Lamborghini, the name itself conjures up images of Rocketship cars with the premium price tags to go along. Unlike Ferraris with their rich racing heritage and delicate lines, Lamborghinis are brute, brash and they aren’t afraid to show it. Although everyone else out there will probably remember the cars from the Countach onwards, ask any car enthusiast which was “THE” classic Lamborghini and it might just be the Miura.

The Name “Miura” most likely, was referenced from the Miura fighting bulls known for their ferocity. The car was unveiled to the public in the 1960’s, making this car over 30 years old. It’s still a beautiful stunning piece of automotive craftmenship. This car was the dream of many in its time, both young and old. One Wall Street financier bought the MIURA as a work of modern art. He set it in the centre of his hanging garden on the top floor of the skyscraper like a sculpture.

Although, there was never a mention of it’s limited production status, this silver Lamborghini Miura SV by Kyosho was only made up to 1000 pieces. Making it an unofficial “Limited Edition”.

Paint

This car comes in a variation of colors from Kyosho. Red, green, silver and soon to be released, purple. The silver color on this car suits it very very well though. I personally find silver to be the best color for this car. Paint application by Kyosho is generally very well done. The paint is smooth and not too thick with a nice even application throughout the car. It could have benefitted with an additional coat of clear coat on top though. That would have made it almost perfect. What we have here though, is pretty good enough for a Kyosho car.

Exterior

The shape of the car is just liquid smooth and flows very well from front all the way back to the rear of the car. Kyosho has captured the original lines of the 1:1 very well in this 1:18 body. Badges are all raised and seperate pieces with some made out of photo-etched parts with protective film applied which you’ll have to peel off (easily). The Lamborghini insignia up front is very well made and looks really good. Headlights pop-up and there are no signs of attachment stubs on them. The front fog lights though have a very slight hint of the attachment stubs visible. Not a big issue though. Front grilles are perforated and one of the front vents on top can be lifted up. Nice.

Running along the sides of the car, we see the “chromed” side mirrors all replicated beautifully into 1:18 scale, even the wipers are nicely done and the “chrome” parts are all realistic and not too “plastic” looking. Side windows are present which gives the model a much nicer appearance. Going towards the rear of the car, we see the rear lights with no signs of any attachment stubs again. The rear grille is again, perforated and very well made.

Lift up the front hood and the rear engine cover and be amazed at the attention to detail and quality underneath the bodywork. All the little bits and pieces on the 1:1 car are present on this model and the engine is a work of art in itself.

If there’s something to fault, it has to be on my car, the front-right wheel arch has a bit of a sharp indent on it. It’s not very noticeable unless you pay attention to it. On my car again, the rear engine cover does not sit fully flush with the bodywork as well, again not very noticeable. But still, those are faults and i must point them out. A QC issue perhaps?

Interior

Swing open the Miura’s bullhorn doors and peer inside the cabin. You will not be dissapointed here, Kyosho has put in quite abit of effort into this car and it shows. The interior although black, is wonderfully made. With realistic seats and little chrome bits adorning the cabin. The Steering wheel is a favourite piece of mine when mentioning the interior. It looks great.

Wheels and Brakes

Superb! Unlike many models out there in this price range, the Miura has branded tyres and the detailing of the rims is spot on. Disc brakes are present behind the wheels with rotating disc and static calipers. Again, nothing to fault.

Summary

Kyosho makes some great models which are great value for money. This Miura is one of those cars. It is just superb. Autoart also makes a Miura but the Autoart cars command a slightly high price point and have less features in them. Only the Kyosho car has functioning suspension and the Kyosho car has the opening front air vent. Kyosho also makes the Miura in more attractive colors then the run-of-the-mill red/yellow.

So which would i recommend? The Autoart or the Kyosho? I personally find the Kyosho to be a car of better value, the Kyosho has more features compared with the Autoart. The Autoart car though, has a better build quality to it. Autoart’s car “feels” more solid and better made, Kyosho’s a little bit more fragile. But there is a price difference between the two, so in the end, it’s up to you to decide if the slight better build quality justifies the higher price tag. As for me, i have both, this silver Kyosho and a yellow Autoart. I bought the Autoart on sale for a price lower then this Kyosho and that makes it probably the best value of all.

Overall: 7/10
( A model scoring in this range has more positives than it has flaws, however, the flaws should be made aware of)

*Rating system and review was written with reference to DiecastXchange’s review guidelines*

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2006 at 7:51 pm and is filed under Updates, 1:18 Reviews, Lamborghini. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.