Three long-forgotten Lamborghini Miuras, often regarded as the world’s first supercars, have been discovered in a junkyard and are now heading to auction with a combined estimated value of £1.5 million.
The cars, covered in dust and left abandoned for decades, were part of a collection owned by the late Rudi Klein, a renowned car collector and owner of Porsche Foreign Auto Wrecking, who passed away in 2001.
The three Miuras, all restorable examples of Lamborghini’s iconic V-12 engine supercar, will be auctioned off at the end of October by RM Sotheby’s in a special event titled ‘The Junkyard: The Rudi Klein Collection.’ The event marks the first time one of the world’s most secretive car collections has been made available to the public.
Among the trio is a particularly notable 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400, believed to have been originally owned by Lamborghini engineer and test driver Claudio Zampolli, who is credited with importing Lamborghinis to Southern California in the 1970s.
Zampolli reportedly sold the car to Klein’s wrecking company in 1978, meaning the Miura had been in storage for over 46 years before its discovery.
The Lamborghini Miura was first introduced as a rolling chassis at the 1965 Turin Motor Show, generating significant interest among car enthusiasts. By 1966, a fully designed prototype was unveiled at the Geneva Salon.
The Miura P400, known for its 350 horsepower and top speed of 170 mph, was built in limited numbers, with only 275 units produced before the model was succeeded by the upgraded P400.
RM Sotheby’s, which is managing the sale, highlighted the significance of the 1968 Miura P400 in the auction listing. ‘Though the Miura would become increasingly powerful with forthcoming iterations, none were as pure and novel as the original P400. It is, without exaggeration, one of the true paragons of sports car design, and a blue-chip collectible of unanimous merit,’ the listing reads.
Originally finished in Lamborghini’s signature Giallo Miura with a Bleu leatherette interior, the car was dispatched from the factory to Lamborcar, a dealership in Italy, in March 1968. The first recorded owner is listed as Mr. Zampolli.
Over the years, the Miura was repainted bright aqua green, but it has remained in storage for nearly half a century.
For automotive enthusiasts, this auction offers a rare opportunity to acquire three of Lamborghini’s most iconic cars, ripe for restoration.
RM Sotheby’s added, ‘For the true purist of automotive archaeology, who would be so bold as to oversee a major rejuvenation, there could hardly be a more inviting prospect.’
The auction is expected to draw considerable interest from collectors eager to own a piece of supercar history.
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