On the occasion of the next Motor Show in Frankfurt, Lamborghini will show us for the first time a race version of its highly spoken of super sports car, the Lamborghini Murcielago. Named Murcielago R-GT, Lamborghini developed the competition car with race experts Reiter Engineering and mother company Audi’s sports division, Audi Sport.
The Miura Roadster was built in 1968 by Marcello Gandini and Bertone for the Geneva Show that year. This car, chassis ZN 75, was more than just a quick job, it was dramatically different from production Miuras.
As released at the show, the Roadster featured larger air intakes and a lower roll-over hoop which distinguished it from any other Miura. Other modifications included different taillights and a larger spoiler. As needed, the box section structure of the chassis was strengthened up to cope with additional loads usually absorbed by the roof.
By 1987 Lamborghini was owned by Chrysler and they chose the Frankfurt Auto Show as a way to show the consumers the Portofino. The design was brilliant of Chrysler and built atop a lengthened Lamborghini Jalpa framework. Coggiola of Turin was commissioned to assemble the vehicle.
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.
As with the Coupé, the new 6.5-litre 60° V-engine with 631bhp is now used also in the Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster. At 6000 rpm the 12-cylinder engine reaches the maximum torque of 660Nm.
The maximum speed now lies at over 205mph compared to 200 mph. The standard sprint from 0-62 mph is now reached by the Roadster in 3.4 seconds making it 0.4 seconds faster than its predecessor.