Read How The Dream Began:
I was in Modena, Italy sitting around talking with a friend who was a retired race car driver and he currently built exotic car bodies under contract, his name was Piero Drogo. He lived in Modena with his wife. I asked him if he could assist me in creating a Lamborghini Prototype racecar that I could drive in the European Group 7 series. He said that he had contacts with a Director of Production or Sales at the Lamborghini Factory (something like that) and his name was Gianni Segiu (I'm not sure about spelling). This was early 1972 time frame. The bottom line is Drogo said he could help me get a new Muira SV Engine for the new prototype racecar I had in mind. So I said go ahead and get me a price. Within about 2 weeks he showed me a picture of a new Muira SV engine on a wooden palette and said if I wanted it, I would have to pay around 4.2 million Italian lira (830 lira = 1 USD). I accepted the offer contingent on Drogo helping me find a company that would agree to build the prototype racecar using that Muira SV engine. A couple of nights later while sitting around eating at Drogo?s place, he said that he had found a builder for my new Lamborghini prototype racecar! It turned out to be Engineer Tancredi Simonetti who was the lead race car engineer at the AMS Factory in Bologna.
I told Drogo I wanted to go ahead with the project and was quoted a price in USD to build the working prototype with the Miura SV engine, and I accepted the offer. After about a month, I was invited to go to the AMS factory to see how things were progressing on the prototype. Basically they had set the new Muira SV engine on a large heavy duty steel table and the engine was surrounded by a bunch of square tubing used for creating the car's frame. Over several months time they attached the engine, suspension and many other components to the frame. They also built up the carriers for the gas tanks and of course the cockpit area. They actually had me sit in the prototype several times while it was up on the steel design table so they could get dimensions that would fit me OK.
Below is a link showing me resting for a minute (in the pits between test runs) while actually driving the completed prototype during one of the initial runs at the Modena Autodromo (race track).
www.miuraprototype.com
There were several problems that surfaced during the initial prototype test runs at the Modena track. The brakes were insufficient to slow things down and faded very quickly after just a couple of laps. Then the gear shifter component bent in half while I was downshifting from around 240 kph to set up for an approaching chicane! That was quite exciting. Anyway the prototype when back to the AMS factory for some further tweaks.
The next time I saw the prototype it was actually at the Lamborghini Factory in St Agata. See pictures below that I took while the prototype was inside the Lambo Factory.
http://www.miuraprototype.com/lambo/ProtoType_Lamborghini_Factory.jpg
I asked one of the guys who was instructed to take me to my prototype, if I could drive the prototype around since I hadn?t driven in it, since my last test runs at the Modena Autodromo. They said it was OK. So they rolled it outside the garage area and started it up for me. Apparently I drove the car a little too fast (or made to much noise) because the mechanics started waving me down and telling me to slow down.
Anyway, I was happy that the car seem to operate very nicely now and that the shifter seemed very strong and also the brakes seemed stronger.
The next day I was called away (from Modena) to help my Mom with an urgent situation she had in Geneva, Switzerland and by time I was able to handle that situation and then call contact the Lamborghini Factory a couple of months later to enquire about my prototype they said that someone had taken it away! I had planned on shipping the prototype to my mom?s house in Geneva to store it until I could get funding and assistance from some of my large car collector friends that lived in Geneva area, to help me with the car.
Nevertheless I haven't seen my Lamborghini Prototype since it disappeared from the Lamborghini Factory (1972 - 1973 timeframe). My dream is to be reunited with the car of my dreams that I had built and driven in my youth it represents the best dreams and the most exciting moments of my life.
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