After its factory
restoration, this must
surely be one of the best
preserved Miuras of alllubrication system from the V12 engine. The SV lacks
the famous headlamp ‘eyelashes’ of the original
P400S, as well as having different rear lights, and both
its rear wings and rear wheels are wider. This
particular SV also had optional air conditioning factory-
fitted from new. It was painted Rosso Corsa with a
lower band in gold, plus gold wheels and a blackleather interior. The exact same colour scheme
remains in place today, almost 50 years later.
Arthur Mecin kept his SV for 18 years before selling it
on to a fellow South African called Jordan. In 2001, it
was then sold at auction to an American collector,
Stephen Dohme. In the US, it was sold on again to a
new owner as a ‘project’, but on seeing its largely
original condition, he decided not to restore it but to
preserve it as a ‘survivor’ car. The intention was to
return it to a presentable state and enter it in concourswas then re-exported to South Africa, where the
authorities would have seen it as simply the same
car, returning after repairs.
The ‘new’ #3673 was born on 11 November 1972, and
delivered to its first owner, an eccentric South African
aviator called Arthur Mecin, at the end of 1972. It’s a
very late SV – in fact, one of the final 11 Miuras built,
namely the 751st out of 762 Miuras in total (the very
last being in 1973), and one of only 150 SVs produced.
Being an SV, it featured more aggressive cam
profiles and larger Weber carburettors, giving it 15hp
more power than the ‘S’ (385hp at 7850rpm) and
more user-friendly running at low revs. In SV spec,
0-60 mph took a claimed 5.8 seconds, with a quoted
top speed of 180mph.
Being one of the last 96 SVs, this car’s engine got a
split sump, in which the gearbox uses a separate
“
The original Rosso Corsa, gold and black colour scheme
remains in place today, almost 50 years later
”