VIN: the Malcolm Guthrie Lamborghini Miura P400 chassis 3516
History of chassis 3516
Chassis 3516 was one of 275 Miura P400s built. It was dispatched by the factory on June 17th 1968 to Lamborghini Concessionaires of Alie Street in central London.
Originally painted white with a black interior and right-hand drive, chassis 3516 was purchased by Sir Malcolm Guthrie.
Guthrie was the grandson of financier, Sir Connop Guthrie, and the son of Sir Giles Guthrie, an aviator and merchant banker.
1968 was a big year for 26 year old Malcolm Guthrie: he had taken up Formula 3 motor racing with a Frank Williams-run Brabham and a few months after purchasing the Miura, he acquired a Ford GT40 (chassis P/1009).
Guthrie crashed the GT40 in its first race (the Kyalami 9 Hours). As it could not be repaired locally, he bought John Wyer’s Mirage M1 (chassis 10001) to contest the rest of the South African Springbok series. P/1009 was subsequently rebuilt with a new chassis back in the UK.
Quite how long Guthrie retained the Miura is unclear.
By the 1970s, it was being raced in club events by fellow amateur, Mark Rigg. The exterior colour was now black and a host of modifications had been carried out to improve performance. These included some lightweight panels, a competition clutch, ventilated discs brakes with bigger calipers, an oil cooler, open carburettors and a straight-through exhaust.
In this configuration, chassis 3516 was pictured in the book Lamborghini Miura by Peter Coltrin and Jean-Francois Marchet.
The car was later owned by Martin Cliffe who commissioned Omicron Engineering to carry out a restoration between 1986 and 1988. Chassis 3516 was rebuilt to SV specification and the colour was changed to lime green with a blue interior.
The work was documented in Supercar Classics magazine where it also later appeared in a comparison test with a Ferrari 365 GTS/4.
Chassis 3516 was subsequently sold by Brooks at their inaugural London Motor Show auction in October 1989. Registered VAB 11G, it was purchased by Swiss collector, Charles Gaston Renaud.
Notable History
Bianco / Nero
1mm chassis
187th Miura built
Right-hand drive
17/06/1967 signed off at factory
Lamborghini Concessionaires, Alie Street, London
Sold new to Sir Malcolm Guthrie
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
