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One you can buy: The Kidston Lamborghini Miura Register

On 3rd November the judges of the prestigious Royal Automobile Club ‘Motoring Book of the Year’ awards for 2021 selected The Lamborghini Miura by Simon Kidston and Jon Pressnell as overall winner.

Printed in just 762 numbered copies, the book sold out in 10 days; examples trade today in the specialist market for many thousands of pounds. A special ‘Jota’ leather-bound edition found 75 buyers at £3929, while an online auction last Christmas of Book no.1, signed by Sir Jackie Stewart, raised £29,100 for the triple World Champion’s charity Racing Against Dementia.

Miura enthusiasts still have the opportunity to buy the second volume of this definitive model history, the Lamborghini Miura Register. Considered the most comprehensive work to have been published on the car-by-car history of Miura production, since its publication this summer it has received critical acclaim from experts and Miura owners.

In over 300 stylishly presented pages, the work of award-winning graphic designer Julian Balme, every Miura is listed with its production number, date of dispatch, body number, chassis number, engine number, whether right-hand-drive or left-hand-drive, original exterior colour, original interior colour, original interior material, country of destination, supplying dealer (or direct sale) and, where known, the first owner.

Using the extensive Kidston historical library, together with research at the Italian registration authorities, the archive of Zurich agent Karl Foitek and a host of other sources, the multi-lingual authors have painstakingly pieced together the history of the majority of Miuras after they left the works at Sant’Agata. Famous owners including Rod Stewart, the Shah of Iran and Miles Davis are linked to the relevant chassis numbers.

Lesser-known buyers are just as interesting. Banking heir George Drummond parked his Miura in London’s theatreland in December 1967 only to return to find the £9500 car had been hit, leaving bits ‘all over the pavement,’ as reported by the Daily Express. Italian industrialists who favoured Miuras included Felice Riva, later owner of AC Milan football club, and Renato Bialetti, whose family invented the Moka Expresso coffee-maker.

Perhaps the most unlikely entry is for a P400 S delivered in early 1970 to Giuseppe Wilson, the Darlington-born international footballer who played for Lazio from 1969 to 1979 and for Italy in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

But the Register is more than a catalogue of chassis numbers and histories, fascinating though they may be. Colour breakdowns list the colours per car and year, while the development of interior materials and their sometimes confusing and varied Italian descriptions is explained and shown in detail. The book also includes clear line drawings illustrating exactly where the chassis, body and VIN numbers are located – an essential source for would-be Miura owners.

Sales supremo Enzo Moruzzi’s introduction describes the sales operation of the time, and the book lists all national distributors and agents.

The Bertone ledger – never previously published – is reproduced in full, listing Miuras delivered per month, from the prototypes in April 1966 to the final car in November 1972.

The Lamborghini Miura Register is the definitive book about the ultimate supercar of the 1960s. As with its sister volume, once sold out it is sure to become a collector’s piece.

Books are priced at £350.00 plus worldwide courier delivery and are available from specialist booksellers or online via www.miurabook.com

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