The Real Pioneers: Mid-engined cars

In the sports car hall of fame few names shine more brightly than those of Ferruccio Lamborghini, Giampaolo Dallara and Paolo Stanzani. They were responsible for the Lamborghini Miura, one of greatest and most innovative machines to emerge from the birthplace of the supercar, Emilia-Romagna, Italy’s capital of car culture – and probably of food culture too.

The Miura was many things. It was the first modern supercar, the most technically advanced sports car of the time and the world’s fastest production car at launch. By many people’s reckoning, it was also the most beautiful sports car of all time. The last person to tell me that was Aston Martin design boss Marek Reichman.

But it is arguably most famous for the one thing it emphatically was not: the first mid-engined production car. Here, the legend is a myth.