Lamborghini Lamborghini Miura SV in the driving report
05.03.2010
V alentino Balboni thinks, feels and lives Lamborghini. Since 1968, the now 60-year-old has been an indispensable part of the Italian sports car company, which was founded in 1963: first as a mechanic, then from 1973 as a test driver - his true calling. And because you can't renounce a vocation as easily as you can a profession, the fact that the passionate driver officially retired at the end of last year has changed little to this day.
The Lamborghini Miura SV will always be remembered by Balboni
' I had to leave for labor law reasons - officially, 'said the Lamborghini veteran of his current form of activity in St. Agata Bolognese. 'But no longer working was out of the question for me either.' So the unwanted retiree, who knows the company in all its forms of existence - from the owner-run company in the time of Ferruccio Lamborghini to part of a large corporation since the takeover by Audi, takes action - still as a matter of course to help his colleagues. In the development of new cars as well as in the restoration and maintenance of older sports cars.
With the Lamborghini Miura SV, the sport auto for the purpose of comparison with the current Supertest-Murciélago SV (click here for Supertest ), Balboni has special memories:' The last Miura is the first car whose fate I was able to actively influence as a test driver. You don't forget that. ”
The Lamborghini Miura SV was built from 1972
How also - with the appearance? The way the two-seater stands in front of the window of the museum, crouched low over the asphalt, slender and bursting with strength at the same time, hardly anyone with even a drop of gasoline in their blood should be able to escape the appeal of the rear-wheel drive two-seater. The roof line is enoughTall, straight up to the hips, the fenders curve in front and back with a sweeping and elegant style over 15-inch aluminum wheels. It looks just as timeless and modern as the electrically raised round headlights, which rest nicely in the caves provided for them when idle, or the air inlets in the color-contrasting sills and the rear side panels.
A body made of aluminum Today, however, it is no longer conceivable without bumpers. The Lamborghini Miura SV, built in 1972, already has all the other modern equipment features on board: electric windows, for example, or an adjustable steering column - although for the latter, the specialist workshop or at least the good old on-board tools must be used. There is no modern quick release in this nostalgic environment.
385 hp are available in the Lamborghini Miura SV
Ergo, the seating position is not really casual at first - kind of frog-like. If you have long legs, you will find yourself in distress due to the insufficient adjustment range of the driver's seat. The armchairs cannot slide further back because the heart of the 4.39-meter flounder acts in the back of the passengers, directly behind the bulkhead: a twelve-cylinder naturally aspirated engine with a displacement of four liters mounted transversely in front of the rear axle. Modern Lamborghini - including the super-tested Murciélago SV - carry their twelve-ender lengthways. An automated six-speed manual gearbox is responsible for the power transmission to all four wheels.
When the 385 horsepower is fully required, the Miura SV, on the other hand, only requires the rear wheels and forces its pilot to do manual work: the five speed levels are set precisely guided in an open setting. Nice detail on the side: because the reverse gear on the Miura is where the sixth gear engages today, the driver can protect himself with a small locking lever if necessary. So that the engine, which is lubricated via the same oil pan as the self-made transmission and the differential supplied by ZF, does not prematurely bless the time. But now enough chatter - even if you could unquestionably listen to the adventures of Valentino Balboni forever. We want to go. Occasions like this are rare enough.
Pure sports car feeling in the Lamborghini Miura SV
The engine roars, then it hums audibly to itself. If you like, you can follow the effects of your game with the accelerator pedal while standing through the pane of glass behind the seats: this is where the throttle valve linkage acts. Once the Miura SV is in motion, there is of course no time to look back with pleasure. It doesn't seem to have been intended in '72 anyway, otherwise the oval exterior mirror in front of the A-pillar would have been largerfailed. In fact, the Lambo drivers of the late sixties and early seventies are likely to have been as clearly superior to their colleagues as those of the 21st century. No question about it - this oldie is potent and surprisingly not grayed out. Pure sports car feeling with a range of services that meets modern requirements, plus an astonishing amount of comfort.
In this unconditionally sports-friendly environment, which was once exorbitantly expensive at around 75,000 marks, only the headrestless seats and the seats that do not roll up automatically are from yesterday Belts. Everything else - including Balboni's humorous stories from four decades of Lamborghini - is potentially addictive. No wonder that the man wants to continue to think, feel and live in these categories. Who would volunteer to garden when they can have test drives like this?
