Boasting ideal proportions, abundant lines and generous curves created by the hands of Marcello Gandini of the Bertone studio, the Miura is coveted the world over. As testimony to Gandini’s skill, he would be made Chief Designer at Italdesign after Giorgetto Giugiaro who was named Car Designer of the Century in 2002. The Miura’s first public appearance was made in chassis and engine form only at the 1965 Turin motor show. While Ferrari, its eternal rival, struggled with old concepts and outdated dogma, Lamborghini pointed to the future by using a competition-inspired steel chassis and mounted its V12 engine in a mid-car position. It would be necessary to wait another six months for the aesthetics of the new Lamborghini, revealed at the Geneva Motor Show. Although the main highlight of the Miura was its body and performance figures, the use of a mid-mounted engine was a game-changer for road-going supercars. The solution was suggested to Ferruccio Lamborghini by Gian Paolo Dallara, the then director of the brand’s engineering department, who wanted to manufacture a racing car. The first Lamborghini Miura, designated the P400, had a 60-degree V12 engine made entirely of aluminum. The 3929cc unit had four overhead camshafts and four triple-body Weber 46IDA 3C1 carburetors, it developed 350hp at 7000 revolutions per minute. The transmission was a fully synchronised five-speed gearbox with a ZF self-locking differential. The wishbone suspension, also derived from competition was independent on all four wheels along with helical springs, telescopic dampers and torsion bars. The first Miura was able to reach a top speed of 273 km/h, taking 4.9 seconds to reach 100 km/h and 11.7 seconds to reach 160 km/h.