A classic Lamborghini ‘supercar’ owned by Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay and taken for a spin on Top Gear with Richard Hammond is to be auctioned; It is expected to sell for up to £2.75 million.
The red 1972 Miura P400 SV was purchased by pop star Kay at the height of his chart fame and formed part of his extensive collection of vintage engines.
The rare Lamborghini, dubbed the first supercar, was one of 150 models manufactured, with a V12 engine that allowed it to go from 0 to 100 km/h in just five seconds and reach a top speed of 280 km/h.
Kay, 54, showed off the vehicle on a 2004 episode of BBC motoring show Top Gear, driving it with Hammond in the passenger seat.
The pop star was filmed saying while driving: “This car was so ahead of its time, it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.”
RM Sotheby’s auctions red 1972 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV
Funk Jamiroquai band singer Jay Kay, pictured in Windsor Great Park in July 2009, is the former owner of the supercar which is now for sale.
Auctioneers have estimated the vehicle will sell for up to £2.75 million.
The car’s 177 mph V12 engine allows it to go from 0 to 60 mph in just five seconds.
Other proud Lamborghini Miura owners included Frank Sinatra and Sir Rod Stewart.
Kay’s old one is being sold by RM Sotheby’s, whose listing reads: “It is legend that ‘supercar’ – the title given to all of today’s highest performance automobiles – was first applied in print to the Lamborghini Miura.”
The auctioneer quotes English motoring journalist LJK Setright describing a 1,000-mile trip in a then-new Miura from Modena, Italy, to the English capital, London, in 1967.
Setright wrote: ‘The exultant scream of a thoroughbred V12 is unlike anything else in the motoring world. It is immediate, urgent, peremptory.
‘The Lambo idles at about 800 rpm and a gentle blip up to 2,000 produced a sort of instantaneous acceleration of everyone in the square, like a WO calling attention to itself at a parade.
«It could develop 87.5 hp per liter, but from ridiculously low revs it ran as smoothly and inexorably as a Silver Ghost.
“It’s clear this was going to be an amazing car.”
London auctioneer RM Sotheby’s adds: “In the early 1990s, the car was acquired by a Hong Kong collector, who commissioned the Modena Group to carry out a complete restoration.
‘The car was then passed on to noted musician and vintage car collector, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai, and his ownership featured on a 2004 episode of Top Gear.
Jay Kay was seen driving the Lamborghini on an episode of Top Gear in 2004.
The singer has enjoyed chart success with hits such as the single Virtual Insanity in 1996.
He was accompanied during his run on Top Gear by the show’s co-presenter, Richard Hammond.
Jay Kay called the car “a wonderful, wonderful thing” during his appearance on Top Gear.
The auctioneer’s listing cites a 1967 magazine review that describes the Lamborghini Miura as “an amazing car.”
Car critic LJK Setright said of the vehicle in his 1967 article: “The ecstatic scream of a thoroughbred V12 is unlike anything else in motor racing.”
Jay Kay himself said in 2004 about the Lamborghini: “This car was so ahead of its time”
Other owners of Lamborghini Miuras have included Frank Sinatra and Sir Rod Stewart.
This rare Lamborghini Miura was one of only 150 made
The vehicle is believed to be the first to receive the “supercar” label.
“Shortly afterwards it was acquired by the well-known British collector Michael Cotter.”
He Lamborghini auction It is scheduled to take place in Toronto, Canada on June 1.
Kay previously put three vehicles from his collection of 110 supercars up for sale five years ago for a combined value of £2.5 million.
He offered a 1973 Porsche 911, a 2016 Ferrari F12 and a 2004 Porsche Carrera GT.