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1971 Lamborghini Miura SV is PoloStorico's first restoration

Lamborghini is fitting in at the annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, trotting out a fully restored 1971 Miura SV. This is not just any Miura, though. It's been the subject of a complete restoration courtesy of Sant'Agata's young restoration arm, PoloStorico. Wearing chassis number 4846, this Miura SV was introduced on the Bertone stand during the 1971 Geneva Motor Show – the company's new Countach was on the main Lambo stage. According to Lambo, this car is "truly a one-off," featuring parts from the Miura S alongside pioneering features that would be seen on later SVs. But who cares about its history – just look at this thing. Lamborghini has gone mad restoring this Miura, with PoloStorico inspecting each individual body panel and then finishing all of them in this beautiful Verde Metallazata – literally green metallic. The company claims that every component was restored or replaced, and that "exhaustive research" went into the process. But why Amelia Island, and why now? The head of PoloStorico has the answer. "This is the year in which the Lamborghini Miura celebrates its 50th anniversary," Enrico Maffeo said in the official statement. "This car not only illustrates the iconic appeal of the Miura, widely acknowledged as the forerunner of modern super sports models, but is also a perfect example of the expertise available in Lamborghini PoloStorico in providing the most authentic Lamborghini restorations." This Miura SV marks the first completed project for the PoloStorico team. Based on the few images we've seen, it's the start of something big for Lamborghini's vintage models. Related Video: LAMBORGHINI POLOSTORICO CELEBRATES MIURA 50 ANNIVERSARY AT AMELIA ISLAND WITH RESTORED MIURA SV 1971 GENEVA SHOW CAR Sant'Agata Bolognese, – The original Lamborghini Miura SV shown at Geneva motor show in 1971 has been the subject of more than a year's restoration by Lamborghini PoloStorico, and is presented as a finished project at the Amelia Island concours event (USA) from 10 to 13 March. The Lamborghini Miura SV (Super Veloce), chassis #4846, was the pre-production model for subsequent Miura SV production. Unveiled at the 1971 Geneva motor show on Bertone's stand (while Lamborghini showed its new Countach), the car was truly a one-off, carrying over parts from the previous Miura S and introducing new features that would be seen on later SVs. Lamborghini PoloStorico was appointed a year ago to fully restore chassis #4846 to its perfect original state.

Lamborghini Miura from 'The Italian Job' is for sale

Just one month ago we posted on "The Ultimate Lamborghini Miura" going up for sale, a 1968 Miura that had been turned into a built-to-race Miura Jota. This one might be even better, and it is certainly more famous: the 1968 Miura P400 from the opening scene of the movie The Italian Job. Two Miuras were used in that opening scene and some aren't sure that this is one of the actual movie cars, but most sleuths believe it is – and the story of its history since filming is so wild, it could have come from the movie. Iain Tyrell, the owner of Cheshire Classic Cars in England, said he received a tip last Christmas that the Miura was in Paris. The coupe's owner led him to a secret, underground parking garage and gave him three hours to verify that it was indeed from The Italian Job, a challenging task since no one knew what happened to the car since Paramount Pictures returned it to Lamborghini at the end of filming in 1968. It seems that Lamborghini sold the Arancia-colored coupe to an Italian dealer, and it had four owners up to 2005 when Norbetto Ferretti bought it. Ferretti is not only one of the founders of the Ferretti shipbuilding group, he is the son of the dealer who bought the Miura from Paramount after the movie - and neither Ferretti nor any of the car's previous owners realized it. Octane magazine ran a 15-page feature in its March issue with all the forensic details matching this car to the movie car, however, even the magazine says it can't be sure. A different classic car broker recently put it up for sale, but that broker still doesn't believe it's the movie car. Top Gear called the film car "the coolest car in the world" in 2004, and if it is the real deal it's said to be worth more than one million pounds, or $1.5M US. Tyrell and his partner Keith Ashworth have listed the car for sale, the price "POA," which means "price on application" in UK-speak. In layman's terms that means, "Bring money." In the video below you can see the star of the show in the movie's opening scene. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.