June 2011 - Kidston
June 2011 - Kidston
June 2011 - Kidston
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SCM<br />
Digital Bonus<br />
1988, Ferruccio Lamborghini’s right-hand man, Ubaldo<br />
Sgarzi, confirmed the other example to be “one of our<br />
SV prototypes” (note the plural). That car, serial number<br />
4856, engine number 30780, had a much earlier production<br />
number—266—but a later chassis number, a very<br />
late SV engine number and wasn’t sold by the factory<br />
until 1973....<br />
As you see, early Lamborghini record keeping is<br />
somewhat Latin in nature. For the record, 4856 was sold<br />
at auction in 1998 for $126,349 (SCM# 5929) and again in<br />
2002 for $157,937 (SCM# 28406).<br />
Over a decade ago, when our feature car last changed<br />
hands in public at Brooks’ 2000 Quail Lodge auction for<br />
$84,000 (SCM# 10383), the reporter commented: “Of all<br />
the Miuras, the SV is the one to have. Is this an SV or<br />
really an S with some SV options? Cheap price for an S<br />
and a real bargain if it’s an SV.” Given that a late SV (s/n<br />
5038) had sold just 24 lots earlier for $210,000, it appears<br />
the auction house didn’t succeed in getting the Prototype<br />
point across to buyers.<br />
The successful bidder, a Los Angeles-based dealer,<br />
quickly resold s/n 4758 to a speculator from Southern California for an amount believed<br />
to be just into six figures. A quick detailing and one advert in FML later, chassis<br />
4758 was now billed as “first owner for many years, a Monte Carlo based Italian opera<br />
singer” and available to “serious parties”—price on application, of course.<br />
Ownership history—and minor myths<br />
The auction catalog repeats the previous belief that this was possibly the car which<br />
launched the SV at the ’71 Geneva Salon, and implies it was sold a month before the<br />
first production SV, but we now have the Bertone build records identifying the chassis<br />
number and (different) color of the show SV, photos of the show stand and the sales<br />
records of the dealer who sold the show car 29 days before 4758. To put a minor myth<br />
to rest, the Italian “opera singer first owner” in Monte Carlo, who I’ve just called, is<br />
a financier who bought the car in the late 1980s—he couldn’t afford a bus fare in ’71.<br />
And he still can’t sing.<br />
Next stop: Florida, and a genuine private enthusiast who struggled to document<br />
its history, before in 2002 the Miura finally found a long term home for $178,000<br />
with a reclusive big hitter on the East Coast, spending the next nine years in climatecontrolled<br />
luxury.<br />
I asked what attracted him to this particular SV.<br />
“I like firsts,” he said. “I have the first 250 GTO, the first F50 imported to the U.S.A.<br />
and so on.” What about the restoration? “Wayne Obry has done six cars for me, each<br />
in one year, with the aim of being the best of its kind. This Miura felt very fast, more<br />
so than the other SVs I had tested, and a real torque monster compared to the finesse<br />
of Ferraris.”<br />
Would he own another? “I had the best. Anything now would be a letdown.”<br />
The value of history, presentation and timing<br />
So bearing in mind all of the above, how do we<br />
explain the price? At over $1.7m, it’s 70% more than<br />
normal SVs have achieved recently at auction and<br />
about half the price of real Miura SVJs we’ve handled<br />
privately.<br />
Why? First of all, history. It may not be the only<br />
claimant, and three ashtrays will stand out about as<br />
much as an alloy block on a 300SL, but one of two<br />
prototypes is rarer than one of 150 SVs. It’s telling that<br />
a decade ago buyers discounted this car compared to<br />
a regular SV, and it’s an encouraging sign that since<br />
then they have become more sophisticated in attaching<br />
a premium to something with an interesting story.<br />
Second—and significantly—presentation. A car,<br />
especially at auction, has to have that “wow” factor<br />
to excite bidders, and this one really did. Details like<br />
the Italian government paper seal reproduced on the<br />
cigar lighter, the factory leather document wallet and<br />
guarantee certificate were all assembled or recreated<br />
by the seller (who previously owned an automobilia<br />
business), but they made the car complete. If that didn’t<br />
impress, the folder of restoration invoices certainly did:<br />
all $536,496.27 of them (we checked).<br />
Third, provenance. The Pebble Beach award, even<br />
if only third in class, means a lot. We’ve handled the<br />
Lamborghinis which came first and second that year,<br />
and each set a new record. The seller’s status in the<br />
collecting community, and the quality of his cars, reinforced<br />
the notion that this Miura had already made<br />
the grade.<br />
Finally—and perhaps most important of all—timing.<br />
If you’re trying to assemble the world’s best<br />
Lamborghini collection and want to fill a piece in the<br />
puzzle, but when you find yourself up against a young<br />
U.S. dealer representing a Middle Eastern buyer and<br />
a father and son from Texas who’ve already bought 150<br />
cars, you either have to step up or give up. Tomorrow<br />
could be a completely different scenario, but the auction<br />
takes place today. So we followed instructions and<br />
bought it. ♦<br />
(Vehicle description courtesy of Gooding &<br />
Company.)<br />
SCM Digital Bonus. Additional images, Seat Time and more...<br />
<strong>June</strong> <strong>2011</strong> 51