VIN: the William Loughran / Lord Lilford / Elton John / Charles Chong Lamborghini Miura SV chassis 4830
History of chassis 4830
Of the 147 Miura SVs built, nine were originally right-hand drive.
Chassis 4830 was one of those nine. Configured in Bianco with Oro wheels, Oro sills, a Bleu interior and air-conditioning, it was dispatched to Lamborghini GB in Alie Street, London, on October 16th 1971.
Four days after sign off, chassis 4830 starred at the London Motor Show which took place at Earls Cout between October 20th-30th.. From here it was purchased by well-known car dealer, William Loughran of Preston. The car was then registered in January 1972.
William Loughran retained chassis 4830 for about a year. He then sold to George Powys who was better known as Lord Lilford.
Powys (the 7th Baron Lilford) inherited his title aged 18; his father had died in 1945, at which point the Barony temporarily went to his second cousin, Stephen Powys.
During the late 1950s, George Powys set up a business manufacturing car tyres in South Africa. He had moved to the southern hemisphere in 1957 to marry his second wife.
By the time Powys purchased chassis 4830 in early 1972, he was on his fifth wife.
Powys did not keep the Miura long; by 1973 it was in the possession of one Tony Brown who in turn sold the car back to William Loughran.
The next owner was singer / songwriter, Elton John (real name Reginald Dwight).
Having initially written work for other musicians with his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, Elton John released his debut album Empty Sky in 1969. He had his first hit single in 1970; Your Song reached the top ten in both the USA and UK. He went on to achieve massive success and is considered one of the most influential musicians of his era.
In early 1975, David Salamone of Bleinheim Cars in St. Johns Wood brokered the sale of chassis 4830 (at the time registered NGM 100M) from Jack la Fort to London-domiciled Malaysian Charles Chong, a prolific buyer of high end cars during the 1970s.. However, by this time the white SV was no longer a particularly well-sorted machine and Chong elected to have Salamone move the car on around six months later..
Chassis 4830 went through the hands of Steven Wartby and John Robertson who in 1978 tasked the broker Malcolm Clarke to find a buyer.
One Monday morning that summer, Clarke got a call from Charles Chong who had been driving home from the Playboy Club in his black Ferrari 512 BB when he had been overtaken by Rod Stewart in a yellow Miura SV and decided he had to have a properly sorted SV for himself.
Clarke bought the car over to Chong’s Hampstead residence where a deal was struck at £7000. Chong then dispatched the Miura to Rardley Motors who were given free rein to make it the best SV in the world. Chong also sent the Miura (which was now registered CCC 1) to the Rolls-Royce service centre on London’s Hythe Road to have its gold sills repainted white and the wheels repainted silver.
In 1985, Charles Chong sold the SV via Portman to serial Lamborghini owner and demolition contractor, Barry Robinson. During Robinson’s ownership, 4830’s interior was switched from the original Bleu to a two-tone white and black colour scheme.
In December 1986, chassis 4830 featured in a road test by Performance Car magazine (for which it starred on the front cover).
Barry Robinson retained the car until 1988. At this point it was reputedly dispatched to a collection in Switzerland.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Supercar Nostalgia & Charles Chong
