1971 Lamborghini Miura SV. Photos courtesy RM Sotheby’s.
In 1971, Lamborghini wrote the final chapter on its Miura supercar with the introduction of the Miura SV. More powerful and blessed with even more capable handling than the Miura S it replaced, the Miura SV would be recognized as a milestone achievement in Lamborghini’s history. Last Saturday at RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island sale, a 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV, documented as both the car used for EPA certification and as the first example sold in the United States, sold for fee-inclusive price of $2,310,000, easily making the auction’s top-10.
Chassis 4884 was officially a prototype, used for publicity and photographed for the cover Lamborghini Miura SV brochure. Its arrival in the United States was originally scheduled for the 1971 New York Auto Show, but development delays pushed its introduction back to that year’s Boston Auto Show. Fitted with a sperimentale engine, chassis 4884 was also sent to the EPA for type certification testing; despite revisions in tuning and the addition of an air pump, which reportedly robbed a few ponies from its rated 385-horsepower, the 3.9-liter V-12 barely met federal emission requirements.
In addition to the 15-horsepower bump from Miura S specifications, Miura SV models also received a wider rear track (60.67 inches on the SV, versus 55.6 inches on the Miura S) and with it, wider rear wheels, wider rear tires and wider rear bodywork. Cosmetically, the SV models also lost their “eyelashes,” black fins above and below the headlamps found on earlier variants. Instead, Miura SV headlamps were surrounded by smooth, blacked-out panels.
Following its EPA testing, chassis 4884 became the first Miura SV sold in the United States. The car’s original owner, Jack Robinson of Goddard, Kansas, was said to be fond of testing the car’s top speed on the state’s flat and straight interstate highways, much to the dismay of the local highway patrol detachment.
In 1977, the car was sold to its second owner, Dr. Alan Brown of Savannah, Georgia, who certified the car’s early history with Lamborghini. Dr. Brown kept it entirely original under his care (down to its Pirelli tires), and retained possession of the car up until his death in 2005. At his widow’s insistence, the car was then sold to noted Miura expert Joe Sackey.
Sackey commissioned a restoration in the car’s original livery with Bobileff Motorcar Company in San Diego, California, and its public debut was the 2006 Concorso Italiano, where the Lamborghini captured first-in-class honors. Used for the cover shot of Sackey’s 2008 The Lamborghini Miura Bible, chassis 4884 may well be the best-known of the 21 examples ultimately built for the U.S. market.
1955 Jaguar D-type. Photo by Patrick Ernzen, courtesy RM Sotheby’s.
Other cars cracking the top-10 at Amelia Island included a 1960 Ferrari 400 Superamerica SWB Cabriolet, which sold for $6,380,000; a 1955 Jaguar D-type, the reunited chassis XKD 530, which sold for $3,675,000; a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, which sold for $3,300,000; a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500/540 K Cabriolet A, which sold for $3,025,000; a 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider, which sold for $2,420,000; a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Cabriolet, which sold for $2,337,500; a 1988 Jaguar XJR-9, which sold for $2,145,000; a 1967 Shelby 427 ‘Semi-Competition’ Cobra, which sold for $2,117,500; and a 1953 Ferrari 212 Europa Coupe, which sold for $1,550,000.
For complete results from RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island sale, visit RMAuctions.com.
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