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Lamborghini Miura from The Italian Job Is Up for Grabs

Every time a petrolhead hears the lyrics to Matt Monro’s "On Days Like These," our brains are wired in such a way that we associate the song with the first sequence from a legendary movie. More specifically, that scene from The Italian Job where Beckermann drives a Lamborghini Miura through the Alps.
Lamborghini Miura from The Italian Job 9 photos
Photo: Cheshire Classic Cars
Lamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian JobLamborghini Miura from The Italian Job
Filmed over three days in 1969 on the Great St. Bernard Pass in Aosta, Italy, the opening scene from The Italian Job also features the impressive Dardanelli Viaduct. Still, its beauty pales in comparison to the jaw-dropping aesthetics of the Lamborghini Miura.

Forget that the Miura was conceived by a handful of engineers in their spare time against the wishes of Ferruccio Lamborghini. Forget that this is the first-ever road-going passenger vehicle with its engine mounted in the middle. What makes the Miura an automotive icon is its bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful body shell, penned by Marcello Gandini of Gruppo Bertone.

And without a shadow of a doubt, the most famous Miura of them all is the P400 featured in The Italian Job. A fact few petrolheads are aware of is that Roger Beckermann’s orange-painted Miura is still alive and kicking. We’re much obliged to tell you that the car tumbled down the chasm by the Mafia’s bulldozer was another Lamborghini Miura P400 that had been involved in a severe accident.

Because it wasn’t roadworthy anymore, funeral by bulldozer seemed far more appropriate than letting a scrapper destroy such an exquisite machine. The surviving P400 is chassis number 3586 in the photo gallery below. Finished in Arancio Miura with a Pelle Bianco leather interior, the almost original supercar is now offered for sale by Cheshire Classic Cars, a specialist dealership headquartered in the United Kingdom.

With 5 owners from new and 19,000 kilometers (11,806 miles) on the odometer, this Lamborghini Miura is a second series P400. What that means is that it’s got a less flexible chassis than earlier Miura models. According to Cheshire Classic Cars, the engine block of the 350 horsepower 4-liter V12 was replaced in 2011 due to a hairline crack. Also in 2011, the owner repainted the car in the same shade of Arancio Miura as the Lamborghini Miura P400 was wearing when it was completed for delivery on July 2, 1968.

There’s no official pricing on this retro Italian supercar, yet we can tell you for certain that the dealership wants more than $1.5 million (€1.41 million) for this piece of automotive (and cinema) history.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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