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LUGI COLANI - LAMBORGHINI LE MANS PROTOTYPE

The tattered remains of Luigi Colani's Miura Le Mans project have wound up in Indiana; however the eBay auction, in which the vendor somewhat optimistically asked for a starting price of US$74,999 ended on January 9 without attracting any bids.

Colani, who is still active, was born in 1928 in Germany and throughout his long and intensive career his designs have usually verged on the outrageous but in many case with practical style.

The concept car was a sensation in 1970 in Europe and toured the European show car circuit in the orange paint scheme, revolutionary for it's day in design. The car was updated, repainted blue and gold and badged by Veedol Oil in 1974 as the Colani Le Mans prototype, again touring Europe.

A very unusual project from nearly forty years ago created by flamboyant German-born designer Luigi Colani reputedly based around Lamborghini's legendary Miura sports car has recently resurfaced on eBay in a somewhat dilapidated state. The tattered remains of the Miura Le Mans project have wound up in Indiana; however the eBay auction, in which the vendor somewhat optimistically asked for a starting price of US$74,999 ended on January 9 without attracting any bids.

Colani, who is still active, was born in 1928 in Germany and throughout his long and intensive career his designs have usually verged on the outrageous but in many case with practical style. He is famously remember for his late 1998s Ferrari sports car interpretation, the Lamborghini project however is less well known though.

According to the eBay vendor, this is the 'Lamborghini Miura Le Mans concept prototype car'. "This is the only one ever built, it's one of one in the world," says the text on the auction website. "This very rare car was built by Legendary designer Luigi Colani in 1970. The car was built using a Lamborghini Miura chassis rear section, Lamborghini rear magnesium rims and knockoffs. This concept car was a sensation in 1970 in Europe and toured the European show car circuit in the orange paint scheme, revolutionary for it's day in design. The car was updated, repainted blue and gold and badged by Veedol Oil in 1974 as the Colani Le Mans prototype, again touring Europe.

"We think that Veedol Oil (division of Getty Oil) brought it to the USA sometime in the mid seventies," the vendor continues. "After this it's trail goes cold until we discovered it at an estate auction in Indiana. The car's canopy was broken into several pieces somewhere in the last 30 years. We have the pieces and and could replicate a new one for the new owner for an additional charge. it still has the Lamborghini Miura rear suspension, which is mounted to the back half of a Muira original chassis/frame (looks like the frame was cut just behind the seat section) ,rear rims and knockoffs. Front suspension is complete and steers with a type of joystick/tiller. This would be a easy car to restore to Colani's original as in 1970. This car was thought to be lost for the last 30+ years.

The unique concept car proposal features double nose wheels under the housings, a hydraulically suspended rear end, while the car pivots in the center. According to the vendor the brakes, calipers, rear suspension and rear half of original Miura chassis, steering are all available, but no engine at this time. It isn't clear if the concept, which appears to have been little more than a mock up, ever had an engine fitted though. The entire rear suspension assembly is built from Lamborghini Miura components according to the vendor, although the road wheels shown in the photos are clearly not from the Raging Bull's legendary sports car. A car project from this designer is very unusual to find at auction as most of Colani's works reside in museums or his private collection.