It has been over 55 years since the Lamborghini Miura was launched. It stayed in production for around seven years, during which the Italian automaker produced 764 examples of the beauty. Out of these 764 copies, three were conferred with the SVJ badge to make an ultra-rare model of a rather rare car. One of those three, a 1972 model, has now come up for sale and is listed on Kidston.com!

What’s Special About This Particular Miura SVJ?

This Miura SVJ is a 756 production number car and was built for Paul Ferrandi of Paris and Corsica. Originally, the car was painted in Rosso Granada exterior shade. For the curious cats, the chassis number and engine number are 5090 and 30751, respectively. Ferrarndi sold this SVJ in 1982 and it has since shifted hands many times. During the second ownership, the car was repainted in a silver-grey shade.

The seller, Kidston handled this very example’s purchase in 2010 and restored it to its original color. The original red leather interior was also preserved. The complete restoration took about three years. As of today, this Miura SVJ has 19,582 kms (12,168 miles)

1972 Lamborghini Miura SVJ specifications

How Did The Miura SVJ Come Into Existence?

While the Miura looks gorgeous and the curvy body gives an impression of it being aerodynamically sorted and a great handler at high speeds, the Miura actually had a lot of shortcomings. Soon after the car hit the market, it became famous for front-end lifts at high speeds. This issue was even more significant when you had less fuel in the car since the fuel tank was located behind the front axle.

In 1970, Lamborghini’s chief test driver, Bob Wallace, decided to come up with a radical, sportier version of the Miura called the Jota. The Miura Jota was much lighter than the standard Miura courtesy of aluminum alloys. It also came with stuff like ultra-wide wheels and tires, dry-sump V-12 that could crank over 400 horses, etc.

Wallace even came up with a solution for the front-end lift issue. The standard fuel tank was replaced by twin fuel tanks mounted on the door sills. An aggressive chin spoiler was also installed up front. But, the car was sold in 1972 and crashed soon after, thus destroying arguably the raciest Miura ever.

Soon after the Miura Jota became public knowledge, the customers demanded something similar. Lamborghini came up with the Miura Super Veloce Jota, or commonly known as the Miura SVJ.

Were There Any More Miura Jotas?

Technically, yes and no. While Wallace’s Miura is the only Jota on record, there was another one that was spec’d for a persistent customer. Heinz Steber, an owner of a 1968 light green Miura S, wanted to turn his car on the lines of the Miura Jota after it met with a small accident in 1974. Lamborghini initially refused since Lamborghini had stopped the Miura’s production by then, but Steber went about sourcing the parts himself.

In 1995, Steber took several high-performance parts, including brakes from Porsche 917, BBS wheels, and Koni suspension components to the automaker’s factory for a Jota-transformation. Lamborghini took eight months to build the car as per Steber’s specifications. However, he had to sell the car since he had it in Germany with an Italian registration. The car was sold to a customer from Japan and the car remained there for almost four decades before coming up for sale again in 2015.

On a side note, there is a little discrepancy as to how many examples of the Miura SVJ were built. Some suggest five, some four, but these include the special custom orders from customers, like Steber's examples.

What Did Lamborghini Do About The Miura’s Shortcomings?

Lamborghini addressed these shortcomings in the form of the Miura SV in 1971. It replaced the Miura S and came with a whole lot of new stuff. This includes:

-* Stiffer and reinforced frame

-* A revised rear suspension

-* Wider rear fender

-* Different-sized tires at the front and rear

-* Tweaked taillights and ‘eyelash’ for the headlights

-* Produced 380 horses at 7,850 rpm and 294 pound-feet of torque at 5,750 rpm

-* 180 mph top speed

In case you didn’t notice, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the Miura SV.

What’s The Asking Price For This Miura SVJ?

Coming back to the car at hand, Kidston hasn’t listed the price of this Miura SVJ, but it is sure to attract a seven-digit figure. In 2020, a Miura SV went up for sale for £2.6 million, which is $3.6 million as per the current exchange rates. To put things into perspective, Lamborghini built 150 Miura SVs and only three SVJs. There are pretty high chances this is going for well over $3.6 million. Do you think the buyer could shell out eight-digit figures for it? For the exact selling price, you’ll have to reach out to the seller.

Hypothetically speaking, how much will you be willing to spend on an ultra-rare build like this? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.