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Barn-find 1969 Lamborghini Miura S headed to auction for its 50th birthday

Car collectors who have caught barn find fever show no sign of healing from it anytime soon. An unrestored, barn-found 1969 Lamborghini Miura S will sell for big money when it crosses the auction block in the fall of 2019, and it might return to the road in time to celebrate its 50th birthday. Auction house RM Sotheby's explains the Miura S it will sell in London on October 24 has only covered a little bit over 10,000 miles since it rolled off the assembly line in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. German advertising executive Walter Becker purchased the car in 1971, according to CarBuzz, and sold it to racing driver Hans-Peter Weber in 1974. He drove the Miura, maintained it, and went to great lengths to keep it original until he died in 2015. It has been parked in a German barn since, so it's a freshman barn find that likely doesn't need a ton of work to once again move under its own power. We'd be more worried if it spent 25 years in a barn. The front turn signals aren't original, and the seatbelts are aftermarket units, but the rest of the car is 100% authentic. Its body has never been repainted, the seats have never been re-upholstered, and the 365-horsepower, 3.9-liter V12 engine has never been opened. It's complete, and there are no signs of obvious damage or neglect. We've seen 10-year old supercars in worse shape than this one. The Miura is one of the most sought-after 1960s Italian cars, only 338 examples of the S variant were made from 1968 to 1971, and finding an unrestored example that hasn't been completely destroyed by people, rust, or both is rare. RM Sotheby's expects the 1969 model scheduled to cross the block in London will sell for anywhere between 800,000 and one million British pounds, sums that represent $965,000 and $1.2 million, respectively. We'd get the V12 running, keep the rest original, and enjoy it, but the next owner might be tempted to give it a full restoration, especially now that Lamborghini sells a full catalog of Miura parts via its Polo Storico division. Featured Gallery 1969 Lamborghini Miura S barn find View 18 Photos Auto News Lamborghini Performance Classics

Stock Miata beats bunch of high-powered cars in wet 1/4-mile drag race

When is a stock, 167-horsepower Mazda MX-5 Miata quicker than a Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang, Lamborghini Gallardo, Lotus Elise and a Porsche 911? When it's raining. Sort of.
Mazda Canada arranged a unique drag race to show off the fact that the Miata's optional power retractable folding hardtop can go from top-down to top-up in just 12 seconds flat. In this video, all six cars line up for a drag race, and it starts to rain (well, sort of - but you'll have to watch the video all the way to the end to see what we mean). The green flag is waved, and the timer starts as soon as the convertibles begin to put their tops up. But because the Miata's roof mechanism gets the car's roof back up a full 5.1 seconds quicker than the second-place car, the Mazda gets a serious advantage off the line for the actual drag race.
It's a fun video. And while we've spoiled the results (come on, the video was uploaded by Mazda, you knew the Miata was going to win), be sure to see how it all unfolds, below.

Lamborghini unveils Aventador SVJ 63 Roadster and Huracan EVO GT Celebration

Lamborghini didn't stop at removing the roof of the limited edition Aventador SVJ in order to create the Aventador SVJ Roadster. Instead, the Italian carmaker puts its Centro Stile design division in a room with the Ad Personam customization division, and they came up with colored-keyed takes on what's called the Aventador SVJ 63 Roadster. The "63" refers to both the year Ferruccio Lamborghini founded his car company, and the number of open-topped SVJs that will be made. The eight exterior themes that will be exclusive to this car start with the one shown on the Pebble Beach concept lawn, in matte Grigio Acheso with details like the "SVJ" and "63" graphics in Arancio Dac. Matte Titanium center-lock wheels get Arancio locking plates.  The interior will offer three themes in the SVJ's usual materials, Alcantara and Lamborghini's CarbonSkin. A badge on the steering wheel plays off the "63" logo inscribed on the back wall in lasered Alcantara and CarbonSkin. The show car's cabin rocks it up with Grigio Octans, Grigio Cronus, and Arancio Dryope (orange), with the carbon fiber seats finished with white Q-Citura cross-stitching. The news about this car is little more than a public service announcement, though, since all 63 examples are already sold. Lamborghini put two more surprises in its Monterey trailer, the first being the Huracan EVO GT Celebration. Thanks to the Grasser Racing Team and Paul Miller Racing, Lamborghini's won both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring two years in a row. Limited to 36 units — the combined race durations in hours — the Huracan EVO GT Celebration plucks the GRT livery motif for its street version. The display version wears Verde Egeria and Arancio Aten, but there are nine combinations possible by combining the three available primary body colors and three available secondary colors. The Huracan's hexagon design motif is used to frame the “11,” the number of the GRT racer that won Daytona and Sebring this year. Badges on the sides read "Daytona 24" and "Sebring 12," and the driver's B-pillar is adorned with a carbon fiber plate inscribed with "X of 36." Race fans who want to go all the way can order a Lamborghini Squadra Corse shield placed on the roof between Italian and U.S. flags, and laurel wreaths on the rear fenders. The interior borrows the primary exterior color for cross-stitching on the new racing seats introduced on this car.