and the like...Was it ever determined what s/n the Colani LeMans Miura chassis bits came from?
Although I've sen the remains in person I failed to look for a chassis number at the time. |
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Post # 10473....The car to the very left under plastic appears to be a DeTomaso Pantera....Mark
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It seems almost impossible to establish with certainty how a car rolled out of Sant'Agata unless you can uncover period pictures - and they'd probably be black & white.
For example, 3216 (aka "The Miura that time forgot") is listed simply as Rosso/Nero in the registry. Yet, the car today - a remarkable time capsule - reveals itself with cloth seats that are definitely not nero, grey dash leather and black carpeting. : ) 3598 is listed as Bleu Miura / skay senape (mustard vinyl) and the interior while mostly mustard has a brown leather dash. I am sure I could probably find example after example of similar circumstances. Then again, it is precisely this sort of thing that intriques me so much. p.s. My wife and I are contemplating the purchase of a BMW and if you order from the factory BMW will provide you with a movie of your car being made or at least condensed "highlight reel" of its production. How wonderful that would have been back in those days! |
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Here is what I have found for interior notations on the factory production register: - Nero (black) covers anything from that charcoal-gray vinyl to black leather. In the case of 3216, you can see the charcoal vinyl, but the cloth seats were not mentioned as they were done to special order. The man who ordered it, Nick B (who still owns it) had to order it through an Italian dealer even though he was standing there in the factory ordering the car face-to-face with the Sales Manager! Maybe something to do with Sales Quotas to favored dealers. He has all the paperwork and it is all with the car. Go figure. - Senape (mustard) interiors often had a brown dash/console because Senape was too light and caused glass reflection so that's the obvious logic there. Nero, Senape, Rosso, when it comes to Lamborghini of the period, color names were all loosely-descriptive assignations! |
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I can verify that you are someone who is an enthusiast who simply follows the trail. I think in this instance, I followed the trail a bit further. But as is often the case, one must leave room for received wisdom. We have done this with the book and are able to make amendments (as we have already done in the 2nd edition). I should point out that my quest on this topic began 8 years ago, but it wasn't about 0961 at all, it was about my own Miura SV 5038! You can see that below, and the desire to establish what the Don Miura connection was with Lamborghini. These were my first steps at dong some corroborating myself. You kindly directed me to Ben Heiderich and I called him the same day! We spoke for about an hour and I took notes. We spoke 2-3 more times also. I had been told by a Lamborghini Club President and a Miura owner both of whom knew Ferruccio that Eduardo Miura and Ferruccio were friends and that he compensated Eduardo Miura for the use of his name and symbol of the marque with not just one car, but, several cars. Later, I read an Automobiles Classiques article in which Ferruccio affirmed that he was friends with Eduardo Miura even before he started the Lamborghini car factory. |
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I called Ben Heiderich on the 13th of April 205. We had a nice but short conversation as he was out the door. He requested I call back a few days later for a lengthier conversation. As he did not use e-mail, I sent him a fax (below) to memorialize our brief conversation and ask a few questions in readiness for our next talk. Highlighted in red are salient points to remind myself to bring up in conversation.
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Because I was already prepping chapters for the book by then, I wrote up a Bio on Ben Heiderich and added some of our first conversation. You can see my focus was on 5038.
Her I must point out to Antonio: "No mention of Eduardo Miura" is quite different from actually posing the question and receiving an answer. I specifically asked the question and he clearly stated YES, Eduardo Miura had several Lamborghinis given to him by Ferruccio, including a silver early Miura (perhaps not 0961?), and the lime green Barcelona show car (5038). Ben stated that he was instructed by Ferruccio to make that car available to Don Miura at cost. Miura never took the car for whatever reason. My thought process has always been, what would Ben have to gain or lose in corroborating (not proving, just corroborating) Eduardo Miura's Lamborghini ownership? Also, we spoke Porsches and I found Ben Heiderich to be of typical Germanic efficiency and everything he told me about Porsche which I ran by my friend Jurgen Barth at Porsche Ag absolutely checked out to the letter. So I have always felt I should believe him. In recent years I have heard Eduardo Miura's son say 2 things: - That the use of the Miura name was never authorized. I believe this is true. All the more reason why Ferruccio would compensate him with a nice car or two. - That his dad never owned a Miura or was never offered one. We all know the stories of men from that era who kept their automotive mistresses in big cities for periodical visits away from home. The 365 GTB/4 owner in England comes to mind. So too, many aristocrats of the era made sure their names were nowhere near the car's title or registration documents. So, his son's comments don't convince me he never owned a Lamborghini, in the face of a (reliable) insider who knew both Eduardo Miura & Ferruccio quite well who says that he did. A factory worker the assistant to the Sales Manger for the Miura period who I contacted also say Don Miura got Lamborghinis including a Miura, although they cant specify which ones. Last edited by joe sackey; 07-18-2012 at 08:13 PM. |
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On another subject, these are the raw notes given to me by Karl Ludvigsen that resulted in some of the material on pages 49 & 50 of the Miura book!
http://joesackey.com/the-lamborghini-miura-bible/ |
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FAQ
2 questions I get asked regularly about the book http://joesackey.com/the-lamborghini-miura-bible/ are:
- Did you choose this title? Answer: Absolutely not!! In fact I resisted it fiercely, but those of you who have ever published a book will know that it is purely a commercial endeavor to the publisher and they call most shots once the manuscript & material are delivered. - Is this most/all the material you have gathered on Miuras? Answer: Not even 1/10th!! Almost half of the material is cut out of publication for logistical reasons, and the material presented was limited to a set guideline so I had to choose what I thought would appeal the most. Of course, other books will be written with different viewpoints about certain things, and that is ok, life goes on . Actually, the book has been out for 4 years and I'm surprised there have not been 2 or 3 others, but that just underscores how much effort goes into writing & publishing a book! Definitely a labor of love.
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In Roger Lewis' book "The Life & Death of Peter Sellers" he says: "........in part exchange for a red Lamborghini Miura....." clearly suggesting that Sellers owned a red Miura. What his sources or evidence for this is, I don't know, and hat is the first time in almost 30 years of following these cars that I have heard anybody suggest that Sellers owned a Miura. But, it stands to reason because he was a know car-guy. His ownership of his Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was more widely reported and many images exist of him with that car. |
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No, the number plates are not clear. The first car appears to be black with number plate to the left of the front and in small letters, possibly Italian plate? and I think ends in E or EE. The car has the chrome surround to the front and the badge behind the door looks to be a small one (not the "b" Bertone badge. The second car is red with central number plate in normal UK size letters that could be E735 or E736 but it really isn't clear. "b" bertone badge to side and no chrome surround to the front. Both cars are also LHD.
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Apologies for the brief excursion off-topic, but, another of Sellers & 275. Somewhere there are images of him collecting a Ferrari at the factory.
Given the LHD red Miura, I have no idea if he collected his Miura (assuming the red car was in fact his!) at the Lamborghini factory or if he ever went to Sant Agata. |
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