'Italian Job' Lamborghini Miura Found After 50 Years
Hollywood couldn鈥檛 have written this better. A long-lost Lamborghini Miura P400 featured in the classic 1969 heist flick, 鈥淭he Italian Job,鈥?has been rediscovered and restored just in time for the classic film鈥檚 50th anniversary this June. But it wasn鈥檛 the same car. According to Lamborghini, the filmmakers purchased an already wrecked Miura to destroy and borrowed a new one for Brazzi to drive. The only caveat being they had to swap the white seats for black ones so they wouldn't get stained. After production was complete, that car was returned to the automaker and sold with the original seats and its connection to the film forgotten for some time. The car changed several times since then as some classic car historians were trying to match a Miura to the one in the movie to avail. Then last year, it was purchased by a car collector in Liechtenstein named, Fritz Kaiser, who had a hunch it might be the one and decided to go to the source for help to find out. 3586, and interviewed employees who were around at the time the film was being made, including the man who performed the stunt driving duties Enzo Moruzzi. As far as it is concerned, everything checked out. So it restored it, certified it and officially closed the book on the search.
There are plenty of cars for sale that offer driving thrills and excitement, but what do you buy if you want to take things easy? Sometimes you don't want a car with raw responses and the kind driving most motorists do on our traffic-clogged, potholed roads is often more suited to the relaxed approach anyway. If you want the quietest experience possible when driving, you鈥檝e come to the right place as we've picked 10 of the quietest cars for sale in the UK today. In the past, a quiet car meant you'd have to pay big money for the most refined and plush luxury cars on sale. Makers such as Rolls-Royce and Bentley have traded on their hushed opulence for decades, and it's a similar story for the ultimate Mercedes models. The company has promoted its luxury limousines, from the 600 Grosser all the way through its S-Class and Maybach derivatives, as the finest way to travel for those that could afford it.
The same can be said for cars such as the Toyota Century limousine and top-spec Cadillac and Lincoln models in the US. But with the onset of new technology, top level refined and truly quiet cars have become far easier to create on a smaller budget. And then there are the hi-tech solutions. Some car makers now offer noise cancelling technology via a car's sound system. This deploys specific frequencies through a car's speakers that counter background noise that's coming into the car. There's also acoustic glass, which is a more economical alternative to double glazing. This adds a specially designed plastic layer sandwiched between two layers of glass that laminates it and helps to reduce wind and road noise. Under the skin, developments in technology have boosted refinement. Engines with multiple cylinders are generally smoother, but makers have added tech such as balancer shafts to help reduce vibration even further.
The other option is to eliminate internal combustion completely in favour of the silent running offered by an electric car or plug-in hybrid. Then there are suspension systems that are designed to iron out bumps. Cars using airbags instead of springs are generally smoother, while higher quality bushings and other suspension components help with a smooth ride, and in luxury limos there's no expense spared when it comes to the quality of components. The latest tech even sees some cars adjusting their suspension according to the road ahead, taken from GPS data or sensors, to smooth things out even further. S-Class means Sonderklasse in Germany, which translates into 'special', and the S-Class is certainly that. It's been Mercedes' ultimate luxury car since the S badge was introduced in 1972, although Mercedes has long had a history of large luxury cars dating back even further. The S-Class has been a showcase for Mercedes' latest tech, and much of this has been designed to offer the quietest and most refined drive possible.