Lamborghini Jota -- The Short Bright Life of the Ultimate Miura
The Lamborghini Miura was the world's first true
mass-production, mid-engine super car when it was introduced for
1966. It was a striking blend, offering the styling and
mechanical configuration of the era's wildest, all-out
endurance-racing machines, all rolled into a package that was
reasonably streetable.
But for all the Miura's obvious race-car underpinnings,
Lamborghini never fielded a competition version of the car. Of
course, it wasn't that the idea of putting its pioneering exotic
on the track hadn't occurred to anyone. Plenty of people within
the company hoped they'd eventually be called on to prepare a
Miura for such use.
Foremost among those competition proponents was Lamborghini's
chief development driver Bob Wallace. From the beginning, he'd
been championing the idea. But resources within Lamborghini were
chronically limited in those early days -- the former tractor
manufacturer had built its first production automobile just
three years before the Miura's introduction.
Throughout the Miura's production run, Wallace played with the
idea of a racing version. In 1970, this culminated in the Jota,
a company-funded, one-off "toy" he built in the Lamborghini
shop. The car differed from stock Miuras most obviously in
styling revisions that included broader fenders, a prominent
front spoiler, air vents behind the front wheel wells, and fixed
instead of pop-up headlights.
Beneath the surface were even more extensive changes to the
basic Miura design. The interior was completely stripped, and
the floor was made of aluminum instead of steel. What's more,
the suspension was modified to accommodate wide wheels and
tires, the front-mounted fuel tank was replaced by a tank in
each door sill, and the engine got extensive modifications that
increased output of the Miura S's engine by 48 hp, to 418.
Adding it all up, the Jota was obviously a thrilling car, and it
stirred the imagination as to what was possible with the basic
Miura components. But Wallace knew all along it would be a waste
of time to argue that the cash-strapped manufacturer should go
racing with it.
Soon after the only Jota was built, Lamborghini put the car up
for sale. The floundering automaker simply couldn't afford to
have assets tied up in what was considered an esoteric
experiment. According to Wallace, the Jota was purchased by a
rich industrialist in Brescia.
Shortly thereafter, the wealthy owner's mechanic destroyed the
car in a fiery crash. And thus in one quick flash ended the
short, bright life of the ultimate Miura.
Fortunately, super-car fans can draw some consolation from the
fact that the Jota legend was perpetuated in a number of
Miura-based replicas -- several of which were reportedly built
by Lamborghini itself at the request of customers.
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