Lambo Miura Burns To The Ground!

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Robin

Robin

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Oh My! :scared: Sure, not one of the most expensive classic cars but such a shame.

Daily Mail
As a classic Lamborghini super car worth £1million went up in flames, its horrified owner could only watch on helplessly.

The classic 1971 Lamborghini Miura caught fire on a road near Acton in west London, quickly escalating and blocking traffic. By the time emergency crews arrived to put the massive fire ball out, the car has been reduced to a charred wreck.

While it is unclear how the fire started, the model - often regarded as the world first super car - has a reputation of catching on fire easily and it is recommended that owners carry a fire extinguisher as a precaution.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...on-catches-west-London.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

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Better move that 458! we all know how much that likes to also spontaneously combust! :lol:
 
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Oh, my GOD !!!! I would be in tears if I was the owner helplessly watching the car burned to crisp in front of me ...
 
Over $1MM for a car, yet they suggest you carry a fire extinguisher in case it catches fire. Does anyone else see the problem there?
 
ZohsixGT5
Over $1MM for a car, yet they suggest you carry a fire extinguisher in case it catches fire. Does anyone else see the problem there?
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Yeah. You could buy a Fiero for an easy grand if you wanted a mid engine car that catches on fire for no reason.
 
Toronado
Yeah. You could buy a Fiero for an easy grand if you wanted a mid engine car that catches on fire for no reason.
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The reason Fieros caught on fire was because owners did not properly maintain them. Yes there were some design flaws on the early versions with those bad connecting rods, but the fires were still caused by people driving them hard on low oil.
 
ZohsixGT5
Over $1MM for a car, yet they suggest you carry a fire extinguisher in case it catches fire. Does anyone else see the problem there?
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Such quirks are not uncommon with high performance cars, some of them just more dangerous than others though! The early series III XJ6 and XJS Jags, especially the V12's were prone to catching on fire. Just go to a Jag owners group get together sometime and count the extinguishers :)
 
The Miura's one of my favourite cars, so this makes me incredibly sad. It's an SV, too. :(
 
ZohsixGT5
Over $1MM for a car, yet they suggest you carry a fire extinguisher in case it catches fire. Does anyone else see the problem there?
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Owners not heeding warnings! If had something that was worth a million quid and prone to catching fire, I would fit it with a tow bar, and drag a fire engine around with me.
 
ZohsixGT5
Over $1MM for a car, yet they suggest you carry a fire extinguisher in case it catches fire. Does anyone else see the problem there?
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What it needed was an on board fire system, really. The car most likely caught fire because the 4 carburetors & fuel lines on the Miura sit right in the middle of the cylinder heads, & if there's a gasoline leak, the fire will ignite from the spark plug wires.

Unfortunate event. The car can be reconstructed, but it will never be restored.
 
Apparently the bowls tend to overfill in the Miura (probably Webers) when the car isn't being run at least somewhat enthusiastically, and begin leaking at the top cover. I suppose this is due to the factory fuel pump needing to supply enough fuel to keep up with all of those carbs under load, but since it can't return to the tank, it just pressurizes the bowls when they aren't draining quickly enough (aka no throttle being used) and since webers are not designed to hold more than 3-5psi nor actually seal at the top cover, they just begin to belch fuel. It's interesting that this causes fires to me, as I would guess that the fuel would evaporate before igniting. Perhaps a significant amount of fuel leaked out into a spot where it could collect and resist evaporating, then the fuel was cooked off by the heat. I wonder how hot it needs to be to do this? If I had a Miura I would; a, install a return-style fuel system with a modern pump to keep volume high and pressure low; and b, install a fire suppression system asap. In fact I think it's strange that cars, especially mid-engined ones, are not equipped as such from the factory.

My Dell'Orto on my RX-7 was leaking like crazy, (accelerator pump gasket wasn't sealing properly) the carb is right above the exhaust manifold, and rotary engines have about 3x higher exhaust gas temperatures compared to piston engines. The fuel never collected enough to pose any risk as it just evaporated away, and I've now fixed the problem.
 
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McLaren
What it needed was an on board fire system, really. The car most likely caught fire because the 4 carburetors & fuel lines on the Miura sit right in the middle of the cylinder heads, & if there's a gasoline leak, the fire will ignite from the spark plug wires.
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That's why the extinguisher is carried (Jay Leno taught me that). It's the most beautiful car ever made if you ask me. That video was too painful to watch. :(
 
A fire extinguisher will only do so much if you act fast enough. A fire-suppression system will save the car much faster. As someone on another board pointed out, it's surprising insurance companies don't require some of these old classics to have a system in place.
 
casey_2005
What is generally the cause of fire on these cars?
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Quoting myself from page 1:

Eunos_Cosmo
Apparently the bowls tend to overfill in the Miura (probably Webers) when the car isn't being run at least somewhat enthusiastically, and begin leaking at the top cover. I suppose this is due to the factory fuel pump needing to supply enough fuel to keep up with all of those carbs under load, but since it can't return to the tank, it just pressurizes the bowls when they aren't draining quickly enough (aka no throttle being used) and since webers are not designed to hold more than 3-5psi nor actually seal at the top cover, they just begin to belch fuel. It's interesting that this causes fires to me, as I would guess that the fuel would evaporate before igniting. Perhaps a significant amount of fuel leaked out into a spot where it could collect and resist evaporating, then the fuel was cooked off by the heat. I wonder how hot it needs to be to do this? If I had a Miura I would; a, install a return-style fuel system with a modern pump to keep volume high and pressure low; and b, install a fire suppression system asap. In fact I think it's strange that cars, especially mid-engined ones, are not equipped as such from the factory.
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Also, as Mclaren said, the fuel is ignited when it settles/collects on the ignition leads.
 
It'll buff o....no, can't do it. One of my favourites too :(

There's been an ad on eBay UK for years for a Gallardo fuel line conversion, as apparently the factory-fitted one is weak and has a tendency to split, presumably showering the engine in fuel. Seems even under the auspices of Audi, owning a Lamborghini is still something of a gamble.
 
This car is/was owned by John Hunt who owned, and subsequently sold, the Foxtons estate agents chain at the hight of the market - so he's quite wealthy!

His sons are the people behind the 'Taxtherich' videos on Youtube - cross country in a Rolls Royce, tarmac rallying an F40, 2 x F50's playing tug of war etc.
 
HR Owen put the wrong spark plugs in the car and it burns to the ground... what an expensive mistake to make :lol:

Should have taken it to DK Engineering.

Somewhat surprised that the writ is issues by John Hunt... I assume the car was insured, and as as such, I'd have expected the insurance company to be the one issuing it... unless he's so rich he self insures.
 

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