1970 Miura Jota: The What If Car
As if the Miura wasn’t already crazy enough, Lamborghini took steps to make a Jota version as an uncompromised race-spec car. Unfortunately, this project never reached its goal and it remains as one of the huge what-could-have-beens in automotive history.
Only one Miura Jota was ever made, and it was Bob Wallace’s personal test car built around chassis #5084. He used this car to test various ideas he had that would transform the outrageous Miura supercar into a racecar. Although there never any intention to proffesionally race the Jota, it lead to developments on the upcoming Miura SV and a few specialy prepared customer cars.
The main focus of the original Jota was to decrease and balance weight. This meant the car had a completely stripped interior and fixed Plexiglas windows. The body was also replaced with a light-gauge aluminum and the heavy pop-up headlights were replaced by signature recessed units.
A proper weight balance was achieved by through repositioning the spare tire and fuel tanks which were moved into the sills of the car. The reduction in weight combined with the a near perfect front to rear balance must have made the Jota impressive handle on par with any other racecar of the period.
Aside from weight management, the new Jota was instantly recognizable from its Plexiglas headlight and aggressive front dam used to decrease front lift. At the side, the car had new air apertures to increase brake cooling with riveted-in ducts. Under the hood, the V12 received a race treatment including more aggressive cams, increased compression and a race-spec exhaust raised power from 370 to 440 bhp. An additional oil cooler and dry sump lubrication ensured everything stayed in check.
Soon after Wallace’s modifications proved the Miura could become even more serious, customers began to request Jota-like options in their orders. Lamborghini obliged, and five cars, sometimes called Miura SVJs, mimicked the performance of Bob’s original.
Unlike the original, these customer cars had some interior comforts, but kept the purposeful body modifications and engine tuning. They also had suspension, exhaust and brake cooling upgrades and one or two received dry sump lubrication and an auto blocking differential.
While the customer cars didn’t match the raw performance of Wallace’s original, they did offer a huge improvement on an already outstanding supercar. No doubt they are the most sought after Lamborghinis in existence.
As if the Miura wasn’t already crazy enough, Lamborghini took steps to make a Jota version as an uncompromised race-spec car. Unfortunately, this project never reached its goal and it remains as one of the huge what-could-have-beens in automotive history.
Only one Miura Jota was ever made, and it was Bob Wallace’s personal test car built around chassis #5084. He used this car to test various ideas he had that would transform the outrageous Miura supercar into a racecar. Although there never any intention to proffesionally race the Jota, it lead to developments on the upcoming Miura SV and a few specialy prepared customer cars.
The main focus of the original Jota was to decrease and balance weight. This meant the car had a completely stripped interior and fixed Plexiglas windows. The body was also replaced with a light-gauge aluminum and the heavy pop-up headlights were replaced by signature recessed units.
A proper weight balance was achieved by through repositioning the spare tire and fuel tanks which were moved into the sills of the car. The reduction in weight combined with the a near perfect front to rear balance must have made the Jota impressive handle on par with any other racecar of the period.
Aside from weight management, the new Jota was instantly recognizable from its Plexiglas headlight and aggressive front dam used to decrease front lift. At the side, the car had new air apertures to increase brake cooling with riveted-in ducts. Under the hood, the V12 received a race treatment including more aggressive cams, increased compression and a race-spec exhaust raised power from 370 to 440 bhp. An additional oil cooler and dry sump lubrication ensured everything stayed in check.
Soon after Wallace’s modifications proved the Miura could become even more serious, customers began to request Jota-like options in their orders. Lamborghini obliged, and five cars, sometimes called Miura SVJs, mimicked the performance of Bob’s original.
Unlike the original, these customer cars had some interior comforts, but kept the purposeful body modifications and engine tuning. They also had suspension, exhaust and brake cooling upgrades and one or two received dry sump lubrication and an auto blocking differential.
While the customer cars didn’t match the raw performance of Wallace’s original, they did offer a huge improvement on an already outstanding supercar. No doubt they are the most sought after Lamborghinis in existence.
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