2016 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Miura Homage Coupé

This car, Lot 362, sold for $253,981 (£207,000), including buyer’s premium, at Bonhams’ Chichester, U.K., auction on June 24, 2022.

At least in theory, the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Miura Homage Coupé needed no introduction when it debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2016. Inspired by the 50th anniversary of what is widely considered the first supercar, the limited-edition re-interpretation enhanced the standard Aventador with thematic nods such as period-correct colors, the requisite badges and stitched-in logos, and chiseled lines accented with gold rocker panels and wheels. If buyers didn’t dig the garish gold hoops, the Dione wheels could be finished in matte silver.

Legendary inspiration

Six available paint finishes were lifted directly from Lamborghini’s historical catalog, with evocatively named tones like Rosso Arancio Miura, Verde Scandal and Blu Tahiti. Interior hides were limited to Nero Ade (black), or Terra Emilia (orange).

Beneath the nostalgia were the same mechanicals you’d find in a run-of-the-mill Aventador (if any Lamborghini could be called that). A 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 mated to a 7-speed automatic scooted the car to 62 mph in a claimed 2.9 seconds, and hit a bonafide 217 mph top speed, eclipsing its pioneering inspiration’s sub-200 mph figure. Lamborghini built 50 Miura editions, most of which were pre-sold by the time the model was announced.

The Aventador, however, earned a reputation as quirky and ergonomically challenging. It proved clunky to drive around town due to its crudely automated single-clutch gearbox. Regardless, it does come into its own at high speeds, verified by no fewer than three Nürburgring Nordschleife record lap times — the latest of which was a 6:44.97 achieved in July 2018. (This title was held for 16 months until a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series stole the crown.)

Limited-edition hierarchy

The Aventador’s imposing proportions, upward-sweeping doors and fighter-jet design language have bolstered its reputation for visceral and visual shock and awe. However, not all of Sant’Agata Bolognese flagships are created equally. Fanboys love their supercars loud and low, but they also want them backed up by killer performance. Bragging rights are everything within the clubby microcosm of supercars, and few metrics are as impactful as a Nürburgring lap record.

There have been a number of different versions of the Aventador. Apart from the launch model’s record-breaking Nordshcleife run in 2012, it has been the more aggressively tuned variants that have tended to set the ’Ring records. Witness the SuperVeloce LP750-4’s 2015 claim, and the SVJ LP770-4’s title in 2018 that we mentioned above.

Auction results reflect a significant delta between color and trim specials, such as our Miura homage, and higher-performance editions. Some variants can be worth double the price of others.

“Most Lamborghini aficionados will appreciate all models, but values seem to go up most when there is a combined and clear performance upgrade (SV, SVJ) with a distinguishable body change,” says Scottsdale-based collector James Kramer (known on Instagram as “artvandelay.”) “Models with minimal performance upgrades but bigger cosmetic changes tend to stay flatter in value.”

That said, few cosmetic limited editions have exhibited as much variability as the Miura edition. Last year’s pre-crypto-crash buying frenzy saw two Bring a Trailer sales netting over $400,000 and a $423,500 paddle at Mecum in January 2022 (SCM# 6952260). But auction data over the last several years also reveals a 2019 Bonhams U.K. sale that yielded a scant $238,498 after failing to sell on the block (SCM# 6907838). This brings us to our subject car, another Miura-edition Aventador that was seemingly stolen for the miserly sum of $253,981.

Why the extreme disparity? Several recent no-sales have occurred in the U.K., where the appetite for audacious Italians often fails to live up to other markets. Don’t let those exotics parked in Central London fool you. Many of those six- and seven-figure supercars are sporting UAE license plates. As for this particular Miura-edition Aventador, it was one of just six which were configured in right-hand drive, limiting its appeal to the larger global market and likely relegating it to the U.K.

The tipping point

A touch of mystery and the passage of time have helped fuel desire for Lamborghini’s original supercar. A 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV fetched $2.9m at RM Sotheby’s Paris sale last year, marking the second-highest Miura price to date in the SCM Platinum Auction Database (SCM# 6939883).

A next-gen Aventador has been promised in a year or two, powered by a V12 paired with an all-new hybrid drivetrain (and likely a new name). This will undoubtedly tug at the heartstrings, especially of those desiring an electron-free supercar. RM Sotheyby’s recently sold the last Aventador LP780-4 Ultimae Coupé, which drew $1.6m (bundled with an NFT and VIP experiences).

Though it’s probably not a question of if, but when, nostalgia will strike limited-production Aventador models like our Miura Homage, that time is not now. ♦

(Introductory description courtesy of Bonhams.)