Sale
16248 - Sports, Competition and Collectors’ Motor Cars, F1 Memorabilia, Automobilia and Models, 11 Jul 2008
Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chichester, Sussex
Lot No: 577
From the James Moores Collection, the ex-Piet Pulford/Charlie Chong
1970 Lamborghini Miura P400S Series II Berlinetta
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Bertone
Registration no. ANM 90H
Chassis no. 4659
Engine no. 30503
Sold for £243,500 inclusive of Buyer's Premium
Footnote:
‘But step back for a minute and work out what makes the Miura so special. In 1966 there was nothing like it. Only racing cars and the obscure little French Bonnet/ Matra Djet had mid-mounted engines. Ferrari’s road-going mainstay was the traditional front-engined 275GTB. So when tractor magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini stole the attention of the Geneva Salon crowd with the Miura, people were shocked as much by its audacious mechanical layout as they were by its era-defining and stunningly gorgeous styling.’ – Classic Cars, July 2004.
Ferruccio Lamborghini’s bold challenge to Ferrari had begun in 1964 with the 350GT, but it was the arrival of the Miura - arguably the founder of the supercar class - that established Lamborghini as a major manufacturer of luxury sporting cars. Prior to the model’s official debut at the 1966 Geneva Salon, Lamborghini cars were respected for their impressive mechanical specifications but they somehow lacked a distinctive persona. All this changed with the arrival of the Miura, named after Don Eduardo Miura, a famous breeder of fighting bulls. The Miura project first surfaced as a rolling chassis displayed at the 1965 Turin Motor Show, but was not expected to become a production reality. Nevertheless, by the time of the Geneva Salon the following year, the first completed car was ready for unveiling to an awe-struck press and public.
The car’s technical specification was breathtaking in its sophistication and complexity. Designed by Giampaolo Dallara, the Miura carried its transversely mounted engine amidships in a box-section platform chassis, the latter clothed in stunning coupé coachwork styled by Bertone's Marcello Gandini. Like the contemporary 400GT, the Miura used the 4.0-litre version of Lamborghini's Giotto Bizzarrini-designed four-cam V12. With 350bhp available, the Miura was capable of shattering performance, a top speed of 180mph being claimed. Production examples were independently tested at more than 170, confirming that the Miura was the world’s fastest production car.
Initial Miura development concentrated on chassis strengthening, these and other improvements being consolidated in the S version introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1968. Produced from January 1969, the Miura S featured a more-powerful (370bhp) engine, and was outwardly distinguishable from the preceding model by its slightly wider tyres and polished chrome windscreen and window surrounds. Other developments included a quieter transmission, electric windows, better quality interior fittings, leather trim and a modified exhaust system that left room for a larger luggage compartment. Later, so-called series II examples benefited from ventilated brake discs that markedly reduced fade. The Miura S was superseded by the SV version in April 1971, which in turn lasted until January 1973 when the last Miura rolled off the line.
Offered from the James Moores Collection, this gorgeous Miura S previously belonged to popular and well known British Miura guru Piet Pulford. A rare right-hand drive model, chassis number ‘4659’ was supplied new by Lamborghini to their UK distributors, Lamborghini Concessionaires (Sales) Ltd, trading as Italian Car Centre of Alie Street, London for Lire 7,111,125 on 9th April 1970 (a copy of this original invoice is on file). Reputedly the first right-hand drive P400S supplied to the UK, and according to factory internal records in the hands of Simon Kidston the 500th Miura and first car fitted with ventilated discs, '4659' was supplied by Bertone painted Verde Miura with black leather seats featuring black cloth inserts.
One month later Italian Car Centre sold it to Tengku Arif Bendara, of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That invoice, dated 22nd May 1970, is also on file, recording that the car was finished in Lime Green with black leather interior, the latter equipped with Voxson stereo radio/cassette and seat belt. The invoice total was £6,710.
Further documentation on file records that the Miura was imported to the UK from Malaysia in February 1986 by ex-racer David Salamone, who had supplied the cars and driven one of the Minis in the filmThe Italian Job. He had acquired the Miura from a Malaysian gambling friend, the colourfully named Charlie Chong, who had bought it from Prince Tengku Arif Bandara, of Kuala Lumpur, its original owner.
Mr Salamone sold the car to Terry Townsend, who owned it only briefly and never registered himself as keeper. Piet Pulford bought the Miura from Terry Townsend in October 1986, driving it enthusiastically for the next 12 years before selling it to James Moores in August 1998.
The two aforementioned invoices form part of a nicely presented large-format file that contains past MoTs and tax discs; invoices addressed to Piet Pulford from specialists such as Vale Cottage Motors, Racing Heritage Ltd, Portman Lamborghini and Colin Clarke Engineering covering the period 1987 to 1998. Work carried out in the present ownership includes: complete engine rebuild with valve seats re cut, new bearing and gaskets, new clutch, distributors and carbs rebuilt and gearbox fully inspected. A new exhaust system was fabricated (costing £5,000).
The body has had a total restoration to include new floors, bulkheads and doors (hand made as there are no originals available), plus sills (inner and outer), and a full bare metal respray inside and out. All the suspension was rebuilt with polyurethane bushes and new fully adjustable bespoke dampers; the braking system was also rebuilt including race spec brake lines and new master cylinders. The electrical system was ‘gone through’ with a new starter motor and upgraded alternator. Finally, the cabin trim was given attention with new carpets, headlining, recovered seats and steering wheel, and the magnesium wheels refinished in the original silver.
Chassis number ‘4659’ still retains its original engine (‘30503’) and is offered with current MoT and Swansea V5. The odometer currently reads 46,800 miles while past MoTs dated 1985, 1987 and 1989 record the total at those dates as 25,176, 25,374 and 28,761 miles respectively.
Another matching large-format file contains road tests of this actual car, which has featured in Autocar & Motor (26th April 1989); Supercar Classics (Japanese edition); Car supplement (June 1997); and Super Classics (Autumn 1995).
Finished in simply the best colour scheme of Lime Green with black interior, this superb Miura does enormous credit to the Lamborghini marque as a whole and its condition, quality and performance must be seen and experienced to be adequately appreciated. With little doubt one of the finest Miuras available.
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