Lamborghini Miura: Mini Cooper's 2nd Cousin, Twice Removed

Hearing that the cars pictured above and below were inspired by the  British Motor Company's stubby, breadbox-shaped Austin / Morris Mini twins from 1959 will likely strike the reader as implausible, somewhat like the story that Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel (in Tokyo, of all places) was inspired by Mayan architecture.  But both stories happen to be true; we'll maybe get around to that hotel project in a future essay...

Right now, we're going to take a brief tour of Dennis Varni's Lamborghini P400S (the red car below), a Miura which he's had for many years...

The car's creation saga has been told before; here's the quick outline.  Lamborghini had only been building cars for about 2 years when chief engineer Gian Paolo Dallara began thinking about a car that would attract more attention than the company's first automotive product (unless you count farm tractors), a svelte but fairly conservative (by Italian standards) front-engined coupe called the 350GT. The company was also seeking something that would generate real profits, as it had spent plenty on tooling for the Bizzarrini-designed V12 that powered that car. The idea of a higher-volume sports car had some appeal (remember, this was a tractor company) and apparently the project team approached BMC about using the engine and transaxle unit of their transverse-engined, front-drive Mini Cooper, but located behind the driver, for what would have been the first widely-available mid-engined car. Rebuffed in their search for cheap, off-the-shelf power, Dallara took the Lambo GT's aluminum V12, now in 4 liter size, turned it sideways like the Mini engine, and sketched out a sheet-steel semi-monocoque chassis around it, leaving just enough space for the power unit, driver and passenger.  Well, maybe not quite enough; one feature common to the P400 and the BMC Mini was that the engine shared its oil with the transmission to save space. And when Marcello Gandini's body design for the new P400 was first shown on the Bertone stand at the 1966 Geneva show, the engine lid was locked and the space was filled with ballast, as the crew had been unable to shoehorn the power unit into the space. It might have lacked its engine, but the car had acquired the name Miura, after a famed breeder of fighting bulls...

Even with the engine lid locked, the car attracted the desired amount of attention, and generated scores of orders. The young engineering team (Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and test driver Bob Wallace were all in their late 20s) set to work refining the prototype and getting the car ready for production. 275 of the original P400 model (2,850 lb., about 345 hp) were sold between 1966 and '69, at around $20,000 apiece.  The first major revision began production in December 1968 and this is the P400S, of which Dennis Varni's car is an example.  Intake manifold revisions raised horsepower to 365, the interior gained power windows and an overhead console, a locking glovebox as well as more luggage space, and single release levers for the one-piece alloy front fender section and rear engine lid including fenders which pivot up for easy access to the mechanicals.  Doors, roof and rocker panels are steel, as on the original car.  Just under 340 of the Miura S were built. 

In 1971 the Miura SV was released, with revised cam timing and carburetors allowing 380 hp, and wider rear wheels to get the power to the ground.  Outward signs of the new model were the recontoured rear fenders, deletion of the metal "eyelash" grilles around the recessed, pop-up headlights, and new tail light units.  But the most significant mechanical revision affected only the last 96 examples of the 150 SVs built; this is the split sump which separates the gearbox lubrication from the engine sump, permitting the oil in each to be specific to use.  Like many Miuras, the Varni 400S has had this modification, because it avoids the potential expensive rebuilds sometimes caused by the shared oil system.  In addition, Varni's red car has a front spoiler to avoid lift at high speeds, and he has had the rocker panels below the doors (usually painted silver at the factory) painted red to emphasize unity of form.  Lamborghini badges from horn buttons have been affixed to the triple-eared knock off hubs to personalize the car, because Varni is more concerned with having a car which pleases his driving sense and visual sense than pleasing concours judges.  

Photo credits:
Top, 2nd & 3rd from top:  the author

4th from top:  George Havelka

5th:  the author

Bottom:  lambocars.com