As I have time, I will add general Miura information to the site. I welcome your suggestions.
| 8/3/24 |
After months of waiting, assembly has begun!
See Page 37.
|
| 4/19/23 |
The paint is buffed out and the carbs look almost as good.
See Page 36.
|
| 1/15/23 |
Smile! The Miura is Brambilla Blue!
See Page 35.
|
| 6/20/22 |
A new toy and progress on the Miura.
See Page 34.
|
| 7/31/21 |
The doors have surgery.
See Page 33.
|
| 5/16/21 |
More updates from the shop as gapping completes and bodywork begins.
See Page 32.
|
| 3/6/21 |
I've added a few more photos to Page 31. Gapping continues.
|
| 2/20/21 |
More exciting news. I just found that the Cade's County
episodes that first showed me the Miura were posted on YouTube last November! I am watching them this weekend.
|
| 2/7/21 |
BIG NEWS: The Miura is back in the shop! Since coming home, incomplete,
in November of 2009, there has been very little progress on the Miura. On Feb 4, a few days ago, the body/chassis went back to
Bobileff Motorcar to continue the restoration. The shop estimates 18 to 24 months to finish it since they must
split their time across many projects. As always, Bobileff has several Miuras there now. Yesterday I took a bunch
of body trim to the shop. Everything that goes on the body will be fitted to make sure all is well before the next major
step of checking all gaps with a lot of weight in the car (to simulate the finished weight). Here it is all taped up,
waiting for the tow truck. More news to come on Page 31.
|
| 11/10/19 |
I'm long overdue for an update. The Urraco has been running great except for
a few nagging details. Too many other projects have prevented me from finishing it completely, but I will.
Here it is at the La Jolla Concours. It's first concours!
I later took it to the San Marino Motor Classic where it took Third in Class.
I'll take some more photos soon. You can now also watch videos of the car!
Hope you enjoy these.
|
| 10/29/18 |
Almost exactly a year since my last update, the Urraco is finally back on the road again!
It was ready for the Lamborghini Club San Diego meet, and I had a great time. I will post photos of the event soon.
See Urraco For Sale, Page 16 to see the shocking (pun) reassembly.
|
| 8/28/17 |
Another year gone by! Wow. I returned from Monterey last week. The Urraco didn't make it this year.
See Urraco For Sale, Page 15 for the story.
|
| 8/24/16 |
MADE IT! I had a great time. I'll post more photos later.
|
| 8/3/16 |
ONE WEEK TO MONTEREY. I said this last year and was wrong. But this year, the
Urraco goes to Monterey. Check out the progress on Urraco For Sale, Page 14.
More updates coming soon! Seriously! (No, really. I mean it this year.)
|
| 6/30/16 |
No Miura progress, but the Urraco is slowly being readied for Monterey this August.
(I almost hate to say it - no jinx this year!). I've updated my Links page because many were old (gone) and I
found new ones I like. So this list is smaller, but all link to active sites. One is brand new today and that's
a video about the 50th anniversary for the Miura, held by the factory. I was invited, but as you know my car
was sadly in no condition to go.
|
| 6/20/16 |
My longtime friend Jim Kaminski pointed out an error in the serial number
list under Miura Info > Production. He also shared this great video of
Lamborghini Miura SV Amelia PoloStorico�s First Restoration. Thanks Jim!
|
| 4/17/16 |
Finally an update on the Urraco. I've been driving it, but the steering
has made a clunking sound since I bought the car. Time to fix that annoying noise.
See Urraco For Sale, Page 13.
|
| 2/11/15 |
I think the Urraco market (the whole car market really) must be heating up because
I've received a lot of e-mails asking about my car. It's coming along. I'm very happy with the brakes and it goes great,
but it needs new tires (the XWXs are 20 years old), the AC needs to be recharged, and there are some electrical issues to
sort out. I'm also thinking of having the interior completely redone. Then I want to enjoy it for a while before selling it.
Eventually it will be sold because I want to fund the Miura restoration, but once the Urraco is gone it could be several
more years before I have a running Lamborghini again, and I've just gone too long without a cool car to drive. Maybe later
year. In the meantime, this is what I like to see:
1975 Urraco Typo 111 (like mine) sells at auction last month.
|
| 12/2/14 |
All hydraulics have been rebuilt. But there's more to do. See Urraco For Sale,
Page 12.
|
| 11/4/14 |
All the brake and clutch hydraulic parts have arrived and I'll add more soon showing the rebuild.
In the meantime, have a look at fellow San Diegian Gene Ondrusek's car on this recently done
Petrolicious video! Congratulations Gene.
|
| 10/11/14 |
Fixing up the Urraco's brake and clutch hydraulics. See Urraco For Sale,
Page 11.
|
| 8/13/14 |
The Urraco is almost done, but not ready to take to Monterey. There are other shows coming up. See Urraco For Sale,
Page 10.
|
| 8/8/14 |
Determined to finish the Urraco next week for Monterey! See Urraco For Sale,
Page 10.
|
| 2/3/14 |
I never cease to be amazed at how sneaky time is.
It just slips by in a blink. I can�t believe I made no updates in 2013 � and that means
(almost) no progress. Well, I was re-motivated recently and spent a few weekends buffing the
paint. I think I just got burned out on sanding. It seemed never-ending. See Urraco For Sale,
Page 9.
|
| 3/4/12 |
A false start at color sanding the Urraco, and
the engine is dropped out of the car for a refresh. See Urraco For Sale,
Page 8.
|
| 2/21/12 |
After a long break, I'm back working on
the Urraco. Now comes... more sanding. See Urraco For Sale, Page 7.
|
| 8/7/11 |
It's been a couple of weekends since I painted the
Urraco body, and now the rest of the parts are painted. I've added more photos to
Urraco For Sale, Page 6.
|
| 7/24/11 |
After many, many years, the Urraco is finally painted!
After wrestling with color choices, I finally painted it what I wanted. Maybe not the best
choice for a car I plan to sell, but at least I'm very happy with it.
See Urraco For Sale, Page 6.
|
| 9/6/10 |
All the bodywork on the Urraco has been done,
and it's been painted in primer for final blocking. This is exciting! See Urraco For Sale, Page 5.
|
| 8/9/10 |
I can't believe it's been six months since my last update!
I have been doing a lot of work on the Urraco but it's all been sanding the bodywork, and photos
don't really show what's happening. "Here it is in primer." "And here it is in primer a month later."
Painting a car is 98% sanding, and that's what I've been doing. As soon as the whole car is blocked
perfectly, I'll post some photos.
Today Gary Bobileff called me to say an envelope had arrived for me at his shop. I stopped by after
work to pick it up and was absolutely delighted to find a CD-R labeled Cade's County Lambo Miura Series!
As soon as I got home I put it my computer and there were four video clips of the Miura from the show!
They are dubbed in French. THANK YOU very much! I really enjoyed seeing the clips.
The car is a P400 with a few oddities, such as four exhaust tips, chrome headlight rings, and the
front bumper looks like it might be chromed.
|
| 2/24/10 |
A bit of progress: In December I sent my shocks
to Koni to be rebuilt and they arrived today. See Page 30.
|
| 12/15/09 |
BIG NEWS: The Miura has come home!
See Page 29.
|
| 9/15/09 |
Primer coat done - see Page 28.
I went to Monterey this August for The Weekend. After a dismal last year on the Marina Airport
tarmac, it was great to be back on green grass at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch, just a short distance
from the race track. It was fun seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and of course seeing some great
cars. I met Scott Reid, who is developing a bolt-on dry-sump system for the Miura. Visit Scott's
site at MiurEssence.
|
| 9/9/09 |
The Miura is getting another coat of primer.
Photos on Page 28.
|
| 3/1/09 |
More updates to the new
Miura Info section, especially
for the Roadster page.
|
| 2/22/09 |
I got carried away today and completely redid the menus
and restructured the P400/S/SV pages. This information, and more, has been moved to the new
Miura Info section, where I will continue to add
general Miura information, as I originally intended when I started this site in 2000. I have
also updated the Books page, after buying Joe Sackey's excellent
The Miura Bible - truly a "must have" for any Miura fan. I welcome your comments and
suggestions on the new navigation and information. More coming soon!
|
| 1/10/09 |
Happy new year! I've occasionally been contacted by people
looking for Miuras - especially project cars. Don Sullivan has decided to sell his 1968 Miura P400.
Unfortunately Don�s car no longer has its V-12. The engine was owned by Jay Leno (and may still be).
This Miura has a Chevy V-8. I wrote this Miura up for the Lamborghini Club newsletter many years ago.
1/23/09: This posting found a buyer for Don's car. It has been sold.
Click to see larger pictures:
|
| 10/26/08 |
I've moved the home page tribute to my dear friend Bob Merrell inside this
site to a new menu button on the left. Several personal events have made it seem like it's the right time.
There hasn't been any progress on the Miura, but I've done some work on the Urraco, so I'll have some photos to add soon.
|
| 6/27/08 |
I'm remembering my friend Bob today on the anniversary of his passing,
and thought I'd update the site with news. Unfortunately I don't have any good news. Bobileff has given priority to
other customer's cars, which came in after mine, and while the Miura Roadster and
Miura SVJ
are being readied for Monterey, 3901 has been pushed aside. I was
really hoping to have the car ready. This year Lamborghini is being honored, and I made a promise to Bob that
the car would be finished. I'm not happy about it. I'll try to get the Urraco finished so I can participate in the celebration
of my favorite car company.
|
| 5/25/08 |
I spent today at Bobileff's working on the car. I've added a few pictures of parts getting
ready, and the result of my efforts today on Page 27.
|
| 5/17/08 |
I've updated the Acquisition page with the history of 3901. Thanks to
"Lambo" Jack Riddell I was able to contact Enzo Moruzzi at Lamborghini
who worked there when my car was built - both times.
|
| 4/19/08 |
The body sections start to come together and parts are test fit before final blocking begins.
See Page 26.
|
| 2/26/08 |
The Miura headlights clean up beautifully, but progress stalls on the Urraco as I succumb to a miserable cold.
Page 25 added to Restoration.
|
| 2/10/08 |
Progress resumes on the Urraco. I've posted a new page
showing the interior going back together. Expect weekly updates
on that project until it's done. One way or another, I'll have a running Lamborghini to take to
Monterey in August.
|
| 1/19/08 |
I've taken all my remaining Miura parts to Bobileff Motors,
and work on frame is finally complete! Body work begins with panel alignment.
|
| 12/26/07 |
Last update of the year. Restoration page 23
added to show the SV suspension conversion is complete. Only a very few more frame updates left to do.
|
| 11/12/07 |
I've added updates for Sept and Nov to the restoration
pages (21 and 22). The SV control arms are ready to go!
Someone suggested that by providing links to Amazon from points in my site, I may earn enough
to cover the costs of the site. Since this is a non-profit, hobby site, I'm considering it. It
would be nice if the site could pay for itself. Any comments?
|
| 7/22/07 |
I finally got another scanner (my old one failed years ago)
and so I scanned in the rest of my books and brought that list up to date. I also sorted the publications
by date.
|
| 7/1/07 |
My dear friend Bob Merrell, who is forever tied to 3901,
passed away on June 27th. This is a tremendous personal loss. I've added
a dedication page that will remain for some time. Please take a moment to read it. I hope you can
take some inspiration from this, as Bob inspired me. Eventually I will create a tribute section
for this site.
Gary performed a fitting experiment with SV suspension, and
my new rods arrive. See page 20.
|
| 3/25/07 |
A couple weeks ago I took all of the interior parts
down to Bobileff so that the upholstery work could begin. I'm eager to see these old parts
in their new leather and color. The photos are on page 19.
I also have some Urraco progress photos to post. Coming soon.
|
| 12/31/06 |
Finally, a new page 18 showing the body work!
Progress continues again, and I should have steady updates now until the gala unveiling
at Monterey in August!
|
| 11/22/06 |
Just a quick note to let you know that I haven't died or given
up on the restoration. In fact, I have recently managed to fund the balance of the work and am hoping that
the car will be ready to take to Monterey in August 07. With the new crankshaft and other updates done
on the engine, I decided to splurge and order a new set of custom rods from
Carrillo Industries. I hope to have
some photos to share soon. Thanks to everyone who has contacted me with support to keep up the work.
|
| 3/12/06 |
I finally took all the pistons and rods back to Bobileff Motorcar,
so the engine will start going together soon. No new pix yet, but I'll add them as the engine work progresses.
|
| 10/23/05 |
Engine work progresses slowly on the pistons and rods. New pics posted.
|
| 11/23/04 |
If you need a set of vintage tires for your
exotic, join the Lamborghini Registry and other vintage sports owners in
writing Pirelli to let them know.
Click here to learn more.
|
| 9/10/04 |
The new Miura crankshaft has arrived.
|
| 7/24/04 |
More of the Urraco is painted in primer.
Only a few weeks before it's yellow!
|
| 7/18/04 |
A bit more work on the Urraco to primer more parts.
|
| 7/12/04 |
I have resumed work on the Urraco, after a long idle period.
I'm motivated by progress on the Miura so it's time to get serious about selling the Urraco. I've posted
some "work in process" photos and will update them as the project continues. For potential buyers, it
should be yellow in three to four weeks. If you want another color, contact me now. :-)
|
| 6/12/04 |
I had to share
this picture from the Lamborghini Registry.
This is close to what my car will look like when it's done. My block is now having new
sleeves inserted, so I should have some new pictures next week.
|
| 4/24/04 |
I've bought two die cast cars that I really like:
An AutoArt Miura SV and a Koysho Countach LP400. I've added both to the models page. There
are also some photos of my new valves on restoration page 13.
More head work to come.
|
| 9/6/03 |
I've added a section for scale models.
|
| 8/31/03 |
Starting on the engine. See Restoration
page 12 for the evolving crankshaft story.
|
| 4/17/03 |
page 11 shows more frame work. Almost done now.
|
| 3/19/03 |
The frame is back from Ye Olde Twist & Stretche
Shoppe, all squared up. See page 9.
|
| 2/23/03 |
I've posted a new restoration page 8
just to get into practice of updating this site again. :-) I've managed to fund some more
restoration work, so you should see some progress soon.
|
| 1/19/03 |
I've received several e-mails asking how the project
is coming along. I can't believe it's been over a year since I updated this site - and worse,
made any significant progress on the Miura. I did buy, via Bobileff, a pair of Espada lower rear
control arms, which will be modified to match Miura SV suspension. I'm considering this upgrade.
While it has handling advantages, creating an S with SV suspension results in a car that the factory
never made, so (what's left of) the purist in me is hesitating. Stay tuned.
Much progress has been made on the Urraco, although it is not yet yellow. I was given a
digital camera for Christmas, so I will be taking photos soon to show you the Urraco.
Thanks to all who have written with questions, encouragement, and shared your stories with empathy.
|
| 8/12/01 |
Projects always take longer than I think.
The Urraco is almost ready for yellow paint.
|
| 7/2/01 |
I've received some e-mail from people asking how the
Miura is coming. Unfortunately, I have kept this site up to date. In other words - no progress.
I expect to paint the Urraco this week, so I'll post some photos of it when it's done. I visited
the Miura at Bobileff's last week. Including mine, Gary has five Miura's in his shop: Two SV's,
an S, and another P400. Naturally, we're copying all the S and SV mods to my car. Or rather, we
will be when the Urraco sells. Stay tuned.
|
| 3/25/01 |
I've added a few photos to the "Other Photos" section.
The Urraco is coming along slowly. The car has been painted several times, and removing all the
paint is taking more weekends that I thought. And I'm finding I have less weekends to work on
it than I thought. Still, progress was made today. I hope to have it painted in another month.
|
| 1/27/01 |
I've almost finished adding my Lamborghini library
to the "Books" page, including my Miura book that was autographed by Lamborghini! I've also
updated the left nav. No progress on the Miura, but the Urraco is coming along. It is almost
primered. Most votes are for yellow :-) and two people have suggested I let the buyer choose.
I'll try that for a couple of weeks after the car is in primer, but I want to make progress so
I can get back to the Miura. I enjoy hearing from other Miura fans and welcome your comments.
|
| 12/16/00 |
Sorry, not much going on with the Miura or Urraco.
I will be adding some books (new section) that I have, to give you something new to look at
while the Miura project waits for the Urraco to sell. I expect progress on the Miura will
resume in January or February. Happy Holidays!
|
| 11/4/00 |
I've added some photos in the "Early Efforts" section,
and a few more Urraco photos. Also added a new "Other Photos" page. |
| 10/29/00 |
The new pictures are up.
|
| 10/19/00 |
No new pictures posted yet (I need to finish the roll
and post the new pix), but the car is right-side-up and primered. The frame from the rear
bulkhead forward is finished! It is strong, straight, and beautiful. The rear frame still
needs some work, but Bobileff can only restore the car at the same rate I can fund it, and
with the recent decline in the stock market, I can't afford to fund it as fast as either of
us would like. :-(
I'm thinking of selling my 1975 Lamborghini Urraco P250 to continue the Miura project. The
Urraco has a completely rebuilt engine and a to-the-metal new paint job (in progress). Let me
know if anyone is interested. I'll post some photos of that car too. (Now I know how to
finish the roll of film.)
|
