After months of planning and much anticipation, the Miura 40th Anniversary Tour rounded off last weekend at the biennial Grand Prix Historique in Monaco, a fitting conclusion to an event which celebrated the iconic sports car’s original appearance at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. Bob Wallace, the factory’s lanky New Zealander development test driver who had driven the Miura prototype from Sant’Agata across the Alps to Casino Square 40 years ago, penned the road book introduction to this anniversary gathering:

“The idea for this trip came from Lamborghini himself together with Dallara. They wanted to demonstrate to all that what we were doing was not B.S. and the car was functional in all respects. The trip was enormously enjoyable with enthusiastic escorts from the Italian Polizia Stradale all the way. We did the trip with no documents at all, merely an Italian ‘Prova’ plate on the car and were waved through all the border crossings like royalty. Lamborghini had bribed the doorman at the Hotel in the main square with a large amount of Francs to ensure premium position 24 hour parking. The doorman then subcontracted the job to a local policeman or two. Around 11.30-midnight Lamborghini came out of the Casino, got in the car and revved the s—t out of it, at which point you could not move for the crowds of people. He then persuaded Bandini and Scarfiotti to do a couple of hot laps of the circuit. The noise of the car echoing off the buildings was fantastic. All in all a good way on his part to prove a point…

As you grow older you become more critical of what you did in the past, but I will always remember this car and the group of people I worked with. Best wishes to all of you.”

Organised by Miura enthusiast and classic car expert Simon Kidston, the Tour attracted 12 beautifully presented Miuras from around the world, plus the one-off Lamborghini 400 Monza (auctioned by Simon whilst still at Bonhams last December) as official chase car and 1960s French Lamborghini importer Edmond Ciclet following the convoy in his lovely burgundy 350GT to provide mechanical assistance. It’s not often the support cars are older than the participants.

Wednesday evening saw the teams converge on the five star Bellevue Hotel, located in the chic ski resort of Gstaad in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Goodie bags were distributed to eager entrants containing cashmere travel rugs from event sponsor Girard Perregaux, custom Miura Tour jackets by Italian fashion designer Mariella Burani (courtesy of her car collecting son Andrea) and personalized leather clipboards by Modenese firm Schedoni. A small army of transporters disgorged their precious charges which were quickly locked away in the hotel’s immaculate underground car park whilst their owners enjoyed the first of several high calorie dinners upstairs. Two teams of mechanics from nearby Garage Pichler (who look after many of the cars in local resident Bernie Ecclestone’s collection) attended to small niggles including the points and plugs of a Sicilian owned Miura S, driven that afternoon from Bologna, and a recalcitrant fuel pump on the ex-Shah of Iran Miura SVJ, acquired from Hollywood A-lister Nicolas Cage by its current Iranian owner. Any worries about getting the cars dirty or wet didn’t last long though…

As the drivers familiarized themselves with their cars, some for the first time and the others after a winter respite, the convoy gathered pace, crossing the picturesque Col des Mosses as cows in nearby fields turned nonchalantly to observe the noisy intrusion. Winding down the valley to the ancient Roman town of Martigny, near the winter resort of Verbier, the Miuras then turned West towards France, crossing the Col de la Forclaz and climbing to the town of Chamonix, where clouds gave way to showers. The first mechanical woes came when the SV prototype, restored in France a decade ago and still resplendent in Giallo Miura, developed overheating problems which were quickly remedied by Edmond Ciclet. After a cheerful foie gras lunch in a cosy wood paneled inn, Piet Pulford decided it was time to let the locals hear his Jota Replica in all its glory, and equipped with a pair of pliers and a bin liner, removed and stored his four very black looking exhaust silencers. The resulting cacophony when the car restarted after lunch provoked grins and laughter from onlookers and parents hands over children’s ears, and that was barely at 3000 revs!

By now becoming more widely spaced, the Miuras began arriving at their first overnight stop, the Relais & Chateaux Hotel Ombremont on the Lake of Le Bourget. Glasses of Moet were gratefully downed by wet drivers as they arrived and gathered to share their experiences of the day’s journey. An eight (!) course dinner followed in the hotel’s glass fronted dining room (more foie gras) overlooking the spectacular lake as outside the cars sat quietly, their engines still pinging after the day’s exertions, whilst the rainstorm began to ease.

Friday morning brought much welcome sunshine and warmer temperatures as owners rose for breakfast. Outside, in the gravel surfaced courtyard, owners and mechanics fussed over their cars in preparation for a long and testing day’s driving. With 400km to cover, much of it on twisty mountain passes, and a 6.30pm deadline for arrival in Casino Square if the cars were to be allowed to line up there together, there was no time to waste. Swiss event organizers Experience flagged off the cars individually at 9am sharp and the first rendez-vous was at a large refueling station at the entrance to the Autoroute. Exchanging friendly (nervous?) banter with the local Gendarmes who had also chosen the same time to fill their patrol cars and bikes, the Miura Tour set off down the motorway at full speed, anxious to make their evening deadline. What a sight (and sound) Piet’s Jota made leaving the Peage at full speed, its four megaphone exhausts bellowing yellow flames on the over-run. Seeing it in their rear view mirrors prompted late morning commuters to dive for cover in the middle lane, and most of them moved one further across when they heard the noise it made as it passed them. It made me think of someone standing behind the space shuttle at launch (but louder).

By the time the Miuras left the Autoroute the first terminal casualty, the very pretty orange SV owned by Italian hotelier Andrea Padulazzi, had succumbed to noises in the back axle first heard the previous night, but not to be defeated he sent for another car from his collection to be dispatched by transporter in time to meet the group for lunch. The scenery now was dramatic, with snow capped mountains overlooking green valleys punctuated by deep blue lakes and beautiful, unspoiled French villages preserved for centuries. The Nationale 85, a wide, sweeping road, followed the valleys until cars turned off to the Mediaeval Chateau des Herbeys where a lobster and champagne lunch awaited. Stopping only long enough for food and driver changes, the glamorous convoy now headed East for the Italian border in dazzling sunshine and 25 degree temperatures. A fast trio soon broke free of the rest, the freshly rebuilt orange ex-Armin Johl SV Speciale (registered GAP-V12) driven by Swiss historic racer Marc Caveng chased by Simon Kidston in his jet black ex-Innocenti SV, and a red Miura S driven with great gusto by Sicilian enthusiast Stefano Cammareri following up the rear. Banker Andrew and his glamorous wife Belinda headed a more leisurely group in Rod Stewart’s factory restored yellow SV, including Iranian enthusiast Reza Rashidian with the glorious sounding SVJ and fellow Iranian Darius Fouladi in the quirky Miura ‘Millechiodi’ (a thousand rivets).

The first Miuras now climbed higher as they approached the Col de Tende, one of Europe’s greatest driving roads where rock faces overhang the road as it snakes through gorges, following the rivers carrying the melting snow to the valley below. The sound of the Miuras as they approached, and even better from inside the cockpit, is hard to describe but matches the best the motoring world has to offer. Most of the owners agreed this was one of the best drives they had ever done in their cars. “Demanding, but worth the entire trip on its own. I’ve never had so much fun with my Miura” said Darius Fouladi afterwards.

By now the 6.30pm deadline was looking doubtful, but cars and drivers pressed on and the fastest teams finally spotted the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean over the distant horizon as they dropped down towards the coast. Slipping from the mountain road onto the final section of Autoroute, the leading group roared through the dimly lit tunnels past modern traffic and exited above Monte Carlo. As they whined through the streets of the Principality, their bodywork stained by almost a thousand kilometers of hard driving, local residents and visitors to the historic Grand Prix stopped to listen and to admire, most of them oblivious to the moment 40 years earlier which these cars and drivers had come to celebrate. As the Miuras arrived one by one in Casino Square (yes, they were late, but these are Italian cars after all) a crowd gathered to watch as weary but smiling drivers lined up their cars opposite the Hotel de Paris and climbed out for well deserved champagne and canapés. And after much harassing Piet Pulford even agreed to do a lap of the Square with the Jota before parking, stopping to rev up the engine outside the Café de Paris to spontaneous public applause and tolerant looks from the Monegasque Gendarmes on guard nearby.

A final gastronomic dinner thanks to sponsor Credit Suisse Private Banking followed for everyone at the Hermitage Hotel, where the Miura Tour teams spent the weekend watching the Historic Grand Prix and enjoying the sunshine. Owners eventually (and reluctantly) handed over the keys of their Lamborghinis to carefully briefed transporter drivers, and I dare say both owners and cars had newly found respect for each other after a challenging but rewarding drive in just about all imaginable conditions. This event was intended to put the cars to the use for which they were intended (ie not all day polishing) and it wouldn’t be surprising if we didn’t have to wait 10 years until the next Miura Anniversary Tour…