One of Kyosho's nicest models to date (as of 2005), the Lamborghini Miura SVR "Jota" has an interesting history behind it. The "Jota" badges on the rear spoiler are misleading in that this particular car is not the Lamborghini Jota of 1970, but instead was another unique Miura conversion made for the German Lamborghini importer Herbert Hahne by Lamborghini in 1975-76.
The original Jota was developed in 1970 by Lamborghini engineer Bob Wallace as an experiment in turning the Miura roadcar into a racecar. It had an uprated engine, reworked suspension, a lightweight body and a full race specification interior including an integral rollcage. The most distinctive change to the car was it's nose, which lost the large reclined "pop-up" headlights of the original Miura and instead had recessed "fingernail" style headlights under perspex covers. The Jota was never raced, and was sold in 1971 during a financial crisis at Lamborghini (which occurred often in the 1970s for the troubled Italian supercar company). This unique Lamborghini was unfortunately written off by the new owners mechanic, reportedly while trying to impress his girlfriend in it. Five look alike "Jotas", called Miura SVJs were made, none of which were as extensively modified as the Jota, but which shared it's distinctive style. One went to the Shah of Iran, and was later sold in 1997 (for a then world record for a Lamborghini price of $493,000) to actor Nicholas Cage after the Government of Iran decided to sell off the deposed Shah's car collection.
This particular car was built up over the winter of 1975-76 for the German Lamborghini importer Hubert Hahne by the Lamborghini factory. It was originally a green 1968 Miura P400 S, but changes made included the Jota/SVJ style nose, extra cooling ducts/vents on the bonnet, wings and at the rear, the removal of some of the decorative trim (most notably the fins at the trailing edge of the doors), and the fitment of the latest Pirelli P7 low profile tires on BBS wheels with knock off central wheel nuts, requiring widened wheel arches to fit. The roof mounted spoiler was influenced by the special Lamborghini Countach LP400 built for favoured customer Walter Wolf (a wealthy Austrian/Canadian with his own F1 team, who had a particular fondness for modified Lamborghinis) and was unique to this car. Engine changes to this car brought the power up to 400bhp, less than the 420bhp of the Jota and the SVJ, but more than the Miura SV which produced 385bhp in standard tune.
Kyosho captured the look of this unique Lamborghini in this model and in comparison to photos of the real car, this model appears 100% accurate. Well, almost! The white "Jota" logos on the wing are not visible in the photograph of the real car that I have seen, but they may have been present at some stage in the cars life. Some owners of this model noticed the rear bodywork did not fit very well but it is a perfect fit on my example. Overall a great model and a must have for fans of Lamborghini models.
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