1970 Lamborghini Miura P400S Coupe

Only a year or two into its existence, Lamborghini would set the benchmark and would create a whole new category of automobile—the supercar. The car that would set the standard would be so named after a brilliant Spanish breeder. Bearing the symbol of a raging bull within its badge, Lamborghini just had to name this groundbreaking car the Miura.

Factories like Ferrari had taken cars at home on the track and had detuned them and adjusted them for life on the streets. They were, first and foremost, racing cars. Lamborghini's approaching would be one hundred and eighty degrees different. Instead of taking a track car and making it the ultimate street machine, Lamborghini would focus instead on building the ultimate car for the street that could, if so desired, made ready for the track. The Miura was the car that made it happen.

Everything about the Miura was centralized around the concept of performance from as compact a car as possible. This lent to the mid-mounted engine being fitted transversely and many other innovations that made it a supercar.

But even the great could be tweaked and this opened room for Bob Wallace. The New Zealander would be relied upon to tune and update the chassis to make even better versions of its champion. Combining advanced specifications at nearly every corner of the car, the beautiful Miura, developed by Gian Paulo Dallara and Paolo Stanzini would only get better and better.

Gradual and continual development of the design would soon lead to the 'S', or tuned, version. The standard Miura was capable of 350 bhp from its wonderful V12 engine. This produced a top speed of more than 175mph. The 'S' model would offer 370bhp and enabled the car to accelerate zero to 60 in only 5.5 seconds. A top speed of 177mph could now be reached. These kinds of speeds, for a car designed first and foremost for the road was unheard of.

Chassis 4707 would be a late production 'S'. Completed in early October of 1970, this car would not even be a standard run of the mill P400S model Miura. Ventilated disc brakes, a strengthened chassis, even factory air conditioning would all be extras added to this car that would not make it on many others at the time.

Rather quietly the car would make its way to the United States in the mid-1980s and would find a somewhat anonymous home in New Jersey in 1988. Sporting a Nero over Champagne finish, the P400S would be used sparingly throughout the 1990s and would actually end up just sitting around after 1996. Parked beside a handful of Ferraris, the Lamborghini would remain until its current owner came to purchase it. It would be a remarkable find.

Despite its having sat for years and becoming tired from inactivity, it is still capable of providing the chills each and every time its engine comes to life. In many respects, its current condition makes it even better for it is an obvious and unmistakable reminder just as to when Lamborghini changed the name of the game.

Chassis 4707 could be found as part of the 2015 RM Auctions' event held in Scottsdale in mid-January. Because of its original state, its discovery and the simple fact it is a Miura estimates leading up to the auction would be generous listing the expected price to fall between $1,000,000 and $1,400,000.

By Jeremy McMullen