Two pairs of 20-year olds In the 60s were responsible for the debut of the first supercar. Inspired by Ford’s GT40, the Lamborghini Miura’s engineering was for racing but developed solely for the street. Jason Cammisa of Hagerty tells the story of how the Miura (Spanish fighting bull) changed the trajectory of supercars forever.
In the 60s, there was a fierce battle between Ford and Ferrari. Lamborghini knew well not to get involved but instead work on its own GT project. The Miura contradicted everything Lamborghini stood for.
At this point, Lamborghini was not a company formed to build sports cars but a manufacturer that wanted to make an Italian equivalent of Rolls-Royce. Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted to make the best GTs - fast, comfortable, reliable, and free of annoyances.
Ferruccio had an edge. Unlike Ferrari, which used old racing parts, Lamborghini used only cutting-edge technology. They used fully independent suspension instead of live axles, and a dual overhead camshaft instead of a single one.
To develop its first V12, Lamborghini hired an ex-Ferrari engineer. They paid the young Giotto Bizzarrini a bonus for every horsepower his engine made more than the Ferrari. The result was a 3.5-liter quad-cam V12 that made 358 HP and reached 9,800 RPM.
But Ferruccio had a problem. He wanted a GT car, not a Formula 1 racer, and consequently fired Bizzarrini, leaving the young Dallara and Stanzani in charge of re-engineering the V12 engine.
After the 350 GT and 400 GT debut, two more youngsters joined the group; Bob Wallace and Marcello Gandini. Inspired by the Ford GT, they started what would be the Miura.
But there was a problem, the Lamborghini V12 is enormous, and there was no way it could fit in a small car. After some research, they borrowed and idea from the Mini, creating a transverse V12 and a 5-speed gearbox in an unbelievably complicated casting.
The result was a rolling chassis, which was nothing Ferruccio Lamborghini wanted, but it sold almost as much as his GT cars had sold the entire previous year. This is where Marcello Gandini came in. He designed the Lamborghini P400 Miura in two days.
At the Geneva Motor Show, 30 people made orders at the spot, and by the end of the year, more than 75 people had made deposits on the Miura. With 78 staff, they took the idea of a mid-engine supercar into production in two years, giving rise to the Lamborghini Miura.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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