Lamborghini has always been a rebel but Miura took it to another level, something that was unimaginable before. It is widely considered to be the true ancestor of the modern supercar. Almost everyone knows how Lamborghini as a brand came into existence. For the uninitiated, when its founder Ferruccio Lamborghini stumbled upon a few issues with his Ferrari, he approached directly Enzo Ferrari who of course didn’t take the criticism well. Enzo reportedly mocked him saying what a tractor manufacturer knew about cars and out of spite, Ferruccio founded the universally loved Lamborghini. Fun fact: his tractor company is still in business and going strong. Coming back to the model in question now, Miura was launched just three years after the brand was founded and it showed the world what a company driven by passion could do, regardless of experience.
Back in the 60s, Lamborghini had produced some really good cars which were received well too but they were not extraordinary. Miura was born in an attempt to create something fresh, something out of the ordinary. Its idea was conceived and developed by the young engineering team at the company in their spare time and the car did exceed their expectations. The model is believed to be the first true influencer of the auto world. Miura made an impromptu appearance in 1966, at the Geneva Motor Show just three years after the brand was born and stunned the audience. It was launched in the market in 1966 and soon after every other company followed suit, launching their own versions of the mid-engine cars.
It’s not like Lambo Miura was a completely new concept because carmakers had been building mid-engined cars since the 1930s but those were purely racing cars. Miura was different. She was built for the streets. She was a wild fantasy of hitting the roads in a supercar come true. Miura did not just look stunning it drove well too. She was the fastest production car in the world the year she was released. CNN calls it the first supercar of the world.
Lamborghini has always been a rebel, but Miura is where the bull got its horns. Lamborghini Miura was the first production sports car that featured a mid-engine.
Miura played a crucial role in setting the standard for the modern auto industry. If that’s got you curious, scroll through the end for an inside scoop on how Lamborghini Miura changed the auto world for the better.
Lamborghini Miura Changed The Supercar World
Miura changed the auto industry in more than one way. During the 60s, when one thought of mid-engine cars, they thought of racing. No one had even dreamt about a mid-engined supercar intended that would hit streets, much less make one. Those who did were extremely apprehensive. When the concept version of Miura was revealed at the Turin Auto Show in 1965, people assumed it was a race car. However, to the shock of everyone, Miura was launched as a high-performance road car a year later, and it won’t be an exaggeration to say that the model wowed everyone with its revolutionary mid-engine layout, powerful performance, and sensuous styling. Fun fact: the original concept of the car was just a chassis and an engine. The world had not seen anything like that before and Miura sold like hotcakes. Manufactured between 1966 to 1973, Lambo sold more than a hundred pieces in a single year and about 800 units in its lifetime, as per Motor Biscuit. In the end, Miura did not only shatter the dominance of Ferrari but also brought a ton of credibility and worldwide fan base to Lamborghini.
Lamborghini Miura: Where It All Started
Even though race tracks were dominated by mid-engine cars no one had dared to bring them to the streets. The industry experts believed that their buyers could not handle such high-performance cars. Lamborghini as rebellious as they were had no inhibitions to their imagination. Once the idea struck, the team did not give it a second thought, worked on it rigorously, and redefined the industry’s perception. Lamborghini Miura had been unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show as P400 and released to the public shortly afterward.
Equipped with a 3929cc V12 engine, Miura screamed power. Wild looks and insane performance set it apart from all the other mainstream rivals. The 1971 Miura SV featured a 4-liter V12 powertrain that made 385 horsepower at 7,850rpm. It could hit zero to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds and touched a top speed of 180 mph.
Unfortunately, 1973 was a tough year for Lamborghini in terms of money which is primarily why they discontinued the model that year, but Miura had already turned the wheels in motion by then. She had become the most popular performance car of the world within ten years of her release and the credit goes to the rebellious and passionate designers at the engineering division of the brand. If not for them, we would still have been crawling on the streets.