Cars of L.A.: Italian unicorn, Miura edition

"Vee Ate Injun" (VeeAteInjun)
04/20/2015 at 17:12 • Filed to: Cars of L.A., COLA, Lamborghini, Miura, v12, Bertone, Italian

Unicorns do exist. Here, for your consideration, is one of my unicorns: a Lamborghini Miura in the wild, parked on a bustling city street while the lucky owner no doubt noshes on a tasty meal. Now, I have seen Miuras in the past, but they’ve all been at car events and car shows. So this was certainly a treat to spot this fine example out of context yesterday evening.

What makes this Miura different from the beauty queen contestants I’ve seen before is that this baby appears to be unrestored! It has grime. It has battle scars. It has torn seats. And it is absolutely perfect.

This particular specimen appears to be a Miura S, judging by the the chrome trim around the headlights and windshield, and by the “Bertone” badge just behind the doors.

Check out that golf ball-sized zonker on that rear quarter panel! There must be a good story there...

Dig those tattered seats and well-worn steering wheel...

And this bad boy was just sitting in between some modern supercars (and a Honda Acura NSX), parked a few blocks away from the roar of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Anecdotal bonus: A police officer yelled at me for standing in the middle of the street to get that profile shot above. Thankfully, no citation was issued (but it still would have been worth it).

So, what do you think this “rough around the edges” Lamborghini Miura is worth?

DISCUSSION (11)

stuttgartobsessed > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 17:27

More than a house for a normal person would by my guess

lucky's pepper > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 17:29

I’ve no idea what it may be worth but you are definitely right saying it’s perfect. What an awesome machine.

SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O) > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 17:30

More that you can afford, buddy. Lamborghini...

RedPir8Roberts > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 18:15

I saw this same car in motion on the road in Monterey during Pebble Beach week. I think a picture of it made to Jalopnik as part of the stories about the week. I do give the owner credit for actually getting out there and driving it. The “Fuel Run” sticker is ugly but that’s the organization that sets up owners with supercars to go to these kinds of events. They showed up at the Monterey Historics also, but while it was cool seing a long line of exotics come in, they all parked in a private corral with security. I don’t know if that was the owners’ doing or the organizer’s idea, but it was a little elitist, and pretty ridiculous given that none of the cars were as valuable as the LaFerrari parked like a regular car in the pits, or the priceless Porsche 917 or other cars you could walk right up to not a half-mile away. I’d happily buy/ drive a less than perfect Miura, though I think I would redo the seats, and probably the steering wheel. There’s patina and preservation and then there’s neglect, people need to understand the difference in my opinion (I’m looking at you, Wayne Carini). Perfect Miuras are now going for big money, only a couple of years ago you get a good Miura for $500,000. I think they go for $1 million to $2 million depending on condition, color and model (P400, S, SV). This one would need a full restoration to pull those numbers, I’d guess something under a million, probably taking the best price for a perfect one of the same model and backing out the cost to restore would be what it would be worth. That looks like a P400 (no “S” or “SV” or wider fenders), so $700,000 maybe is my guess. But the speculation and fizz at the auctions lately, especially for Ferraris and Porsches, seems to bleed over to all desirable cars, and everybody seems to believe that prices should go up every auction. When you consider that someone actually paid $150,000 for a Buick GNX, and that “Heritage Edition” Gulf livery Ford GTs go for almost double what GT in another color, all bets are off for a rare exotic everyone loves. I’d buy one as my first lottery win purchase (note my avatar), but I’d be pretty happy if I could just get to drive one. So if I meet that owner, I’d be more than willing to ignore the ratty seats if he wants to share the joy of driving one.

Vee Ate Injun > SmoresTM Has No Chill (O==[][]==O)
04/20/2015 at 18:48

Hah, indeed. I’d probably have a better shot at saving up for this “ TLC required ” example:

Kinja'd!!!

JR1 > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 19:17

Miura kicks the shit out of either the 458 or the NSX

Vee Ate Injun > RedPir8Roberts
04/20/2015 at 19:36

Nice, thanks for chiming in. Yes, I agree the ratty seats are a bit much.

I, too, remember seeing Miura’s in the sub-$500k range just a couple of years ago. I remember seeing one for $400k and change in Bobileff Motorcar Company’s inventory not even 5 years ago. And now, well, you be the judge .

You think this is a first gen/P400 car? The chrome trim and later Bertone emblem makes me think it’s an “S,” at least according to this Miura restoration website .

I’m going to guess a little more conservative on the price: $450-650k range. I base this estimate on my experience watching “Chasing Classic Cars” and “Wheeler Dealers.”

The Miura is definitely on my Lottery Bucket list. I can’t decide on a color. Maybe lime green/silver or red/gold?

Vee Ate Injun > JR1
04/20/2015 at 19:37

I agree!

RedPir8Roberts > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 19:55

Here’s hoping this price curve doesn’t continue. Amazing the difference in prices between the two that sold at RM in August. I think being in white really hurt the one car; apparently no one wanted to bother painting it to their liking. The orange car was stunning, though, and an SV, but still. I would favor red/gold out of those two options, but orange, yellow, or dark blue (Rod Stewart’s former car), or black would be my choices. Oh, there is a black Miura for sale for $1,095,000 at Chequered Flag right now, if you happen to hit the lottery this week. They might take slightly less, I should think.

Vee Ate Injun > RedPir8Roberts
04/20/2015 at 20:47

Yeah, I saw that black $1m Miura on Hemmings classifieds. Even if it sells for significantly less, if imagine they’ll keep the final price private.

Or we could just have someone *give* us a free Miura p400 S, as in the case of Jay Leno. And one owned by Dean Martin (for his son) no less! Must be nice to be Leno some days. Like, when you can’t choose between driving your yellow or orange Miura. Sheesh.

RedPir8Roberts > Vee Ate Injun
04/20/2015 at 20:57

Pretty sure the only free Miura I will ever get was the Matchbox my Mom bought me when I was a kid. It’s currently awaiting a restoration from an ill-advised color change from yellow to powder blue when it was only a couple of years old. God, I would just love to have unlimited access to Leno’s cars for a month. I doubt I’d sleep the whole time, taking out a different car every couple of hours. Of course, I’d need Jay or his mechanics present to even be able to start or know how to drive some of the more complex cars, like the Mercer Raceabout or Hispano Suiza Aero-engined car.