VIN: the ex-Bill Markley Lamborghini Miura P400 chassis 0979
History of chassis 0979
Chassis 0979 was the fifth Miura built and the first exported to the USA.
Assembled with the early 0.9mm gauge chassis, it was finished in Rosso Miura over Nero.
Signed off by the factory on 24th March 1967, the car was flown out to the USA for Lamborghini’s East Coast distributor, Jake Kaplan, to display at the New York Motor Show (held from April 1st to 9th).
Kaplan and Lamborghini’s West Coast distributor (Bob Estes from Inglewood, California) were allocated six Miuras each for 1967.
Bill Markley owned a Chevrolet dealership on Woodward Avenue in Detroit and was eager to get his hands on one of the new Lamborghinis. He made an initial enquiry and when the General Manager from Lamborghini East called him in late September to let him know 0979 was available, they struck a deal at $19,000.
Markley arranged for his friend, the journalist Karl Ludvigsen, to collect the car for him. Ludvigsen was already familiar with the Miura having visited Lamborghini East to write a feature on it for the August 1967 edition of Car & Driver magazine. He drove the 750 miles from Providence to Markley’s residence in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham in early October.
Markley retained 0979 for a short period, since which time it has gone through the hands of several private US owners.
Notable History
Rosso Miura / Nero
0.9mm chassis
5th Miura built
Left-hand drive
24/03/1967 signed off at factory
Jake Kaplan Lamborghini East, 464 Broad Street, Providence, Rhode Island
01-09/04/1967 New York Motor Show
Sold to Bill Markley, 3719 Peabody Drive, Birmingham, Michigan
August 1967 Car & Driver cover car
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Car & Driver - https://www.caranddriver.com/
