One to Buy: rare Argento Indianapolis 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 S
At the Turin Motor Show in October 1968, Lamborghini introduced the world to its improved second generation Miura: the S.
Offered alongside the sensational four-seat Espada and the more conservatively styled Islero 2+2, the Miura S most notably ushered in a more powerful 370bhp engine (up from 350bhp) along with some suspension and tyre updates and a higher specification cockpit.
The Miura S was then improved yet further when ventilated disc brakes were phased in from April 1970 as the model entered its last twelve months of production.
By the time the Miura S made way for the SV in March 1971, some 338 examples had been completed of which 21 were right-hand drive.
Currently on offer at the Real Art on Wheels showroom in Amsterdam is a particularly fine example of the Miura S theme: chassis 4716.
Unlike the majority of Miuras which were typically finished in bright attention-grabbing colours, chassis 4716 was configured in rarely seen Argento Indianapolis with Nero leatherette and Bleu fabric seat inserts.
Dispatched on November 6th 1970, the silver Miura was subsequently delivered to its first owner, Dr. Carmine Mariangelo in Lausanne, Switzerland, and registered on May 18th 1971.
Doctor Mariangelo retained chassis 4716 for five years, at which point it was sold to industrialist Roger Poinsot in Geneva. The third owner, fellow Swiss Georges Kolb, acquired the car in 1981, had the colour changed to red and kept it for 34 years.
Today, this unusually specified four owner Miura S has covered a little under 68,000km and is presented in superb condition having been returned to its original configuration.
Reprinted below is Real Art on Wheels’ description:
Year: 1971
Mileage: 67.768km
According to factory records, production number 561 was originally dispatched on 6 November 1970. The car was tastefully ordered in Argento Indianapolis with an interior in Nero leatherette with Bleu fabric. It’s believed to be the first of three cars sold new by Algerian dealer Mataam. The first owner was the 1917-born Dr. Carmine Mariangelo from Lausanne, Switzerland. He registered the car on May 18, 1971 with registration number “VD 23782”.
He would keep the car for exactly five years and sold the car in 1976 to Mr. Roger Poinsot, who had a construction and installation factory in Carouge, near Geneva. He registered the car on May 17, 1976 with registration number “GE 3066313”.
Again 5 years later in February 1981, chassis number 4716 became the property of Mr Georges Kolb, owner of a bakery machine company, for the amount of 29.000 CHF. The odometer read just over 60.000 km by then as can be seen on a copy of the original purchase invoice between him and Mr. Poinsot. He registered the car initially on March 6, 1981 with plates SG 6286. This would change in May 23, 1995 when Mr. Kolb moves and register the car with plates AI 2140.
During the first trip driving the car to his home in Oberriet the engine cover flipped open at a speed of around 170 km/h. The cover scraped on the tarmac and the damage done to it made a repaint necessary. Mr. Kolb decided he liked the car better in bright Red, so the whole car was repainted at the time. When we last spoke to Mr. Kolb in October 2023, he recalls it was only a paint damage and nothing major to the bodypanel. This is confirmed as we found the original body numbers in these parts.
During his ownership the car was driven around 200 km per year. Yearly maintenance was done by a local Ferrari garage, but apart from a brake overhaul, nothing needed to be done to the car. After 34 years he decided to part with his Miura and the car was sold to a collector/dealer in Germany in 2015. Total mileage at that time was around 66.000 km.
When the car arrived in Germany, it was decided to return the car to its original configuration of Argento Indianapolis Metallizzato. This was properly executed under professional supervision of the than owner. This light restoration was finished in 2016.
In February 2017, the car was acquired by us for a highly respected Dutch collector. On March 29, 2017 the car was road registered in The Netherlands and received registration number DZ-31-20. In the years that followed the car was enjoyed on a trip around Lago di Como organized by Real Art on Wheels and presented on two Dutch concours d’elegances. Over the years that followed, the car was very well maintained.
