If this were 1970 instead of 2010, every movie that calls for a balls-out fabulous sports car would feature a Lamborghini Miura. Thank the lord — 40 years ago, that’s exactly what happened.
It didn’t take the world forty years to realize what an amazing cultural icon the Miura is. It was evident on first sight. The people who had the fortune to be contemporaries of the Miura in the primes of their moviemaking lives knew exactly the merits of the great gift that Ferruccio Lamborghini’s minions had given them. Instead of using blinged, neon, marketing-driven fake whatevers, they could Miuras in their movies—and they did. Without further ado, some prime examples.
Sissignore (1968)
Do you read Jalopnik? Do you read Jalopnik every day? Then let me guess: if you own a yellow Miura, this is exactly how you spend your days. Weekdays and weekends included. When you're not reading Jalopnik, I mean. Racing on a coastal road against a blonde in a red Ferrari 250 California GT.
Also, be prepared in the clip for a reference of sorts to the The Smiths song “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out ”— from 18 years before Morrissey and Johnny Marr wrote it! In a comically gruesome way.
The Italian Job (1969)
Big surprise here. While the movie featured a long line of cool ‘60s cars, it’s the red Miura in the opening credits that hits you first. For minute after gorgeous minute, you can see the car accelerating over roads in the Italian Alps before, well, before you-know-what happens. If the movie’s Wikipedia page is to be believed, the car and its painful destruction were very real:
The Lamborghini Miura that has an unfortunate accident in the opening scenes was a real Miura P400 that was on test plates, and then was sold as “new” afterwards. The car that is tumbled down by the Mafia’s bulldozer was an original Miura that suffered a serious accident sometime before and killed its driver, an Arab prince.
L’Homme orchestre (1970)
More mountain roads. Another yellow Miura driving along to happy music. Does it ever get old? It does not.
Unfortunately, the Miura has been out of production for 38 years. Which means that it can only now be cast as a vintage car. (It has, however, been seen in a host of films since, from the original Gone in 60 Seconds to Super Fly T.N.T..) Which also means that by the time I lay my hands on one, even the newest example will be a very, very old car. But if a lady I spotted last year in Italy contemplating one is any clue, Miuras never die:
And even if they do, we’ll always have YouTube… right? More movie Miuras are more than welcome in the comments.
All photos by the author.