A very rare 1968 Lamborghini Miura used in the film The Italian Job (not the 2003 remake featuring Edward Norton and Mark Wahlberg) recently resurfaced after originally being lost for several decades.
If you’ve never watched the original movie starring a young Sir Michael Caine, the 1969 film opens up with a lovely bright orange 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 being driven by actor Rossano Brazzi through the Great St. Bernard pass between Switzerland and Italy. That Miura eventually met its demise after colliding with a bulldozer placed by the mafia, who then pushed the car’s wrecked remains down a ravine, setting suspense for the rest of the plot.
Around March of this year, Ian Tyrell, the owner of Cheshire Classic Cars in the UK, received a tip that the Miura driven in the movie had been rediscovered. Then, collector and founder of “The Classic Car Trust,” Fritz Kaiser, supposedly bought the car for a half a million dollars just last year. At the time of purchase, Kaiser was unsure of the car’s role in the film but had a hunch that it was the star car.
After some researching, Kaiser was able to link chassis #3586’s past together and then sent the car to Lamborghini’s
Polo Storico heritage department to have it restored. After undergoing restoration, the orange Miura was then certified as the official car from the movie, just in time for the films 50th anniversary. Allegedly, this one-off Miura clocked only 11,800 miles and had its engine replaced after suffering a cracked block.
That car was a fully assembled production P400, chassis #3586 to be exact. Making it even more unique was the fact it’s the only 1968 model year Miura featuring an Aranico Orange exterior paired with a white leather interior. Keen eyes would note that the car driven in the movie featured black seats, but according to its history, film producers temporarily swapped out its white leather seats to avoid staining them. You can still see the white leather headrests mounted on the rear firewall in the original scene.
After filming was complete, chassis #3586 was sold to a dealership based in Rome in July of 1968. Since then, it changed hands four times over the course of 50 years, getting lost in the process. The car was then repurchased by the son of the original dealer it was sold to, Norbetto Ferretti, in 2005. Miraculously, none of the previous owners were aware of the Miura’s role in the movie.
Now, the legendary and famous Miura will live happily restored with its current owner.
