Auction house RM Sotheby’s recently held an auction featuring items from a famous car collection known as The Junkyard. Among the highlights were three rare Lamborghini Miuras that had been sitting untouched for up to 46 years.
In 1967, Rudi Klein started a scrapyard business in Los Angeles called Porche Foreign Auto, which he reportedly misspelled intentionally without the S after Porsche threatened legal action.
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For decades, Klein kept his collection secret and closed it to the public with very few people allowed to enter. Klein passed away in 2001, and now, the auction has revealed the contents of his mysterious collection.
The auction included vehicles, engines and car parts from various automakers such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Lamborghini. The three Lamborghini Miuras auctioned from Klein’s collection were a 1967 P400, a 1968 P400 and a 1969 P400 S.
According to RM Sotheby’s, the 1967 vehicle was the 53rd Miura ever made and sold for $610,000. The vehicle’s history includes a title under a man in Baldwin Hills, California, in 1979, an unspecified issue that rendered it non-operational in May 1980, Klein’s acquisition a month later and 44 years of sitting. It is not accompanied by an engine or gearbox.
The 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 served as the most expensive of the three and sold for $1.325 million. Specified for the Italian market, Lamborghini shipped this specific vehicle from its factory to a customer named Mr. Zampolli. RM Sotheby’s speculates this may have been Claudio Zampolli, a factory test engineer and driver.
Zampolli imported Lamborghinis to Southern California, which could explain how this vehicle made it to Klein by 1978 and sat in storage for 46 years. The auction house said the vehicle still has its V-12 engine.
The 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S sold for $967,500. First delivered in 1969, the vehicle suffered a front-end collision and has been off the road since 1978. It retains its original engine, chassis and bodywork aside from the missing front clamshell and rocker panel trim. It is also believed to still have its original, factory-provided paintwork and upholstery.
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