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