2006 Lamborghini P400 Miura Concept
Because de’Silva viewed the Miura as a piece of art from the start, his objectives in creating the concept weren’t to mold an all-new shape from scratch, but rather to bring it up to date by softening sharp edges and cleaning up details that would have been impossible to craft when the initial car was launched due to the materials available, or more accurately the lack thereof, all while carefully working off of the original design. Some purists might think such a task would be akin to improving on da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, but in order for the Miura to function as a proper, modern-day car by today’s standards, new technologies, new materials and new approaches to design must be used. Of course, to maintain the original’s shape and details while meeting the latest safety regulations made the whole process much more daunting.
In case your eyes couldn’t tell (or you just don’t know what a Miura looks like), the P400 Miura Concept remains about ninety percent faithful to the original, in its shape and profile; the pistachio-coloured end result being unmistakable in its muse. It captures the details particularly well; the headlights with their mascara’d eyelashes are still present, albeit under glass, and the doors still wrap around the side windows, so that when they’re opened, they look like the horns of a bull. Along the side profile, it’s nice to see that things have been kept streamlined, with no unexpected extra vents or scoops. OK, so it’s got a pair of side-view mirrors which weren’t there before, and the intake on the hood isn’t identical to the ’60s car, but it has louvers over the engine cover, and that’s worth a whole lot.
The very few privileged enough to drive an original Miura will know that it’s a rather peculiar car at speed, as it becomes very light and twitchy. The reason for this behaviour was that the car had its fuel tank at its nose; when fuel was used up the weight of its nose lightened, causing its front tires to progressively lessen their hold on the road the longer it was driven.