Lamborghini Miura

The Italian supercar that took on Ferrari's finest

- Alastari Crooks

A NEW V12 mid-engined Lamborghini doesn't come along often. There have only been five models in 57 years, but in 2023 the firm will unveil the sixth and last in the line of flagship supercars to use a V12. It has a hard job replacing the fantastic and hugely popular Aventador, but similar challenges faced all the newcomer's predecessors and they seemed to have managed just fine.

At a sneak preview of the officially codenamed LB744 (see page 14), the firm gave us the keys to the founding father of the mid-engined supercar genre, the Miura.

We all know the Miura's history. The pioneering Italian model was born out of an argument between Ferrucio Lamborghini and the man he set out to beat, Enzo Ferrari.

But it's a tale worth recounting for this drive, to truly understand the impact the Miura had on the world.

As a successful tractor manufacturer, Lamborghini had amassed enough wealth by the late fifties to buy several Ferraris. Not content with the reliability of his purchases, he sought out Enzo Ferrari to provide some constructive criticism. Ferrari famously responded by telling him: "Let me make cars. You stick to making tractors."

The comment spurred Lamborghini to found his own car company, Automobili Lamborghini, with the intention of creating faster and better machines than Ferrari.

His first car came in 1964. It was the 350 GT, a comfortable and classy grand tourer with performance to match the best sports cars of the day, thanks to a 3.5-litre V12. But it was not the car that would keep Maranello awake at night; that task would fall to the Miura.