Lamborghini
The new Lamborghini Aventador SV with its great grandfather: the revolutionary Miura.
The first ever supercar, the Lamborghini Miura, celebrated its 50th birthday this year.
When it was first introduced in 1966, the car shocked the automotive world, and not just for its striking good looks.
Underneath the beautiful, Marcello Gandini-sculpted bodywork is a design that was then completely new to road cars and one that would initiate the entire concept of the modern “supercar” — the kind of dream machines that to this day comprise the performance automobile elite.
Despite being the car that would shape his company’s entire future, founder Ferruccio Lamborghini never actually wanted to build the Miura. Alongside his successful farm tractor business, the few cars that Lamborghini had built so far were front-engined grand tourers like the ones Ferrari were selling. But three of his best engineers had a better idea.
The story goes that the engineers worked on the design at night in their own free time, hoping to first show Mr. Lamborghini that the concept was financially possible before he ever had the chance to say no.
In automotive engineering terms, the ‘P400′ concept, which would become the Miura, was a radical idea. The engine would be mounted in the middle of the car, a proven idea in racing cars but something that had never before been done in a road-going sports car. To keep things compact, the long V12 engine was positioned sideways, or transversely, and the gearbox and differential were combined into a single casing.
To be fair, both of those ideas were borrowed by a more humble car: the British-made Mini. But in the Miura, they meant the car could be shorter and therefore sportier, while putting the heavy engine in the middle provided exceptional balance.
Lamborghini brought the bare chassis and drivetrain to the Turin auto show in 1965, and though all customers had seen was the skeleton of a potential (though clearly innovative) car, orders flooded in.
The actual chassis that went to Turin — the very genesis of the supercar — was rediscovered in 2008 on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and by the last account it is undergoing restoration work in the United States. It is an essential object in the history of automobiles.
Mr. Lamborghini would name the final car the Miura, after a special type of bull bred in Spain for fighting. The car was the first Lamborghini to wear the now iconic badge, and every Lamborghini road car that followed the Miura was also named for a fighting bull.
On days like these: In 1969, the Miura made a breakout appearance driving around in the Alps during the opening sequence of the now-classic British heist film “The Italian Job.” While the car in the film suffered an abrupt rendezvous with a bulldozer, the real Miura was a revolution.
Here’s that iconic title sequence:
Nothing had ever looked like this before. Even today, to spot a Miura in out in the real world is to see a shape that exists nowhere else.
The Miura is rightfully treated as a milestone. Comedian and diehard Porsche enthusiast Jerry Seinfeld called it “the most beautiful car ever designed.” His buddy Jay Leno owns two.
So what exactly is a supercar?
Well, it has to be completely impractical, outrageously expensive, provide massive performance relative to its era, and look utterly breathtaking.
And the Miura checked off all of those boxes. It cost the equivalent of $150,000 in 1966. And that massive, 4.0 liter V12 churned out a then-impressive 350 horsepower.
Two years after the Miura began delivery in 1966, Enzo Ferrari followed suit and created his own mid-engined road car.
Though his team raced many cars with the motor in the middle, Mr. Ferrari was so skeptical of selling one to a customer that the first such vehicle he made was never actually called a ‘Ferrari.’ Instead, the company branded the new 206 and 246 under the ‘Dino’ marquee. It didn’t matter — the cars would set a sales record for Ferrari.
The 308 GTB/GTS that followed the Dino in 1975 would be branded as a proper Ferrari, and from then on his lineup would always include a mid-engined car.
Not interested in resting on their laurels, Lamborghini introduced the Countach, the Miura’s successor, in 1974. Marcello Gandini once again spurred a stylistic revolution; the Countach became the definitive car of its era.
Today, mid-engined design is considered an essential element of just about any proper ‘supercar.’ Even Porsche, who have faithfully stuck to the wacky rear-engined layout of their flagship 911 sports car since 1963, now put the engine in the middle when it’s time to make something like this Carrera GT from the early aughts …
… or the $845,000 918 Spyder from this decade.
And Ferrari? Still cranking out mid-engined monsters.
While the Lamborghini range is still topped by a V12 powered head-turner. Their current offering is called the Aventador, named — you guessed it — after a bull.
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