The Lamborghini Miura Concept has made its public debut at the North American International Auto Show, the 'retro' styled Walter de'Silva design drawing unashamedly on the original 1960s icon.

Updated for the 21st Century the Miura Concept has instantly polarised opinion, some arguing that the new project carefully updates and improves what is arguably the most beautiful sportscar ever built, while others are horrified that Lamborghini have stepped back four decades when reaching for design inspiration. 'Retro' has certainly been a big theme at the Detroit Auto Show this January with the brash, muscular new Dodge Charger being one of the loudest stars of the whole event.

“Over the last two years,” explains Walter de’Silva, “I have often dreamt of redesigning the Miura. Now, thanks to my new position at the head of Lamborghini design and the enthusiastic support of the Lamborghini CEO, Stephan Winkelmann, I have been able to turn that dream into a reality.” Carefully retaining the gorgeous shape of the original Miura, and distinct features such as the recessed headlamps with their individual eyebrows, the rear window louvres and the B-pillar, de'Silva has updated the surfaces and finish.

In the meantime Lamborghini are remaining very tight lipped as to whether this concept could get the green light for limited production. However talk has centred on a production version using the Gallardo's chassis, the Murcielago's 6.2-litre V12 mid-mounted to keep true to the original Miura coupled to the highly-regarded 7-speed 'Double Shift Gearbox' used by the Bugatti Veyron, which is also a member of the VW-Audi Group. Speculation has centred on a build run of up to 400 units with a US$675,000 Ferrari Enzo bracket price tag being mentioned.

Lamborghini Miura 1966-72

The Miura grew out of the desire of Dallara, Wallace and Stanzani (the main designers at Lamborghini) to go racing. They developed a new chassis with a mid-mounted transverse engine in the hope of persuading Lamborghini to race it. That attempt failed, but the chassis was displayed on the Lamborghini stand at the 1965 Turin Motorshow and Lamborghini asked Bertone to design a body for it to use as a show car. The design work was carried out by Gandini and Giugiaro (both at Bertone) and revealed to the world at the Geneva Motorshow in 1966. Although having had no plans to produce it, Lamborghini took 17 deposits at the show and so production was go.
 

When the car entered production, it used a chassis comprising a central section, including the floor, given strength by the large sills and centre tunnel, and extensions front and rear for the suspension and engine and suspension respectively. The engine was basically a 400GTV unit, with the same vertical carburettors and 350bhp. A Sprint verion was also available with (a claimed) 430bhp - probably nearer 380. The main difference was that the transmission housing was cast together with the crankcase, the gears being housed below the engine in the sump. The steering adopted a rack-and-pinion layout. The interior of the Miura reverted to the more traditional lower bracket Italian style, rather than the plush trim of previous Lamborghinis.

The Brussels Show of 1968 saw Bertone reveal a spider version, the Roadster, but nothing came of that project. In 1968 changes to the production model included more power (up to 370bhp), a larger boot (due to a revised exhaust system), new seats and a slightly improved interior, chrome trim around the windows and headlights and electric windows as standard. In this form the car became known as the Miura S. This continued in production until 1971 when the Miura SV was revealed. Using many of the features improved in the Jota (see below) the SV had 385bhp, a strengthened rear chassis, wider wheels and larger tyres, some suspension modifications and a variety of detail changes such as the loss of the 'eyebrows' over the headlights, new secondary front lighting and revesing lights at the rear. The most significant change was the new engine where the sump and gearbox were finally separated, allowing different oils to be used, but the brakes also got ventilated discs (as had the last S versions).

Photos courtesy of Jalopnik