MrEd

Thank you for the kind words. I put this together as a quick history of the events about a year ago -

I am 6'5" as well and I am on LP640 #5. I have a 34" inseam so my torso is longer. I have decided that I fit in the car and I can drive them without thinking it is uncomfortable. That being said, it is quite snug. I certainly don't sit up straight in them but I have found the right slouch to where it works. I have driven them without seats and it is unreal how much more room there is. The best way to take advantage of this would be to take the seats out, fill a big plastic bag with "bead seat" which is what they use for racing seats where multiple drivers swap during endurance races, sit on the bag and suck the air out, and then let it cure. Then take it to an upholstery shop and let them cover it with matching leather, and put some velcro on the bottom so it will stick to the carpet. It will look goofy but work and be safe enough. I have never decided, in about 50k miles, that it was worth the effort to create a new seat. What I would suggest is finding a car that you are ready to own if you can get comfortable in it and tell the sales guy that you need to spend some real time in it on some roads that are extremely wide open and easy including some highway. Give him a comfortable deposit first so they are comfortable with you. What you will find is that you don't drive a car in the same position you "try one on" in. You will be much more comfortable than you think.

The issue that will always plague branded title cars (TMU, buyback, salvage, etc.) is that they are insufficient collateral for loans. On some time horizon, the accidents or negative history events don't really matter relative to more recent servicing and restoration but people do finance cars at all values. Of course as they age that happens less but it still has some impact. Of course, it is not the only factor in a value so there are certainly examples of cars with bad titles selling for more than cars with high mileage or undesirable specifications. All things being equal, though, they will always bring at least a bit less.

Yes, at this point it is safe to assume that no manual LP640s or LP670s (regardless of transmission) will ultimately be scrapped due to an accident or damage. One was recently restored after having originally gotten a Lemon Law title brand and then being totaled in an accident. Another former engine fire/salvage title one sold at a strong value two weeks ago.

After 10 long months, my LP640 came back better than ever. It is now Verde Draco and I am loving it. Here are some recent pics taken by Winning Automotive Photography. After 5 LP640s, I think this is the keeper. Here is a video about the process.

Thanks so much. Planning to pick the car up next week and road trip home from Arizona to Atlanta.

Full color change, replaced front bumper because previous repairs were sub-standard, replaced several trim pieces, patched holes from previous rear wing. etc. Correct, the color is Verde Draco. Thanks! Very excited to see it in person soon.

Does anyone have a photo of where the color breaks are underneath the bat wings? My 640 is nearly completed and we are not sure where the gloss/matte black starts since the car was gloss black to begin with.

Does it happen to have a gold (bare magnesium) intake plenum? What is the build number (last 4 of the VIN)? I would guess it is between 2000-2075.

You know my answer!

The shop is going to spray out the color mentioned above. Hopefully that looks right. That is a matte finish. Different than the Murci wheels.

Wow! Thanks so much. I will see if my shop can reference that paint code. Thanks so much for checking John. Hopefully my guy can use Louis's code above. My contacts all said the same thing you heard - no idea. The gray on your orange car and the paint I had done to my orange car was just a bit too dark and always stuck out to me. Hopefully I can get it. I was hoping someone would have a set laying around but Roy didn't and none of the dealers I have found have a set. A trade would be awesome. Did that gray car you were looking at that had them ever sell? Seems like it was advertised forever. Perhaps they are ready to change the look up. Thanks! Excited to see it come together. Thanks! It has had a rough few years but we went through it and apart from the cosmetics it is very solid. Yeah, would have loved to have them! The 670 wheels look terrific now, though. For sure.

Spoke to them and they said they didn't have a paint code because of the way they are powder coated. The black wheels are painted. Their advice was to get a shop with spectrum analyzer to match it but you really need more surface area for those to work well.

Bit of a long shot but does anyone near Phoenix/Scottsdale have factory powder coated Titanium Hercules wheels for a Murcielago? I replaced my Grigio Telesto manual LP640 with a black manual LP640 that I am color changing to Verde Draco and I want to get them an example of the factory titanium color/finish to replicate on the Hercules wheels on the car which are currently painted black. There is not a paint code for the color, unfortunately.

I don't have much on this one other than that it was advertised by Euro Motorsports around 2011 and was Balloon White at the time.

$175k wholesale $195k fair selling price $219k fair asking price

Yeah, never hurts to throw a new battery in and certainly check the fuses. It is in Neutral right? Sometimes when they get weak, they can't shift to Neutral themselves to start.

Correct, sort of. I put it down as Giallo Midas rather than Orion. Midas is the same paint on a Gallardo.

The general sentiment here is correct. Prestigious modification houses (UGR, Alpha, Hennessy, Ruf, etc.) have demonstrated better than average retention of value but the average is certainly something between 0% and -15%. If you are selling a heavily modded car to someone who was just about to buy one and do the same thing, you can generally get 25% of what was spent on the mods back. It hinges on a buyer loving the car's spec and the extent of modification performed. If it is a well (and recently) modded UGR car that actually has $130k in receipts for the original mods and not several refreshes, I would say the fair market is average retail for the car + $25-40k depending how much you care about the mods themselves.

Interesting. I am sure the shop where it currently is will.

I would say that an 03 40th Anniversary car is stronger than an E-Gear LP640, all other factors (miles/condition/originality) being equal. I would put the value ranking here: Manual LP670 (3 US cars) Manual LP640 Roadster (8 US cars) E-Gear LP670 (37 US cars) Manual LP640 Coupe (19 US cars) 03 40th Anniversary Murcielago (50 Worldwide) E-Gear LP650 Roadster (50 Worldwide) Manual 05-06 Roadster ( E-Gear LP640 Roadster E-Gear LP640 Coupe Manual 05-06 Coupe Manual 02-04 Coupe E-Gear 04-06 Coupe The right color or options could definitely shuffle them up a bit but I would say that is the hierarchy color/miles/options being reasonably similar. It would also be interesting to discuss the ranked order of color desirability. Here is my off-the-cuff order of the reasonably well known colors. Verde Ithaca (& Verde Artemis) Monterey Blue Arancio Atlas Blu Cepheus Viola Ophelia Bianco Canopus Oro Adonis Nero Nemesis Rosso Vik Balloon White Grigio Telesto Oro Elios Giallo Midas Bianco Isis Rosso Andromeda Grigio Avalon (and other gray/silvers) Blue Fontus Blue Hera Nero Aldebaran Obviously there are another couple dozen colors represented in rare quantities but that accounts for over 95% of the US cars. It is also worth noting that an abnormally high portion of the Murcielago population has been damaged, significantly modified, or poorly maintained. There are lots of factors for this but the high rear weight distribution, significant early depreciation due to the poor condition of the US economy, and the dealer network challenges early in the car's life have all created an environment where perhaps up to half of the cars have a significant history issue that would negatively influence the value. The overall production is ultra-rare relatively to anything preached as rare in a modern context so I agree that there is great upside across the range.

Pirellis will always give you the best result on an AWD Murci.

Who do you have working on it? Independent or authorized dealer? Sounds like an independent from the nature of the description. Depending on what computer he is using to diagnose it, it might be time to get to a dealer that can enlist the support of the factory to diagnose. Otherwise you may start throwing unnecessary parts at the car. It sounds like a sensor issue based on the symptoms but there are a lot of sensitivities within the way the gearbox/pump/actuators work so it is definitely worth investing in a proper diagnosis before you start buying more parts and pulling the motor again.

Manual LP640 with a story - there are a couple that would be in this range or 675LT - I will confess that I have contemplated a couple even trade deals on these with my stick 640. The prospect of owning a McLaren the day it goes out of warranty genuinely terrifies me. or 993 Turbo S - after the weak RM auction result last year ($220k), the dip in these might let you grab one for that and it will go back up. Honorable mention - special color Z8, near perfect Ford GT, PTS 997 GT2, 30k mile 16M. I also saw a 512M recently in that range which would be tough to say no to from an investment perspective.

Yes I do: https://edbolian.com/evolution-of-the-murci...over-the-years/