One of the greatest things about long-established supercar makers is the love they show their own back-catalogues. Here’s a fresh example courtesy of Lamborghini and an iconic Miura P400 from the opening scene of an equally iconic 1960s film.
After appearing in 1969’s The Italian Job, then being sold off and making its way around several owners, the stunning Arancio (orange) Miura was discovered in a collection in Lichtenstein. It was verified by Lamborghini’s researchers on the ground as the car from the film, and a deal was struck.
Since then Lamborghini’s Polo Storico department, which specialises in restoring Lamborghinis built before 2001 – so up to and including the Diablo – has spared no expense returning it to perfection just in time for the 50th anniversary of The Italian Job’s release. As car people, we find that pretty heart-warming.
The car was seen in some wonderful shots through the opening sequence of The Italian Job, where actor Rossano Brazzi and stunt driver Enzo Moruzzi pilot the Arancio Miura-painted P400 along the stunning Great St Bernard Pass.
During the scene the elegant V12 supercar disappears into a tunnel where, just around a corner, it hits a deliberately parked earth mover and explodes. Clearly a mafia hit, the suited killers then dump the wrecked Miura off the side of the road, down a cliff and into a river.
That car wasn’t the one that was driven, though. Interestingly, the beautiful Arancio car was only chosen because Paramount, the movie production company, wanted a wrecked one as well and Lamborghini just happened to have an Arancio one with white seats that had already been crashed.
Conveniently there was a virtually identical left-hooker almost at the end of the production line, so Paramount took both, drove the new one and disposed of the crashed one. We’re extremely glad this one has re-emerged; these things were never meant to be hidden away.
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