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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

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