Miles Davis was pioneering in his music. His playing was innovative and ever changing, always on the cutting edge of the jazz world. It ranged from bebop to modal soloing to psychedelic electric music incorporating funk influences, and of course Davis was a key figure in the development of cool jazz.
And Miles knew that a cool player needed a cool car. Actually, his success in the music business allowed him to amass quite the collection of cool cars, including a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL and a couple of Ferraris. Perhaps the greatest prize of his collection, though, was his Lamborghini Miura.
The Miura is an iconic car, a perfect fit for a musician like Miles Davis. The famous picture of the trumpet player sitting on the long, flowing fender with the car's "eyelash" headlights front and center is emblematic of the era, encapsulating everything cool about the man and his machine. While the car met an unfortunate end, Davis made the most of his time with it, tearing down the road with fellow musicians as wide eyed passengers.
Here's a look at the jazz trumpet great's Italian supercar and its untimely demise.
A Raging Bull
As is fitting for such a revolutionary musician, the Miura was a groundbreaking car. Its ultra modern styling was aggressive and eye catching. The supercar was the first to feature the mid-engine layout that has gone on to become the standard for the type, having been adopted by Ferrari, McLaren, and others.
The layout wasn't the only impressive thing about the Miura's engine. The high revving 4 liter V12 churned out a whopping 385 horsepower. With a top speed of 174 mph, the Miura was one of the fastest cars of the era and the fastest production car in the world when it debuted in 1966. According to Lamborghini, the striking supercar could also accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 6.7 seconds.
All of this combined with the low weight, low slung, well handling platform of the Miura amounted to an astonishingly high performing sports car. In fact, many have said that the Miura was the first automobile to break out of the sports car category and warrant the title of supercar, finally providing race car performance and technology, which other auto makers had thought would be much for a consumer to handle and would hamper sales, in a road car.
Kind Of Green
Miles Davis certainly seemed to enjoy the racing performance of his Miura, though. He delighted not only in the car's wild looks and the air of prestige that accompanies supercar ownership but also in driving his Lamborghini at its limit. Stories abound of him taking fellow musicians for a ride around the city at blistering speeds. Famous passengers included, for example, Jimi Hendrix (who, according to recording engineer and friend Eddie Kramer, was a bit of a wild man behind the wheel as well).
One day, the musician Davis offered a ride to was bandmate Herbie Hancock. In a clip from Jay Leno's Garage, the famous jazz piano great tells the story of what happened next.
The offer came after Hancock and Davis had played a show together. Davis offered his pianist a ride home as a friendly gesture, but his jealous side soon reared its head. Hancock explained that he wouldn't need a ride as he had driven his own car, a new Shelby Cobra, to the gig. Upon seeing the new sports car for the first time, the trumpeter dismissively quipped, "Cute."
The two pulled up side by side to a traffic light and took off in a drag race when it turned green. According to Herbie Hancock, he reached the next light with enough time to light a cigarette before Davis pulled up alongside him. After inquiring about the little car that had beaten him, Davis told Hancock to get rid of it. When asked why, he simply croaked, "It's dangerous." As much as he enjoyed impressing others with the speed of his Miura, it seems that Davis didn't enjoy being on the receiving end of such a display quite so much.
An Unfortunate End
It turns out that the Miura was dangerous, too. Of course, Davis's alleged habit of carrying a .357 Magnum and what James Glickenhaus described on Jalopnik and Road & Track as "two large plastic bags filled with white powder" probably didn't make it safer. Glickenhaus had the chance to witness (and dispose of) the bags when he saw Davis's Miura make a turn at around 60 mph across three lanes of traffic and into an exit ramp, totaling the car and breaking both of his ankles.
Apparently, the crash didn't turn Davis off of Miuras. Glickenhaus reports that the first thing the jazz player did when he rushed to help him was ask if his car was ok, and it wasn't long before he ordered a replacement for the one he wrecked.