Saw a Lamborghini Miura today.

Sporky

Chalky said:

Sporky said:

Evilmags said:

Not a bad effort for a tractor company.

Lamborghini Trattori never manufactured cars, and Automobili Lamborghini never manufactured tractors.

Grande pedante.

Thank you! I'll have mine with sprinkles please.

Bucket

Chalky said:

Bucket said:

Dominic said:

Miura is probably the best ever car design - when I was a kid Rod Stewart let me and my friends sit in his - it was white

I'd say it's terrible as a design (very dangerous at speed due to front end lift etc) but in terms of the ground it broke, and just its significance as a piece of art on wheels, it's hard to disagree.

Best part of 50 years ago, 174mph and a terrible design? Go wash your mouth out... 

The transverse mid-engined layout and the high top speed were great engineering achievements at that time, and the styling is, inarguably, up there with the greats. Perhaps the all-time best. I used to think the Toyota 2000GT was the most beautiful car ever made but I'm not so sure after seeing this purest early incarnation of the Miura design, in a fabulous colour.

The issue was that any time you tried to go anywhere near the 174mph claimed top speed, the slippery design would actually suffer from dramatic front-end lift which could end up being pretty bad news for your continued alive-ness. There are also reports of it being pretty skittish - transitioning uncomfortably quickly from understeer to oversteer, which in a car that powerful is rarely good news.

I don't know about you, but I'd say that calls into question its brilliance as a design.

I think the issue was fixed to a certain extent on the later SV models but those don't look as nice.

koneguitarist

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zps1sv4i24d.jpeg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zpsb3knte4f.jpeg

apparently loads of Lambos and Ferrari's there as well, one caught my eye apart from the real cars above!

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i278/bargoedboy/image_zpst9tlp3w1.jpeg

Chalky

Bucket said:

Chalky said:

Bucket said:

Dominic said:

Miura is probably the best ever car design - when I was a kid Rod Stewart let me and my friends sit in his - it was white

I'd say it's terrible as a design (very dangerous at speed due to front end lift etc) but in terms of the ground it broke, and just its significance as a piece of art on wheels, it's hard to disagree.

Best part of 50 years ago, 174mph and a terrible design? Go wash your mouth out... 

The transverse mid-engined layout and the high top speed were great engineering achievements at that time, and the styling is, inarguably, up there with the greats. Perhaps the all-time best. I used to think the Toyota 2000GT was the most beautiful car ever made but I'm not so sure after seeing this purest early incarnation of the Miura design, in a fabulous colour.

The issue was that any time you tried to go anywhere near the 174mph claimed top speed, the slippery design would actually suffer from dramatic front-end lift which could end up being pretty bad news for your continued alive-ness. There are also reports of it being pretty skittish - transitioning uncomfortably quickly from understeer to oversteer, which in a car that powerful is rarely good news.

I don't know about you, but I'd say that calls into question its brilliance as a design.

I think the issue was fixed to a certain extent on the later SV models but those don't look as nice.

Everything you say is true. But its silly to judge it by today's standards.

Back then, at 70mph if you could get them there, you could turn the steering wheel of a typical family car like a Ford Zephyr, a Morris Oxford, a Hillman Hunter, and (especially if there was a drop of water on the road), not a lot would happen - the car would understeer in ways difficult to imagine today. Turn hard and you were almost certainly going to crash. There was almost no feedback through the steering about what the tyres and road were doing.  By comparion, the handling of today's cars is like they are on rails or glued to the road.

So yes, the Miura aerodynamics weren't perfect by today's standards. But compared to the cars I drove back then, its achievements were incredible.