Modern-day Miura

[Joel Heinke]

This is a build diary for my home/scratch built Lamborghini Miura SV car project. I’m about 3 years into the project so there’s a fair bit done but as anyone who has undertaken this type project will say, the majority is still yet to come. The original impetus for the project was to make a hand built aluminum body so I have been maintaining a build diary on AllMetalShaping.com. As I’ve gotten into the powertrain aspects of the project, I’ve felt the need to find a community of builders with experience in mid-engine cars and that’s what leads me to come here.

I’ve found that build diaries starting mid-project usually lack context for those who partake in them to understand the “why” behind the builder’s decisions. So I’ll provide a recap from the start of the project to provide this context. Given this recap is summarizing several years of work, it might feel like the project is going at warp speed. It’s not as any hand built car project takes lots of time. Please feel free to chip in with questions and comments all along the way as that’s why I’m taking the time to post this build diary.

The overarching goal for this project is to complete a high performance oriented but comfortable street drivable car that has the beautiful looks of the Lamborghini Miura SV. I have made various car body pieces from scratch before, but not a complete car body. I plan to scratch build the Miura body myself in aluminum. This won’t be a replica or re-creation per se, but hopefully will look like a Miura to the average person on the street.

For those not already familiar with the Miura, here’s what a well preserved Miura SV looks like.

Miura with clips opened and as a cut-away.

A brief history is that the Miura was the first mid-engine, street oriented V12 powered “supercar” sold to the general public. It was built by Lamborghini in Italy, first available in 1967 to 1969 in what is known as the P400 model and 275 of these were built. It was upgraded to P400S model from 1968 to 1971 with 338 cars built in this model. The Miura Sprint Veloce or SV model was produced from 1971 to 1973 with 150 of this model built. What is fairly unique to the Miura is the transverse orientation of its 4 liter V12 engine that is located just behind the cockpit. The Miura came equipped with a 200 mph speedo and independent testing showed it to be able to achieve a top speed of 172 mph.

My previous scratch built car project, a Ferrari 250 GTO, is complete (well almost as this type car is never done) and took just over 20 years in the making. I’m hoping to complete the Miura much faster than that. A combination of not trying to do everything myself and now having more time for my car hobby should help. From the GTO project, I’ve found metal shaping to be the part I find most rewarding so I plan to do all the Miura body creation myself. The Miura is a very complicated car so my expectation is that this project will not be easy. I do think the resulting car will be very unique and I’m guessing the build journey will be as well.

 

[Joel Heinke]

Forming a high level project plan

In a project of this size and complexity, it’s important to define priorities and from there form a good plan. My top priorities are:

• Build a high performance car that I’ll want to keep and use for a long time. In other words, make a car that will be thrilling to drive but also comfortable to drive both around town and on extended trips. I’ve never owned a “garage queen” and don’t intend to start now.
  
  
• Stay true to the “spirit” of the original Miura but don’t restrict project choices to the ones Lamborghini engineers made over 50 years ago. To me, the Miura spirit includes a powerful transverse engine (i.e. capable of propelling the car up to 172 mph) placed in the middle of the car and with a body shape that could easily be mistaken for an original from 15 feet away.
  
  
• Take advantage of automotive technology advances by including them where it will make for a better driving experience but won’t take away from the Miura spirit in priority 2. Some modern technologies that quickly come to mind are things like EFI, ECM, and performance tires. The Miura was a very technologically advanced car for its day and there are still some areas where today’s factory cars (USA made anyway) and OEM parts are still catching up. I’ll want to strike the right balance between sticking to technologies used in original Miura and modern ones.

From these priorities, a few top level questions came to mind:

• Can I comfortably fit in a regular sized Miura or do I need to go for a plus sized car?
• What engine and transmission package should be used?
• Will I need to build a chassis myself or is there a source where I can buy one at a reasonable price?

As it turns out, the answers to these questions are very inter-related. I’ll provide my thoughts and conclusions in subsequent posts.

 

[Joel Heinke]

Regular or plus sized Miura?

Ok, so first off, I’m not your average sized guy. I’m taller than most at 6’ 5” and 225 pounds. But if I were an average sized guy, I’d build a regular sized Miura. The real question is if a regular sized Miura will be comfortable for me (at taller than average) to drive. I did investigate building a GT40 prior to taking on the Miura project. I didn’t go forward with a GT40 because I didn’t think I’d ever fit in it comfortably.

The most obvious way to answer this question is to find a Miura and take a seat. In reality, this is much easier said than done when you’re talking about a car whose value is around 2 million dollars. Well after working hard at this for a few months, I finally this week was able to track down a Miura and check out the fit.

Before answering the fit question, I’ve got to say that the Miura is even more beautiful in real life than in pictures. The car I found just happened to be a finely restored Miura being prepped for show at Pebble Beach Concorso Italiano that year, but still what a beautiful car. It even further strengthened my resolve for this project. I’d like to pass along my gratitude here to Geoff Provo of GP Enterprises (www.gpenterprises99.com) for getting me access to this Miura. He’s a real nice guy and quite knowledgeable about Italian sports cars.

Well the answer to the fit question is that I fit well enough that I could drive it but not well enough to to safely drive it or call it a comfortable fit. The input from those in the know is that a 5’ 8” person fits a Miura very comfortably and people up to 6’ fit alright. Above 6’ and the angles in your ankles and knees becomes too great to be long trip comfortable.

So it’s a plus sized Miura for me. Now the question becomes 103%, 104% or 105%? Since the answer to this question is inter-related with the other top level questions, those questions need to be moved along in order to completely answer this question.

 

[Joel Heinke]

What engine/transaxle to use?

Absent other constraints, I’d use a V12 for this project. Given the original Miura had a V12, the smooth exhaust note of a 60 degree V12, and the distinctive scream at revs, I was really hoping I could make a V12 work. So what realistic choices of V12 engines are out there?

Using an original Miura engine is out of the question as they’re just not available. That’s too bad because they are very unique in that the engine and transmission are cast together in a single alloy block.

So while finding a workable V12 is already hard, finding one that can be hooked up to a transverse transaxle makes the level of difficulty go up considerably.

Of the modern OEM made V12s, the BMW M70 engine is still readily available and makes decent power. The downside is that the engine is fairly long at just over 29 inches, rebuilding costs can be high, and adding horsepower over the 325HP it came out of the factory with is quite expensive. The chassis I was evaluating (more to come on this later) has an opening 33 inches wide where the engine will go. 4 inches of space for a bellhousing, etc. was just not enough space to work with. The Jaguar and Mercedes V12s were even less amenable for various reasons. In addition, I’d like to choose a power plant that has a large, active community of people using and modifying it as well.

Hmmm…so after a few weeks of research, the V12 route wasn’t looking very promising. In addition, I needed to take into account the mating up of the engine with a transaxle. I really like the notion of transverse engine transaxle package because all the rotating parts, from engine out to wheels, are operating in a parallel plane. There is no power loss from needing to turn the rotation 90 degrees like in a standard hypoid differential. Also a transverse engine is needed to fit the spirit of the Miura.

So I started to seek out options for factory built cars that have transverse engines (both front and rear wheel drive). Transverse engine packages in front wheel drive cars and Fieros are common but almost all are either v6 or inline 4 and fall short on the power criteria (i.e. must push a 2,800 lb car at least 172 mph). I looked at Fiero V8 conversions using the F40 manual transmission but these make for a wide engine transaxle package given the transmission is basically inline with the crankshaft. Yes, people make this work in a Fiero chassis but that’s not the chassis I’ll be using for this project. I looked at racing oriented, sequential transaxles and the $16-20K price tag quickly scared me off.

The next path of investigation was to use a V8 along with a custom built transaxle. I have a friend, Pete Aardema that is a diehard DIY car guy with a soft spot for mid-engine transverse platforms. Pete had already built a couple street rods with transverse V8s in the back seat so he has both the interest and experience. Pete teamed with master machinist Kevin Braun to build the Chevy LS3 SOHC conversion on the engine in my GTO so I know they have the knowledge, experience and machinery that surpasses most prototype machine shops. Pete cranked out a pencil drawing with the concept and offered to scout up an engine for mockup purposes. His question back to me was, “What engine do you want to use?”

So what V8 both fits to the spirit of a Miura and is short in length? Well it needs to have alloy block/heads and overhead cams just to equal the 50 year old Miura technology. The Ford 5L Coyote has this plus 4 valve heads so some advanced technology to boot. The BMW and Mercedes V8s are also technically advanced (more even than the Coyote) but don’t appear to be separable from their OEM ECM/PCMs. I’d really like to emulate the Weber carbs visible through Miura back window with an 8 stack EFI system so this brings an aftermarket ECM into the picture. I checked and yes, there’s an 8 stack EFI for the Coyote that uses very realistic looking Weber like throttle bodies.

So there you have it, I chose is to use a Ford 5L Coyote engine. The factory output of 435 HP with 400 ft lb torque should propel a Miura up to 172 mph and beyond. For the transaxle, I’m using a custom bell housing/transfer case mated up to a Tremec TKO600 with a shortened output mated up to a Super 8.8 limited-slip differential carrier from a 2015+ Mustang IRS all these components meshed up with custom made helical gears. Ok, so I’m sure your heads are spinning from that last sentence. I’ll be posting pictures for the transaxle mockup after answering the chassis question in a subsequent post.

 

[Joel Heinke]

What chassis to use?
When I first started thinking about building a Miura, I hadn’t seen any chassis used for home builds of the Miura except the Fiero. The Miura build using the Fiero required lengthening the wheelbase and ended up using very little of the Fiero in the end. No offense meant to those who’ve used a Fiero as the basis of their car projects but this felt like a very hacky way to go about building a Miura so I eliminated that chassis option right away.

The next alternative I looked at was to build it myself. Hey, I’ve designed and built a tube chassis for the C5 GTO and already have all the tools, including a chassis jig, needed to do it. Alternatively, I could build a chassis from sheet steel like they did at the Lamborghini factory if I got myself a power shear and a big box/pan brake. Hey, I’m always up for learning some new things.

Then I was poking around on the Mad Mechanics forum and came across a car called a Chupacabra. I’d never heard of that car before so I didn’t pay it any attention at first. Then I kept seeing mentions in the recent posts section and words like “aluminum” and “chassis” caught my eye. So being the curious person I am, I clicked into the thread which mostly announced new videos in a series of videos posted on YouTube. What the heck, I took a look at a video, then another, then another…

It turns out the Chupacabra is a car being produced by Charley Strickland of Strickland Racing in Fort Worth, TX. Charley has been building Countach and Diablo replicas for some time and decided to build a similar car but of his own design, the Chupacabra. What really caught my eye was the all aluminum monocoque chassis that he’d designed and was preparing to manufacture for this car. It’s largely made from ¼ inch 5052 aluminum sheet cut on a 3 axis CNC router with indexing tabs/slots then fitted and glued together on a chassis table. I was impressed by all the thought that had been put into the thousands of details that go into a chassis for a car of this complexity.

I reached out to Charley and filled him in on my Miura project. I then asked if his chassis could be made to work for a Miura. Charley was already very familiar with the Miura as he’d owned and driven one in his younger days. Both the Chupacabra and Miura are mid-engined but the key difference is longitudinal engine versus transverse.

Charley and I iterated through some bulkhead/firewall placement options based on rim/tire sizing, engine/transaxle mockup progress and finally settled on a chassis sized for a 105.5% Miura. The planned wheel base is 104 inches where the regular Miura is 98.5 inches. This should result in a Miura with comfortable legroom fit for me and the space to mount a Coyote V8 transverse. So the answer on what chassis will be used is that I am using a Strickland Racing chassis for the Miura project.

And yes, there was a road trip from California to Texas in order to pickup the chassis along with a bunch of other useful bits and pieces.

So plan in summary for the Miura project is:

• Plus sized Miura at 105.5% resulting in 104 inch wheel base
• All aluminum car; monocoque chassis, engine, transaxle, and body all done in aluminum
• Transverse mounted 5.0L Coyote DOHC 32 valve engine, 8 stack EFI, and 5 speed transaxle

 

[Paul Hendrickx]

What engine/transaxle to use?

Absent other constraints, I’d use a V12 for this project. Given the original Miura had a V12, the smooth exhaust note of a 60 degree V12, and the distinctive scream at revs, I was really hoping I could make a V12 work. So what realistic choices of V12 engines are out there?

Using an original Miura engine is out of the question as they’re just not available. That’s too bad because they are very unique in that the engine and transmission are cast together in a single alloy block.

So while finding a workable V12 is already hard, finding one that can be hooked up to a transverse transaxle makes the level of difficulty go up considerably.

Of the modern OEM made V12s, the BMW M70 engine is still readily available and makes decent power. The downside is that the engine is fairly long at just over 29 inches, rebuilding costs can be high, and adding horsepower over the 325HP it came out of the factory with is quite expensive. The chassis I was evaluating (more to come on this later) has an opening 33 inches wide where the engine will go. 4 inches of space for a bellhousing, etc. was just not enough space to work with. The Jaguar and Mercedes V12s were even less amenable for various reasons. In addition, I’d like to choose a power plant that has a large, active community of people using and modifying it as well.

Hmmm…so after a few weeks of research, the V12 route wasn’t looking very promising. In addition, I needed to take into account the mating up of the engine with a transaxle. I really like the notion of transverse engine transaxle package because all the rotating parts, from engine out to wheels, are operating in a parallel plane. There is no power loss from needing to turn the rotation 90 degrees like in a standard hypoid differential. Also a transverse engine is needed to fit the spirit of the Miura.

So I started to seek out options for factory built cars that have transverse engines (both front and rear wheel drive). Transverse engine packages in front wheel drive cars and Fieros are common but almost all are either v6 or inline 4 and fall short on the power criteria (i.e. must push a 2,800 lb car at least 172 mph). I looked at Fiero V8 conversions using the F40 manual transmission but these make for a wide engine transaxle package given the transmission is basically inline with the crankshaft. Yes, people make this work in a Fiero chassis but that’s not the chassis I’ll be using for this project. I looked at racing oriented, sequential transaxles and the $16-20K price tag quickly scared me off.

The next path of investigation was to use a V8 along with a custom built transaxle. I have a friend, Pete Aardema that is a diehard DIY car guy with a soft spot for mid-engine transverse platforms. Pete had already built a couple street rods with transverse V8s in the back seat so he has both the interest and experience. Pete teamed with master machinist Kevin Braun to build the Chevy LS3 SOHC conversion on the engine in my GTO so I know they have the knowledge, experience and machinery that surpasses most prototype machine shops. Pete cranked out a pencil drawing with the concept and offered to scout up an engine for mockup purposes. His question back to me was, “What engine do you want to use?”

So what V8 both fits to the spirit of a Miura and is short in length? Well it needs to have alloy block/heads and overhead cams just to equal the 50 year old Miura technology. The Ford 5L Coyote has this plus 4 valve heads so some advanced technology to boot. The BMW and Mercedes V8s are also technically advanced (more even than the Coyote) but don’t appear to be separable from their OEM ECM/PCMs. I’d really like to emulate the Weber carbs visible through Miura back window with an 8 stack EFI system so this brings an aftermarket ECM into the picture. I checked and yes, there’s an 8 stack EFI for the Coyote that uses very realistic looking Weber like throttle bodies.

So there you have it, I chose is to use a Ford 5L Coyote engine. The factory output of 435 HP with 400 ft lb torque should propel a Miura up to 172 mph and beyond. For the transaxle, I’m using a custom bell housing/transfer case mated up to a Tremec TKO600 with a shortened output mated up to a Super 8.8 limited-slip differential carrier from a 2015+ Mustang IRS all these components meshed up with custom made helical gears. Ok, so I’m sure your heads are spinning from that last sentence. I’ll be posting pictures for the transaxle mockup after answering the chassis question in a subsequent post.

You could to try to find Lacia Thema V8 3.2 front wheel drive v8 Ferrari

What engine/transaxle to use?

Absent other constraints, I’d use a V12 for this project. Given the original Miura had a V12, the smooth exhaust note of a 60 degree V12, and the distinctive scream at revs, I was really hoping I could make a V12 work. So what realistic choices of V12 engines are out there?

Using an original Miura engine is out of the question as they’re just not available. That’s too bad because they are very unique in that the engine and transmission are cast together in a single alloy block.

So while finding a workable V12 is already hard, finding one that can be hooked up to a transverse transaxle makes the level of difficulty go up considerably.

Of the modern OEM made V12s, the BMW M70 engine is still readily available and makes decent power. The downside is that the engine is fairly long at just over 29 inches, rebuilding costs can be high, and adding horsepower over the 325HP it came out of the factory with is quite expensive. The chassis I was evaluating (more to come on this later) has an opening 33 inches wide where the engine will go. 4 inches of space for a bellhousing, etc. was just not enough space to work with. The Jaguar and Mercedes V12s were even less amenable for various reasons. In addition, I’d like to choose a power plant that has a large, active community of people using and modifying it as well.

Hmmm…so after a few weeks of research, the V12 route wasn’t looking very promising. In addition, I needed to take into account the mating up of the engine with a transaxle. I really like the notion of transverse engine transaxle package because all the rotating parts, from engine out to wheels, are operating in a parallel plane. There is no power loss from needing to turn the rotation 90 degrees like in a standard hypoid differential. Also a transverse engine is needed to fit the spirit of the Miura.

So I started to seek out options for factory built cars that have transverse engines (both front and rear wheel drive). Transverse engine packages in front wheel drive cars and Fieros are common but almost all are either v6 or inline 4 and fall short on the power criteria (i.e. must push a 2,800 lb car at least 172 mph). I looked at Fiero V8 conversions using the F40 manual transmission but these make for a wide engine transaxle package given the transmission is basically inline with the crankshaft. Yes, people make this work in a Fiero chassis but that’s not the chassis I’ll be using for this project. I looked at racing oriented, sequential transaxles and the $16-20K price tag quickly scared me off.

The next path of investigation was to use a V8 along with a custom built transaxle. I have a friend, Pete Aardema that is a diehard DIY car guy with a soft spot for mid-engine transverse platforms. Pete had already built a couple street rods with transverse V8s in the back seat so he has both the interest and experience. Pete teamed with master machinist Kevin Braun to build the Chevy LS3 SOHC conversion on the engine in my GTO so I know they have the knowledge, experience and machinery that surpasses most prototype machine shops. Pete cranked out a pencil drawing with the concept and offered to scout up an engine for mockup purposes. His question back to me was, “What engine do you want to use?”

So what V8 both fits to the spirit of a Miura and is short in length? Well it needs to have alloy block/heads and overhead cams just to equal the 50 year old Miura technology. The Ford 5L Coyote has this plus 4 valve heads so some advanced technology to boot. The BMW and Mercedes V8s are also technically advanced (more even than the Coyote) but don’t appear to be separable from their OEM ECM/PCMs. I’d really like to emulate the Weber carbs visible through Miura back window with an 8 stack EFI system so this brings an aftermarket ECM into the picture. I checked and yes, there’s an 8 stack EFI for the Coyote that uses very realistic looking Weber like throttle bodies.

So there you have it, I chose is to use a Ford 5L Coyote engine. The factory output of 435 HP with 400 ft lb torque should propel a Miura up to 172 mph and beyond. For the transaxle, I’m using a custom bell housing/transfer case mated up to a Tremec TKO600 with a shortened output mated up to a Super 8.8 limited-slip differential carrier from a 2015+ Mustang IRS all these components meshed up with custom made helical gears. Ok, so I’m sure your heads are spinning from that last sentence. I’ll be posting pictures for the transaxle mockup after answering the chassis question in a subsequent post.

Hi, Try the Lancia Thema v8 3.2 front wheel drive

 

[Jim Albright]

V8 Archie did a Miura kit based on a Fiero chassis about 10 years ago and used an LS3/6 speed powertrain. Build thread is on Pennocks Forum. Is this the one you are referring to?

Just something out of the mainstream you don't see often

 

[Joel Heinke]

You could to try to find Lacia Thema V8 3.2 front wheel drive v8 Ferrari

Hi, Try the Lancia Thema v8 3.2 front wheel drive

Paul: thanks for that engine/transaxle suggestion. I actually did investigate that engine/transaxle combination a couple of years ago. A few of the criteria I have for the engine are:

• Readily available at a reasonable cost
• Produced in sufficiently large numbers with an active community of people using, modifying, and being successful with it
• Parts supply will continue to exist for many years to come

Unfortunately, the Lancia engine does not measure up well on this criteria. It might measure up better if I were located in Europe but I'm not.

 

[Bill Rouch]

Beautiful and highly ambitious project!
I’m excited to follow it!

 

[Joel Heinke]

V8 Archie did a Miura kit based on a Fiero chassis about 10 years ago and used an LS3/6 speed powertrain. Build thread is on Pennocks Forum. Is this the one you are referring to? View attachment 112717Just something out of the mainstream you don't see oftenView attachment 112716

Jim: thanks for mentioning this V8 Archie Miura project. You're right it's not a mainstream car project at all. When first starting on my Miura project, I read through the entire build diary for it. When I saw how much alteration they needed to do on the Fiero chassis, that's what helped me rule it out for my project. All that work on a chassis and you still have a factory chassis with all the compromises that go into a factory car. I do think the final result is impressive looking, but I can only guess that the knock against the car will always be that it's really just a Fiero underneath. In other words, it's a "kit car" not a hand built tribute car. I set a very high goal for my project in that I'm seeking a hand built "exotic car" and I'm hoping to avoid common stigmas that might go along with such a project.

 

[Neil]

As long as you are are prepared to put so much effort into your Miura project, why not just build a car of your own design? It would then be a unique one-off that won't ever be a "kit car" or a "replica".

 

[Joel Heinke]

As long as you are are prepared to put so much effort into your Miura project, why not just build a car of your own design? It would then be a unique one-off that won't ever be a "kit car" or a "replica".

Neil: Ah! great question. I like this forum, the questions show you guys know your stuff. My short answer for that question is confidence, or shortage of confidence. I have confidence in my skills to build a car from scratch in my garage. I have confidence in my skills to shape the aluminum bodywork for a complicated car body. I don't at this point have the confidence to design a bespoke car body myself, then build it, and only then find out it looks funny from a certain angle. I just might have that confidence after completing this project but I didn't have it going in. So I chose a car that I think looks absolutely gorgeous, that I thought would still look gorgeous when done at 105%, that has looks that have withstood the test of time, and I'm going for it.

 

[Bill Rouch]

Great insight-the Miura is arguably one of the most iconic body forms out there, and to improve on it would be a great challenge, but to do a tribute to such a masterpiece is an amazing and impressive goal.

 

[Ian Anderson]

You may be interested in these costructions

my clubman

I have had it on the road for a couple of years now and after watching jim cowdens alloy r/f 105 build decide to have a go at making some alloy guards I only have basic tools so finish is not perfect wich will match rest of the car now I need some bigger rubber as I made them 25 mm wider chris...

www.gt40s.com

Ozi 206 sp

Will call this thread Ozi 206 to distinguish between mine and Axels. Several years ago I hunted out info on the 206 but then had a change of heart because I have a thing for the P4. Over time I have tracked the 40 more and came to the conclusion the 206 would suit me better, more nimble...

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JIM C ALLOY BODIED GT40

I have had the RF40#105 since late 2004. I had it painted & zinc painted pritty much straight away. Then the usual happens & all hell brakes loose at work. I did 16hr day for about 6mths. I just kept looking in the corner at chassis & nothing was happening. Finally I pulled...

www.gt40s.com

Seriously talented bodywork construction.

ian

 

[Neil]

Neil: Ah! great question. I like this forum, the questions show you guys know your stuff. My short answer for that question is confidence, or shortage of confidence. I have confidence in my skills to build a car from scratch in my garage. I have confidence in my skills to shape the aluminum bodywork for a complicated car body. I don't at this point have the confidence to design a bespoke car body myself, then build it, and only then find out it looks funny from a certain angle. I just might have that confidence after completing this project but I didn't have it going in. So I chose a car that I think looks absolutely gorgeous, that I thought would still look gorgeous when done at 105%, that has looks that have withstood the test of time, and I'm going for it.

Don't give up too easily on your own design. I'm sure there are many students at places like the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California that would be willing to help you with a body design that would look exciting and professional. Work with your designer to achieve a design that looks good on paper and then have him do a larger scale clay model. Look at it from all angles and if something doesn't look right, make a change. A few iterations will give you a pleasing result and give the student some tuition money.

A suggestion-- avoid trendy design features such as the almost pervasive "Lexus grill" and the "F40 front air inlets". The angular C8 Corvette "video game" will look outdated in a few years while a classic such as a 300SL gullwing or a Berlinetta Luso will remain attractive for decades if not centuries.

 

[Tom]

Neil: Ah! great question. I like this forum, the questions show you guys know your stuff. My short answer for that question is confidence, or shortage of confidence. I have confidence in my skills to build a car from scratch in my garage. I have confidence in my skills to shape the aluminum bodywork for a complicated car body. I don't at this point have the confidence to design a bespoke car body myself, then build it, and only then find out it looks funny from a certain angle. I just might have that confidence after completing this project but I didn't have it going in. So I chose a car that I think looks absolutely gorgeous, that I thought would still look gorgeous when done at 105%, that has looks that have withstood the test of time, and I'm going for it.

I'm with you on this - styling is tough. Look at how we grouse about a car because the grill is wrong, even if the rest of the car is gorgeous. Copying a proven "design" is probably 20% of the work of doing an original. You've got lots of things to figure out in this build, streamlining what you can seems prudent.

 

[DaveC]

Lamborghini is talking about a modern remake of the Miura, you could do a kind of 'restomod'...

 

[DaveC]

You probably have a ton of pictures already, but here's a cool cutaway...

 

[Fred W Ballinger]

Welcome from me also, fantastic project. Will read with interest.

Agree with your comments about following a proven shape.

Regards

 

[Joel Heinke]

Plus Sized Body Design
One of the best tips I received when I was starting on my Ferrari 250 GTO project was to settle on what windshield glass would be used first and then shape the bodywork to it. One of the key lessons learned from the GTO project is to use a windshield that’s readily available (and will continue to be available out in the future) and most importantly will work as is without cutting. Yes, some windshields can be cut without cracking but highly curved windshields most likely can’t. Long story short, my GTO has a Lexan windshield where I'd prefer it to be glass.

So the Miura has a highly curved windshield that isn’t readily available these days so I needed to find an alternative that would still look right. In addition, the Miura side windows were made from curved glass so it would be best to find the combination of windshield and side windows designed to work together. After much research, the C4 Corvette looked like a good candidate for donor glass but I really want some visual verification.

I decided it was time to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop so I could create some visuals to prove out the look on the plus sized Miura body with C4 Corvette glass. I took a couple of days to go through a bunch of online tutorials and practice with throw away stuff so I could overcome some Photoshop roadblocks that had turned me away before. I also want to thank Mark Savory ( modenawest.com ) for giving me some tips and tricks for using Photoshop for digital restyling of automobiles. I’m nowhere close to being in Mark’s league yet but I’m now able to do some basics.

The first thing I wanted to visualize is what my Miura will look like if a C4 Corvette windshield is used. So I took a stab at changing out the windshield with no other body modifications. The net result is that the windshield posts need to angle further forward as the C4 glass doesn’t wrap on the sides as far as Miura windshield. It changes the look some but not dramatically.

My next step was to do a front quarter view where the windshield is more visible. For this picture, I also widened the body below the windows and raised/arched the cockpit roof some. With these multiple changes, the windshield change doesn’t seem to stand out at all.

Next, I wanted to do front and rear views with objective to make sure the widening only beneath the beltline would have a good look. For the front view, the widening is proportional across the whole front clip. For the rear view, the widening is only outside of the louvers and trunk lid, so not proportional across the rear clip. I did this to accentuate the wider fenders and thus visually widen the stance.

And for the side perspective, I think Mark Savory ( modenawest.com ) nailed it with his Miura stretch rendition. So I’ll go with that for now and want to give Mark full credit for his work. Note: This doesn't include the windshield change but as the other side view shows that change is subtle in the overall picture.

These visuals proved to me that a plus sized Miura still has those sexy, Italian looks and C4 Corvette glass should look fine. Also since the taillights used in a Miura SV are not reasonably attainable in the United States, Fiat X/19 taillights should work as a good alternative. The overall car still looks like a Miura SV but with some subtle changes. At 15 feet, I’m guessing very few people could pick out the differences if this car wasn’t parked right next to an original.