1967 LAMBORGHINI Miura P400 #1021

1967 Miura P400
Chassis #1021
Engine #1019
Prod. #9
28 April 1967

Lamborghini Miura chassis number 1021, engine number 1019. It is the 9th Miura built, 5th production car. As such, it is a "light gauge" model with many differences to later cars. Originally Red Orange exterior and Black interior.

1967 to 1969 - Dr. Alfred Hopf - Basel, Switzerland
Imported by Foitek AG in Switzerland and confirmed by Peter Foitek to have been delivered on April 27, 1967 to dealer Peter Monteverdi (builder of the Monteverdi Cars) for Dr. Alfred Hopf. Dr. Hopf resides today (circa late 2004) in Basel. Dr. Hopf was an accomplished "gentleman" racer, and owned and raced various important Ferraris in the late 1950's (including a 250 GT Tour de France, a 250 Testarossa and others). Dr. Hopf was also a business associate of Monteverdi with respect to the construction of the Monteverdi cars. Dr. Hopf indicates that he drove the car every day during his ownership throughout Europe in his capacity as Racing Director for the Automobile Club Suisse (at the time racing was banned in Switzerland as a result of the 1955 Mercedes Le Mans accident). Dr. Hopf recalls the only negative points about the car being that the gearbox had a tendency to heat up when the car was driven hard and shifting was then very hard. The car was never in an accident nor raced during his ownership. In 1969 Dr. Hopf returned the car to Monteverdi as trade in for a Ferrari Berlinetta because: "At the time I was not very enthusiastic about the performance of my Miura." (!!)

1969 to 1978 (approx.) - Ownership Unknown - In Southern California?
History unknown. It appears the car was imported to California from Switzerland in 1969 or 1970. The car was licensed with California and was registered with black license plate ZMW 977. 1970 was the last year black plates were issued in California.

1978 (approx.) to 1988 - Robert Ramlose - Downey, California
Owned by Robert Ramlose of Downey, California. Mr. Ramlose passed away in 1998. Mr. Ramlose owned a Ferrari 250GT GT California Spider LWB (1057GT), a Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing and various other vehicles. Car was painted white with black interior when purchased by Ramlose. Car was never in an accident during Ramlose ownership.

1988 to 2002 - Larry Menser - Carmel, California
This Miura together with a Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing, were purchased by Larry Menser of Carmel, California. Aside from white exterior, car is reported to have been mostly original otherwise. Odometer read approximately 18,000 miles (which, along with the water temperature gauge, is presumed to have been changed when imported from Europe). When purchased, engine 1019 was seized as a result of having its carburetors removed and water entering the cylinders. Menser is a car fan and an accomplished vintage car racer, having raced and owned a number of Ferraris, Porsche, etc. and restored a number of cars. Larry Menser undertook a full nut and bolt, bare metal restoration of Miura 1021, doing much of the work himself and contracting some of the work such as interior trim and paint. During the restoration, the car was found to have very little damage and essentially no rust. The only major damage found was to the left headlight area, where the car appears to have been in an accident (it is presumed that during the original repairs, the car was painted to white exterior). The lower left eyebrow appears to have come from car build #82. During the restoration, the area was properly repaired in metal with no fillers by a metal expert. The frame and body were stripped to bare metal, the frame zinc chromated. The car was repainted in red R&M lacquer by Richard Stayman of Costa Mesa and the interior redone in tan leather by Radillo Coachworks of Costa Mesa with Wilton carpets. The engine was completely rebuilt by Menser, with sump separation with baffles completed by Bob Wallace in Phoenix, Arizona. New Vanolia pistons and rings were used, the cams and crank polished. An F&S clutch was installed. The transmission, suspension and all other aspects of the car were redone, stripped, repainted and renewed. Overall a very careful and well done restoration. After the restoration was complete, the car was featured on the cover of the May 1990 Road & Track Magazine. The car was entered in the Palo Alto Concourse where it won 3rd prize. It was also shown at another concourse event, where it won 2nd prize. The car was shown at Concorso Italiano in 2000.

2002
The car was purchased from Menser by Concours Auto of Sarasota, Florida with approximately 19,700 miles on the odometer. Menser advertised the car in Hemmings Motor News.

2002 - 2004 - Joe Barrone - New Jersey
The car was purchased from Concours Auto by Joe Barrone of New Jersey. Barrone has a great collection of cars, including a very late and very original Lamborghini Miura SV. Barrone appears to have driven Miura #1021 less than 100 miles during his ownership.

2004 - present - Alberto & Rosa - San Diego, California
Purchased in June 2004 by Alberto and Rosa of San Diego, CA, with 19,890 miles on the odometer. The paint has some bubbling, scratches, etc. but in overall very presentable driver condition. The interior is in very good condition. Overall, the restoration is holding up well 14 years after completion.

January 2005
car entered in the inaugural La Jolla Car Classic and was awarded 2nd prize in class.

Since 2004...
the car has undergone a fair amount of mechanical sorting, mostly due to lack of use before 2004 (< 2000 miles in 14 years). This includes rebuild and re-sleeve clutch master and slave cylinders, rebuild brake calipers including new pistons, rebuild brake master cylinder, new brake hoses, recore the radiator, new left and right water tubes and hoses, fuel system upgrades (aluminum gas tank, fuel return line, lower pressure fuel pump, fettle with carburetor top ends), built in Halon fire suppression system, etc.

Observations
Because of the early production date of the car, Miura 1021 has a number of detail differences between it and later cars. A few confirmed differences include: