► Chassis #3586 survived filming
► Not the one that goes over the cliff
► Still in pristine condition
50 years on from its starring role, Lamborghini has tracked down the Miura P400 used in the Italian Job. To be clear, this isn’t the car that flew off a cliff in the film – it’s an identical car used for the opening sequences, and is therefore in significantly better condition.
Lamborghini’s Polo Storico – essentially an arm for preserving and authenticating classic Lambos – determined the car shown driving on the Great St Bernard Pass is chassis #3586. It’s currently part of The Kaiser Collection of Vadus, and the process of authentication sounds like a movie plot in itself.
Proof in the pudding
According to Lamborghini, archives and former employees were consulted – along with the Enzo Moruzzi, who delivered the car in the first place, and drove it as a stunt double.
It turns out there were two P400s; a heavily damaged one to be used for the crash scene, and another pristine one for everything else. After filming, it went back to the factory and was then delivered to its first owner in Rome.
‘There was a Miura P400 almost ready on the production line, in the right color, left-hand drive and with white leather interior,’ said Moruzzi. ‘It was aesthetically identical to the damaged one and we decided to use it for the film. The only thing worrying us was the elegant white leather seats, given that car had to get back to Sant’Agata in perfect condition. So, I asked for them to be taken out, replacing them with a set of black leather seats that we used for testing.
‘The giveaway was the headrests, which on the Miura are attached to the dividing glass between the driver compartment and the engine compartment, which couldn’t be replaced in time. In the film, you can see the original white headrests.’
You can browse the gallery above to see more pictures of the car, but scroll down and you can read our original drive of the Miura from December 1967.