Lamborghini Miura 1966

The Miura’s bare chassis was shown in Turin in 1965, one year before the finished car appeared at Geneva. The design also attracted the attention of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which included the car in an automotive exhibition during the 1960s. A Miura later featured in the opening sequence of the British film “The Italian Job,” released in 1969, reinforcing its public image as one of the era’s most dramatic road cars.

Lamborghini states that 265 P400 Miuras were produced between 1966 and 1968. The P400 S followed with 338 cars built from 1969 to 1971, while the SV reached 150 examples between 1971 and 1973. Historical totals can differ depending on how transitional cars and special versions are counted, but the P400’s production remained very limited by mass-production standards. Its small output, complex mechanical layout, and Bertone bodywork helped make the early Miura an especially significant collector car. The 1966 P400 is particularly important because it represents the original production specification from which the later S and SV versions evolved.

The Miura received an exceptional response when it was shown at Geneva in 1966. Lamborghini records that orders arrived quickly, surprising both Ferruccio Lamborghini and Nuccio Bertone. The Petersen Automotive Museum describes the car as one of the earliest road-going mid-engine automobiles to achieve genuine supercar status, while Gandini’s design is widely regarded as a landmark in automotive styling. The press response was not based on speed alone. The transverse V12 layout, extremely low proportions, and Bertone bodywork gave the P400 a technical and visual unity that was unusual for a production road car at the time.