“The V12 engine is at the heart of icons from the brand’s history, from the Miura and the Countach to the Aventador Ultimae, which this year brings down the curtain on the unforgettable story of our internal combustion engine,” said Winkelmann. “Enthusiasts of automotive culture will be able to join us at Rétromobile, where we are paying tribute to our cherished heritage and the vast engineering expertise of our past and present technicians. From next year, Lamborghini will step into an electrified future: the heir to the Aventador will be presented with hybrid technology in the first phase of our Direzione Cor Tauri plan, which maps out the path to 2030. It sets targets with the aim of reducing our environmental impact by taking a holistic and socially responsible approach.”

And it’s not only this amazing Giallo Fly Speciale shade of yellow on the classic Countach that will draw a crowd, next to this beauty you can admire another icon, a Miura SV that is currently being restored by Polo Storico, the owner requested them to do a restoration for conservation purpose, she will eventually be repainted in the original Arancio Miura shade that was really popular in the Sixties, after the repaint the rest of the car, the engine, drivetrain, and interior will also be fitted after an in-depth restoration process in Sant’Agata.

Showcasing these two classic V12 supercar icons does come with an important message for the future, as we are set to say goodbye to the classic ICE V12 engine on Lamborghini’s flagship model, these two cars were extremely important in the overall history of Automobili Lamborghini SpA, next year, in 2023 we’ll be seeing the first entry from Lamborghini into the world of hybrid production supercars, and yes, there is the Sián and the Countach LPI800-4 which are technically also a V12 hybrid with their supercapacitor and electric motor, but those are limited editions, not real production cars like the Aventador successor will be.

Remember it took Polo Storico about 25,000 manhours to recreate the 1971 Lamborghini Countach LP500 Prototype from scratch for wealthy car collector Albert Spiess from Switzerland, he was able to recreate this masterpiece after the original one was lost during crash testing in March 1974, but it took the help from the Lamborghini Centro Style to complete the task of making sure the car looked as close to the original as possible, going over period photos and the scarce blueprints that could be found.

But being 50 years ago, not all parts could be found today, so Lamborghini’s Polo Storico had to either restore original, old parts or just recreate them from scratch as some parts didn’t get used in the actual Lamborghini Countach LP400 production cars, the beautiful yellow painted body on this recreation was actually made exactly the same way as it was done in the early Seventies, by panel beaters over a wooden jig, old-style, Lamborghini even had Pirelli do a remake of the original tires, down to the exact tread pattern, but using modern construction and rubber layering to make sure this car was fully street legal so the owner could drive her on the open road.

Lamborghini Polo Storico started back in 2015 already, one of their first complete restoration projects involved the actual 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV shown at the Geneva Motor Show that year … and yes, that’s the same year the Lamborghini Countach LP500 Prototype was shown, and the same model of this legendary model that is considered by many to be the world’s first supercar, that is now shown next to the Countach Prototype recreation in Paris during the 2022 Rétromobile show.

Bringing your pride and joy to Sant’Agata to have the Polo Storico department perform a nuts and bolts restoration from the ground up might not be cheap, but you’ll have a classic Lamborghini that has been rebuilt at her birthplace, it doesn’t come any better than that I guess, also Polo Storico’s main task is to certify and restore classic Lamborghini cars up to 2001, so it ends with the Diablo at this time, and Polo Storico is in a perfect position to oversee the preservation of the little stock that remains of some parts, and to oversee the purchase of new material for the official Lamborghini archives so they can rely on actual information from the era when tackling a classic Raging Bull.

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The “Countach LP 500: The Shakedown” event at Pirelli’s own Vizzola Ticino racetrack was only possible with the help of suppliers who all participated together with Polo Storico in the reconstruction of this unique prototype, which took 25,000 hours to complete. It was the perfect place for Polo Storico to run some tests on their latest creation, and allow Mr. Spiess to take the wheel of his very special Countach and experience the drive first hand.

The newly built Lamborghini Countach LP500 not only looks absolutely beautiful, but she’s also fully functional and can be driven ferociously too, the wider tires compared to the production LP400 (40mm more at the front, 50mm more at the rear) offer a very pleasing aesthetic, and while the prototype is now half a century old, she still looks modern today.

It must have been an amazing experience to hear the startup of this legendary V12 from Sant’Agata, and see her at speed on the track for the first time, together with suppliers who helped create this beauty, and more importantly, in front of the man who convinced Automobili Lamborghini SpA and their Polo Storico restoration department to undertake this commission, and while I would be extremely eager to take my new car home with me, Mr. Spiess allowed the factory to share this one-off with the public before taking delivery.

For a limited time only, up to November 15, this truly stunning Lamborghini Countach LP500 reconstruction was on display inside the official factory museum at Sant’Agata, at the MUDETEC, where she was the highlight of the 50th-anniversary display for her majesty the Countach, and she surely wasn’t feeling lonely, the original tubular space frame chassis of the Countach LP400 was alongside this bright yellow prototype recreation.

But also a stunning, similar shade, Lamborghini Countach LP400 was shown, said to be the second production unit ever, and a stunning, very intimidating black Countach Quattrovalvole completed the MUDETEC display for visitors to engage on a journey to discover the fifty years of history attached to one of the most legendary Lamborghini models ever since 1963.

By now this amazing car will have found her way into the private Spiess collection, but we can still enjoy some amazing photos published by Automobili Lamborghini SpA below:

And we also have some stunning detail shots, both from the exterior and from the unique interior:

The post Countach LP 500: The Shakedown, an event at the Vizzola Ticino racetrack appeared first on LamboCars.

I would be able to spend days admiring the cars Mr Spiess has in his collection already, how about the actual prototype of the very first Lamborghini car, the 350 GTV unveiled by the late Ferruccio Lamborghini himself in October 1963, or one of only two factory-made 350 GTS, the beautiful convertible version of the 350 GT, the latter being the first production Lamborghini ever. Spiess also managed to acquire the Marzal, a Bertone prototype that was sold after the Bertone museum got into trouble, Spiess bought it and had it completely restored.

And that’s just the start, the Spiess collection also holds the bespoke Zagato 5-95 based on the Lamborghini Gallardo, and a bright green Veneno Roadster, and even the one-off Lamborghini Egoista, built back in 2013 … rumor has it he also owns the unique Lamborghini Miura Roadster too, so it’s clear money wouldn’t be an issue, convincing Lamborghini to rebuild the 1971 Countach prototype from scratch might be, but somehow he managed, and from 2019 on it took a total of 25,000 manhours to create a perfect, down to the mm correct, replica of the prototype that would change the automotive world forever.

Please enjoy the official video below, where Mr Spiess himself explains he had a poster of the Countach on his bedroom wall and after seeing the bright yellow prototype in 1971, he fell in love with it … 50 years later he owns the recreation of that very car:

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Thanks to AutoMotiveMike, who managed to record several startups of this unique recreation, this is such a pure design, it’s just amazing a wealthy collector was able to convince the factory to rebuilt the lost prototype just for him, and it’s obvious the car is fully driveable, it even has vertical radiators mounted lengthwise next to the bespoke V12 engine, rumor has it this recreation actually runs a 4.8-Liter engine, similar to the Countach LP500 S model, so not the 4971 cc (303 ci) experimental engine from the real 1971 prototype.

The post Enjoy hearing and seeing the Countach LP500 in action appeared first on LamboCars.

Lamborghini hasn’t released more info on who commissioned Polo Storico to put together the 1971 Countach LP500 prototype, nor how much they requested for this amazing feat, but rumor has it this car could be going to the Albert Spiess collection in Switzerland to join his over 100 car collection that already comprises of other important Lamborghini like the one-off Miura Roadster, Marzal prototype, the 350 GTS, one of only two 350 GT convertibles, one of nine Veneno Roadster … and he also owns the actual 350 GTV prototype, the first-ever Lamborghini model.

I’m sure money wasn’t an object when this collector came to Lamborghini’s Polo Storico department in 2017 with the question to have them built him, or her, the actual 1971 Lamborghini Countach LP500, arguably the most important and most influential model ever to be built in Sant’Agata, the car that gave us the upward-opening doors we know all know as ‘Lamborghini Style Doors’, the legendary car that suffered a hard life during development after the 1971 unveiling, only to be crashed into a barrier at Mira in March 1974.

But the original wreck of the 1971 Countach prototype disappeared after being crash-tested, so building a correct recreation of this unique Lamborghini became quite a challenge for Polo Storico, who even had to involve the Centro Stile in the process, Mitja Borkert, Head of Design remembers it was a massive project to get it right … more specifically because all they had to go from were photos, drawing, and memories of those that were involved in the development back in 1971 as the actual car didn’t exist anymore, not even the 1:1 scale static model made back in the Seventies survived.

So work started finding information on this 50-year-old Lamborghini, photos, documents, reports, even original drawings found in storage to make sure every part, every single detail, down to getting period-correct tires through Fondazione Pirelli, “The collection of documents was crucial,” underscored Giuliano Cassataro, Head of Service and Polo Storico. “There had been so much attention paid to all the details of the car, to their overall consistency and to the technical specifications.”

Remember the Countach LP500 didn’t have the famous tubular chassis, this prototype was built on a one-off platform, so Polo Storico had to build this chassis from scratch, after which the beautiful steel body had to be made from sheet metal, and while the most modern scanners and computers were used to make sure the new car would be as accurate as possible to the original … once the metal had to be shaped things changed considerably. Lamborghini reverted to the metal hammering method used fifty years ago, going so far as to employ real “battilastra” with their inherited creativity and old-school tools from the Seventies.

Not all parts required for the recreation of the Lamborghini Countach LP500 are still available, there was only so much Polo Storico was able to get from the spare parts bin at Sant’Agata, despite having access to restored parts, some parts had to be rebuilt from scratch too so the result would be as period-correct as possible … but there were a few compromises to be made, with the tires for instance.

The 1971 Lamborghini Countach LP500 was fitted with Cinturato CN12 from Pirelli, these no longer exist today, but the archives of Fondazione Pirelli still had the original plans for this old tire, complete with images and preserved materials, so it was possible for the Milanese company’s technicians to create four Cinturato CN12 from the Pirelli Collezione to be fitted to this recreation, 245/60R14 for the front and 265/60R14 for the rear, fitted with the identical tread pattern and aesthetics from 1971, but using a modern compound and structure for safety.

While the Countach LPI 800-4 was unveiled in Bianco Siderale, the 1971 Countach LP500 was finished in yellow, but not just any generic shade of yellow, it took the experience and skills from PPG to recreate ‘Giallo Fly Speciale’ based on information and photos from the real car back in 1971, and from these photos, it looks like a warm shade of yellow, perfectly suited for this homage to the legendary Countach prototype.

Mitja Borkert even took a car from the factory museum when it came to making sure the exact volume for this recreation, they used a large 3D scanner to digitize the green Countach LP400 chassis #001 from the museum to get the correct overall measurements, it would still take another 2,000 hours to combine the data with the photos and actual homologation sheets to create a perfect digital model of the unique, but lost Countach prototype.

If you remember seeing the three teaser video’s released over the last few weeks, you’ll notice that no detail was left untouched by the artisans at Polo Storico, the interior has been recreated as close as possible to the original car, complete with the very special, black leather seats, but also the engine is an almost exact replica of the 1971 V12 with the gold manifolds.

Enjoy the short intro video Lamborghini released on their official YouTube channel on the 2021 recreation of the 1971 Countach LP500 below:

It took Lamborghini’s Polo Storico and Centro Stile over 25,000 hours to recreate the beautiful, one-off Lamborghini Countach LP500, and we can all admire it in real life at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este where she’s entered in the class reserved for concept cars … I can hardly wait to see more of this important Lamborghini …

The post The return of the Lamborghini Countach LP 500 appeared first on LamboCars.

The profile shot reveals it, this is a rebuild of the Lamborghini Countach LP500 Prototype, and from the video, it seems they are actually beating the aluminum and building this car from scratch, while the end titles show the Polo Storico, the official, in-house restoration department are they now building cars from scratch, or did the prototype somehow survived after the 1974 crash tests?

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That isn’t a Countach LP400 body, note the fins behind the side window, that’s the 1971 Countach LP500 prototype body, but wait … history mentions the Countach prototype was used for crash testing at Mira in the UK and the car was subsequently scrapped … is history wrong then? There is something odd about the crash test, in fact, knowing the Countach LP500 prototype wasn’t built on a round tube space frame, why crash test it when the production model isn’t the same, they would have to do another test with an actual production version right? Whatever happened, we have a very rare photo of the 1971 Countach prototype after the crash test:

So it was heavily damaged at the front as can be seen in the photo above, but what happened with the car after that? Upon further investigation, it turned out the crash test car had the dashboard removed together with the seats, and what was left on the inside seemed to have been painted white unlike the all-black interior seen on the prototype during testing … but did the 1971 Countach prototype (which didn’t have a chassis number by the way) come back to Sant’Agata after the crash?

And this Chapter 2 video shows another hint as to why we’re possibly looking at a restoration of the 1071 Countach LP500 … the engine comes with gold-finished covers, while the LP400 V12 unit had these in black, now there aren’t too many color photos of the actual 1971 5-Liter V12 engine, but we happened to have one in our gallery, and it had those gold covers back in 1971 already.

A detail we can’t really distinguish from this video is the number of distributors, note on the photo of the original 5-Liter V12 engine there is only one distributor for all 12 spark plugs, for the 4-Liter LP400 V12 engine Lamborghini switched to two distributors, one for each bank of six cylinders, it’s only when Lamborghini created the LP500 S with a more or less 5-Liter engine the single distributor came back.

According to Mira, the Countach has only been crash-tested in March 1974, which might be correct as the above photo shows the heavily modified photo undamaged as late as September 1973, so has Lamborghini been hiding the Countach LP500 remains for 50 years or has the wreck been discovered somewhere in a scrap yard? There is no official information about that as of yet, but I already noticed it when they released the first ‘The Wait‘ video, and this Chapter 2 confirms it for me: Automobili Lamborghini has rebuilt the 1971 Countach LP500 prototype, either from scratch or from the wrecked remains, whichever is the case, this will be an amazing piece of automotive history and I can’t wait for them to unveil it.

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In the end, less than 2,000 units were made between 1974 and 1990, one of the longest production runs for a single model ever, but it was the Countach that left a mark in the life of an entire generation, and the generation after that, the Miura is a legend, but the Countach is a star, especially in the Eighties when wide wheel arches, deeply concaved wheels, and that famous rear wing made their intro … countless bedroom walls were adorned with a Lamborghini Countach, sometimes combined with scarcely dressed women, this truly was the beauty and the beast.

Flashback to 1971 …

The 1971 Lamborghini Countach concept car, or the LP500, was unique, and very different from the LP400 production car that was available from 1974 on, the general design was still there, as where those famous upward-opening doors, but along the way of development almost everything else was changed to make the Countach ready for production.

The prototype came with an experimental 5-Liter V12 engine that proved too difficult to make reliable at the time, so they switched to a modified 4-Liter Espada engine instead, a well-tested and relatively reliable V12 at that time, but it needed more cooling than that sensual aluminum body to deliver, so we got the famous NACA ducts in the doors and those box-style air intakes behind the side windows, talking about side windows, on the Countach these were almost flat, but not quite, and that made using that small section in the lower corner difficult to install, the production model would get a three-part side window treatment that blocked outward visibility if you happened to be the wrong height.

On the inside things changed considerably too during the three-year development run, the prototype had a single-spoke steering wheel in front of a very futuristic looking dashboard, to the left was an attempt at a ‘computer check’ installed that showed a diagram of the Countach seen from the top with lights that would come on in case of a problem, but deep inside the binnacle was still an analog speedometer, with the configuration of the gearbox being in front of the engine, between the two seats, the gearshift lever poked up for the driver to operate, one thing that did remain initially was the ‘periscope’, the Countach LP500 and later the LP400 production models had a rearview mirror fitted at the top of the windshield, but it didn’t show a view through the tiny rear window, instead it ‘peeked’ through a tunnel embossed in the roof … for better visibility.

If you happen to see an original Lamborghini Countach LP400 today, don’t be disappointed by her size, compared to current cars, the Countach was small with an overall length of just 4010 mm (157.59 in) and a wheelbase of 2450 mm (96.29 in) while the roof was only 1070 mm (42.05 in) high, still the 440 hp 5-Liter engine from the Countach prototype would be able to reach a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) … in 1971! When the Countach went into production in 1974, despite the engine going from a bore and stroke of 85×73 mm to 82 x 62 mm and a drop in horsepower to ‘only’ 375 hp, the listed top speed was 316 km/h.

The biggest change from the Lamborghini Countach LP500 from 1971 to the Countach LP400 production version in 1974 was both the chassis and the bodywork, the original prototype was built by Marchesi on a steel floor-plate with a cradle in square-section steel while the entire body was made from steel panels, reports show the prototype put 1130 kg (2492 lbs) on the scales. By 1974, when the Countach LP400 was introduced, Lamborghini switched to a 40 mm round steel tubular spaceframe built by Marchesi hiding underneath an all-aluminum body … saving a lot of weight to end up at 1065 kg (2348 lbs), which partly explains the higher top speed of the production car.

By 1978, when the Countach LP400 S was introduced with her large wheel arch extensions, wild rear wing, and massive rear wheels, Automobili Lamborghini SpA managed to sell 157 units of the ‘narrow body’ Countach LP400, just keep in mind not all of those still remain, and several were converted by their owner into S-specs after they saw the wild LP400 S … ironically some of those have later been converted back into their original narrow configuration as the LP400 has become the most valuable model in the series, which went from LP400 to LP400S in 1978, then to LP500S in 1982, after that, the Quattrovalvole came around by 1985 to be succeeded by the 25th Anniversary edition in 1988.

Back to the Present Day …

Fast forward to 2021, five decades after the Countach LP500 was unleashed into the automotive world, and while Automobili Lamborghini SpA has always been proud of the fact they focus on the future, sometimes you just have to look back into your own history and celebrate a milestone that proved to be extremely important for the company, the Miura might be universally considered as the first supercar in the world, but I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that the Countach changed the automotive world forever, so it seemed like a great idea at one of their marketing meetings to pay homage to the Countach, 50 years later.

So the concept of a Lamborghini Countach homage came to fruition, a limited edition supercar made specifically to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of one of the most important Lamborghini cars ever made, the car that introduced upward-opening doors into production, often imitated after that on lesser cars, but Lamborghini holds first place forever, even 50 years later this is still a trademark for the V12 flagship models from Sant’Agata, and while inspired by the Carabo, it was the Countach to put them on a car sold to the public, but let’s get back to the Ommagio now.

The Contemporary Countach

Over the last 50 years a lot has changed in the automotive world, the Countach might have suffered from an oil crisis in her days, but by 2021 those pop-up headlights became a big no-no for safety reasons, so the new car just couldn’t implement those anymore, and that was just the first hurdle to take, the 2021 Countach Ommagio had to be street-legal worldwide, and there was only one way to achieve that on a reasonable budget … use the current Aventador as a base, as long as you keep the chassis and basic measurements, you can install different body panels all you like, it will still be legal and won’t have to endure a new crash test … and to be honest, that really restricted things for the designers in Sant’Agata.

So now we are stuck with a chassis that comes with a wheelbase of 2, 700 mm (106.11 in) compared to the 2,450 mm (96.29 in) on the 1971 prototype, but more importantly the 2021 edition comes with a length of 4,870 mm (191.73 in) against the 4010 mm (157.59 in) of the LP500, that’s 860mm longer due to much larger overhangs both to the front and to the rear, so the overall balance of the side profile can’t be compared between the two because of the Aventador base constraints … and things get even worse from a front or rearview, the 2021 car has massive width of 2,265 mm (89.17 in) with the mirrors compared to the slim width of 1,870 mm (73.49 in) of the prototype that came with small ‘ball’ mirrors on top of the front fenders.

So let’s get this ‘elephant in the room’ out of the way right from the start, there is no way the design studio at Lamborghini would be able to use the Aventador chassis and rolling components and create a lookalike of the 1971 Countach LP500, not even a ‘resto-mod’ version, it just wasn’t possible within the limits they had to work with, so the 2021 Countach homage edition would take inspiration from the original, 50-year-old prototype and convert that design into the 21st-century evolution we saw being unveiled at the 2021 Monterey Car Week.

The Official Unveil During Monterey Car Week

I am sure most of you have read the comments on social media that were posted after the unveiling, or even after seeing the teasers Lamborghini published in the week and days before the official press release became available … not all of them were positive, to say the least, some were really hitting hard on Lamborghini for bringing back the legendary Countach name on a car that is so different from that earthshattering 1971 prototype, for many purists, Lamborghini just committed a capital crime by calling this 2021 limited edition the Countach LPI 800-4.

So what is really going on with the new 2021 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4? There will be only 112 units made in total, as an homage to the LP112 internal codename of the Seventies supercar, and while the new car received a lot of mixed comments, that didn’t keep 112 wealthy individuals to put their name on the order list … the new Countach was completely sold out before she was even shown to the public, so she isn’t that bad … or is she.

Countach vs Countach, 50 years apart

Let’s take a look at the basics first, based on the Aventador Ultimae chassis, drivetrain, and engine, the Countach LPI 800-4 comes with 780 hp from the NA V12 engine, but Lamborghini installed the supercapacitor and electric engine from the Sián onto the new Countach too, adding 34 more horsepower into the mix for a total of 814 … but LP814 doesn’t flow off the tongue easily, so they went with LP800, and because it’s a hybrid now they added the ‘I’ for Ibrido to the LP designation for LPI 800 and the -4 comes in as this car is all-wheel drive as all V12 models today.

Wheels are massive 20 and 21-inch units compared to the original that had to make do with only 14 inch, 7 inch wide at the front and a measly 9 inch for the rear with narrow Pirelli tires that weren’t up to the task, on the contrary, the new Countach rolls down the street on 9 inch wide front wheels and monstrous 13 inch wide rear wheels, shod with 255/30 ZR20 and 355/25 ZR21 respectively, still made by Pirelli but now the new P Zero Corsa rubber, as we already mentioned, things have changed considerably over the last 50 years.

So comparing the specifications between 1971 and 2021 is useless, every car makes has evolved, and you can’t really compare both cars in that area anymore, not from Lamborghini, nor from any other supercar builder, but how about design then, if you would design an homage car does it have to be a modern version of the original, retaining the exact same look but brought into the future and within the current laws and regulations … or would you opt to create a new car that shows a resemblance to the original, but is still different, more up to date?

The View From Outside …

This is where opinions vary, some were expecting an exact replica of the original car, others wanted a new car, but one that still looked very close to the original, while the Lamborghini designers took a different route … creating a new car that was inspired by the legendary classic from 1971, but has little to no elements taken directly from the 1971 prototype Countach, while they still revived the name some 31 years after the last Countach was built (in 1990, the silver 25th Anniversary on display at the factory museum).

But let’s take a more in-depth look at the design of this 2021 Countach, starting from the front, the LPI 800-4 had to comply with current regulations, and that just about puts pop-up headlights into an illegal feature, so those typical Countach dual round ‘pods’ that open when in use just couldn’t be resurrected, instead Lamborghini opted for modern LED light units on the fenders in a somewhat similar location … a little bit too high up, but that also might be due to legislation, so I’m not going to complain about their position, on the other hand, the design of the front hood does remind us of the original Countach, as does the script in the air intake, so there are a few links to the design from the Seventies to be found from this angle.

So the front would be somewhat acceptable as a modern interpretation of the 1971 Countach, personally, I think Lamborghini could have done some sliding cover over the exposed headlights, imagine a color-coded shell over these that slides up when the headlights have to be used, that would make the front look even more like the original, while it would be completely legal without pop-up pods with their intricate motors and additional weight, just my 2ct.

For me the bigger compromises had to be made at the rear of the new 2021 Countach because we have a massive 6.5-Liter V12 between the rear wheels, it needs cooling, which means cool air to go into the engine bay, and hot air to exit the ‘oven’ which implied cutting large air vents on the upward flowing body section behind the wide rear tires, they do interrupt the clean lines in that area of the original Countach.

But the compromises didn’t stop there, while the overall design of the taillight pods does look like the very recognizable trapezoidal units found on the Countach prototype, apparently, it was too difficult for Lamborghini to actually mimic the unique design of the prototype’s taillights and instead just used the Sián taillights … shouldn’t a car that commemorates the legendary Countach, that meant so much for Lamborghini during her 15 years of production, be eligible for some bespoke taillights … perhaps it was a problem to make them legal, I don’t know, but it would have been so much better looking, now the Countach LPI 800-4 is almost nothing more than a redressed Sián, and I’m sure that was not the intention.

Now we come to the most complained about controversy found on the new 2021 Countach … the side profile with that massive, clear carbon fiber air intake … which you have to admit is a necessity on this modern interpretation, that massive V12 needs cool air and having a large intake cut into the door and the rear fender is the only way … or is it? Think about this one for a second: didn’t the Sián have those heat-sensitive flaps at the rear that opened up without using any motors? Yes, it did, wouldn’t something like that be possible to use on the side of this new Countach … how about a set of louvers that were flush with the bodywork when standing still, but open up like fins when driving and supplying air into the engine bay, that would make the side profile of this 2021 edition look as smooth as the 1971 prototype, but still be functional as an air intake when required, we’ve seen something like that being used on the Countach Restyling Prototype back in the Eighties.

I know many complaints about the new 2021 Countach were about that typical NACA duct on the side of the older Countach, but this limited edition LPI 800-4 is meant to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Lamborghini Countach, and that’s the 1971 prototype, which didn’t have a NACA duct on the side when presented to the public, so why would an homage need it then … if you look closely at the side you will notice the fins behind the side window, that design element was taken directly from the 1971 prototype, and I for one love it, and while some want to see it in black so it visually extends and lowers the car, they were yellow on the original car, so keep them color-coded to the body on this homage too.

While we’re still looking at the 2021 Countach from the side, let’s discuss those wheels, according to the official press release these are inspired by the famous ‘telephone dial’ units found on the classic Lamborghini Countach, and I love those deeply concaved 15-inch wheels, in fact, I prefer them over the later 25th Anniversary units, but that’s not the point I want to make here … Lamborghini is celebrating the 1971 Countach, the prototype that came with those tiny 14-inch wheels, so why use wheels inspired by a Countach model that didn’t arrive until 1978, that doesn’t make sense to me, they should have made a modern version of those small 14-inch flat units with the rectangular openings, not suddenly jump ahead 7 years into the evolution of the Countach for inspiration on the wheels.

When you take a look from the top you will notice some really interesting design clues from the classic Countach on this 2021 edition, the design of the ‘periscope’ from the original car for instance, and while it isn’t a functional rearview mirror tunnel anymore, the design is there with the glass panel, while the vents on the engine cover are somewhat taken into present-day with those glass louvers, which honestly remind me of those on the Murciélago Super Veloce, what I absolutely love on the new car are those small vents next to the glass louvers on the engine cover, just behind the roof, those were used on the Miura, and on the Countach production version too, so I love that small detail they incorporated into this Countach homage, I doubt they were necessary, but they look the part.

One more controversy was stirred up when people started complaining about the lack of a rear wing, while that large rear aerofoil is so typical on many classic Lamborghini Countach, ever since Walter Wolf insisted the factory installed it on his custom-built Countach Speciale models, but once again I bring up the point this is an homage to the ’71 prototype, which didn’t have a rear wing either, it would be 7 years later before that wing would be available, so why insist on having one on the 2021 homage edition? Do note that the Countach LPI 800-4 does come with an adjustable rear wing, it’s flush on all the press photos, but the specifications do state the car comes with a rear wing that can be raised in three different positions … so for all those asking about a rear wing, there is one, it’s just not as intrusive as the 1978 unit found on the Countach S evolution.

Looking inside …

While we are complaining about the new car … open the driver’s door … yes, it still opens upward, at least that trademark feature is still there, but then disappointment sets in. The interior is just so ‘Aventador’ it hurts, sure there are a few bespoke 3D-printer air vents and a large touchscreen for the infotainment, but that’s about it … on a $2,000,000+ limited edition homage! The seats show bespoke stitching, but they are still the normal Aventador S units, and the comfort seats too, it seems you can’t even opt for the carbon fiber lightweight sport seats we saw inside the Sián, which really is a pity.

Sadly that has been a trend on every few-off lately, the Veneno was introduced with very special seats, almost identical to the ones seen in the Aventador J, but the three customer cars came with normal Aventador comfort seats as it seemed those special seats weren’t street-legal … still, one owner convinced Lamborghini to sell him a pair of the special seats as seen in Geneva. But in the Centenario we got more of the same, the entire dashboard was more or less identical to a basic Aventador, the same with the Sián … carbon fiber seats and a bespoke central console, but the dashboard was taken straight from the Aventador with some different touches.

Just imagine Lamborghini would have made a bespoke dashboard for the 2021 Countach LPI 800-4, still with displays, but showing analog dials as seen in the 1971 car, the steering wheel would most likely be kept for security and certification, but wouldn’t it be possible for Lamborghini to recreate a modern version of those traditional Countach seats, some call a ‘Banana’, but I think that would have made such a difference in the overall perception of this 2021 homage.

For me personally the biggest mistake Lamborghini made with the 2021 Countach was the shade, sure that Bianco Siderale looks amazing with the red leather interior, but the 1971 Countach prototype was finished in yellow with an all-black interior. The press release states they went for white to commemorate the white Countach S Ferruccio Lamborghini owned at one time, but that’s an S, and it had a dark, probably black, interior too, so why go for red? I would have finished the 2021 show car in a bespoke shade called Giallo Countach and fit a black leather interior to really celebrate the 50-year-old prototype, now that would be an homage in my eyes. And to make things worse, Mitja did his initial design drawings in yellow as seen above, so I think the idea was to release the 2021 Countach in yellow … so who made the decision white would be a better choice?

Conclusion

Bottom line is that the Countach changed the automotive world … this car became more than an icon or a work of art, a Lamborghini Countach is special, but on a whole different level, it might not be perfect, or necessarily beautiful … but it’s a Countach, and that says it all … Countach! And that is probably one of the main reasons for all the bad comments, the Countach has been made larger than life over the years, the car sits on a pedestal, and both owners and enthusiasts of the Countach are mainly old-school customers, they know the history of Lamborghini, they know what the Countach stood for in the Seventies and Eighties, and they are proud of their car.

My fear is that only a handful of the 112 units of this new 2021 Countach LPI 800-4 will end up with passionate Lamborghini connaisseurs, but instead be bought as an investment to be shown in their garage, I don’t know if Lamborghini made this car available to first-time owners, but if they did, that would have been a mistake.

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So they don’t give out any details, as usual, but don’t you recognize some really interesting bits in what they do unveil, and what they mention at the end? I certainly did, let’s think about what they state at the end first: “50 years ago it paved the road to the future, now it’s back on the road” … they must be talking about the Lamborghini Countach prototype for sure.

Another interesting giveaway are those seats, take a closer look at the design, those are Countach seats, but there was only one Countach that had those massive, square padding on the seat and backrest … the initial 1971 prototype, same with the central console shown, it has a round opening for the gear lever while there are two small rectangular openings in front of that, which were buttons on the Countach prototype, as you can clearly see in this scan from Autokampioen, a Dutch magazine published in April of 1971 (image courtesy of Timpelen.com):

If we take a look at the Automobili Lamborghini SpA website itself, they have a new entry under their News > Lamborghini World that mentions a ‘Limited Series’ model described as ‘Get ready to live the past with Lamborghini’ … so are they planning on building a very limited number of actual 1971 Lamborghini Countach LP500 Prototype replicas?

Another detail is that classic, analog dial that seems to go beyond 300 km/h, now the 1971 prototype came with an innovative digital display array on the left, but if you look closely into the binnacle behind the steering wheel, it does look like there’s an analog speedometer hiding, so with all those individual things put together, I’m pretty sure they are talking about the actual Countach prototype, and not a re-bodied Aventador like the Countach LPI 800-4.

I wonder how many of these 2021 Lamborghini Countach LP500 they are going to build, and what their price tag will be, if they offer it for sale to clients, it might be a one-off to be displayed at the museum to join the green Countach production prototype and the last Countach ever built, the silver metallic 25th Anniversary … whatever the case, I’m looking forward to what they have in store for us to ‘live the past with Lamborghini’.

As far as I know, the history books all mention the original 1971 Countach prototype has a rather harsh life during development, having the engine replaced with a 4-Liter version, and getting various air intakes cut into her aluminum body, the famous NACA duct, and the boxed shaped shoulder intakes to name a few … but my understanding was that this specific car was used as a crash test unit at Mira. So are they rebuilding the wreck, or did they use another chassis for the crash testing, as the prototype didn’t have the tubular space frame from the production model, and has the one and only 1971 Countach prototype been hiding somewhere?

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Even today, when designers working at the Centro Stile in Sant’Agata are asked to draw the Lamborghini of the future, they still turn to the criteria set by the Countach fifty years ago, Lamborghini’s design DNA originated with the Countach. The Lamborghini Miura is still a beautiful, sensual-looking design, but with the avantgarde Countach the trend for every Lamborghini model since was set, the single line from front to back would dictate every new model from Sant’Agata for decades to come.

If you look closely at the side profile of the Lamborghini Countach, especially the side windows and the rear wheel arch, you will recognize the same design elements in the next generation flagships, from the Diablo over the Murciélago right up to the current Aventador, a car that was introduced 40 years after the Countach, but that still showed the traditional ‘single longitudinal line’ from front to back.

Mitja Borkert, Head of Design at Lamborghini, describes the style of this automotive icon as follows: “There are works of art that always remain relevant, and the form of the Countach is one of them. Its design is comprised of perfect proportions, characterized by a very pure and essential approach. Its distinctive feature is the single longitudinal line that visually connects the front and rear parts. From a stylistic point of view, it’s a perfect inspiration because, even when the rest is modified, the line is an element of visual continuity between past and present. It’s the epitome of the DNA in all Lamborghini design, the tradition of the stylistic language from the origins to the present day.”

And let’s not forget the feature that Lamborghini introduced with the Countach, and that has adorned every single V12 flagship model ever since … the upward-opening doors, the ‘Lamborghini doors’ has become a trademark since then, and while many cars these days come with similar opening doors and many tuners install this style of doors on much lesser makes, it was Lamborghini that came up with the concept on a production car, inspired by the Carabo prototype, it is safe to say the Lamborghini Countach was way ahead of its time in 1971.

The Lamborghini Countach prototype was finished in bright yellow, and while we’ve seen several Lamborghini Miura in unusual shades, like orange and bright green, it was the Countach that caused an explosion of bright colors, again something that would stay synonymous with Lamborghini every since … when you visit an event with several Lamborghini parked side by side, some even state they look like Skittles, that’s Lamborghini for you, always bold and out of the ordinary.

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This new 5-Liter engine, which was built using a lot of magnesium even for the gearbox and differential, was completely designed and built by Lamborghini, while Bertone, more precisely by Marcello Gandini, executed the body design.

At Lamborghini, Paolo Stanzani was responsible for the engineering, the transmission was put directly underneath the gear lever, so no complicated linkage was necessary for it, the gearbox was linked with the rear mounted differential through a long shaft in the bottom of the engine, the engine, gearbox and differential were mainly built from magnesium to reduce their weight.

The body styling was executed by Marcello Gandini, its upward and forward swinging doors were inspired on the Carabo, which was based on an Alfa Romeo chassis, these doors together with a periscope rear view mirror mounted in a tunnel in the roof were only a few of the main attractions on the Countach. The Countach looked awesome, a futuristic prototype, a one-off, but the critics were wrong, the Countach was destined to go into production, and shortly after the introduction, Ferruccio Lamborghini halted the Miura SV production, to be succeeded by the Countach. ‘Countach’ is in fact a Piedmontese dialect, and means something like stupendous, magnificent, splendid. There are several legends surrounding the origin of this name, but the official factory version is that it was Bertone’s first word when he saw the result of Gandini’s pen. Ferruccio Lamborghini himself was present at the time and decided that this name would fit the new Lamborghini perfectly.

This first Countach was a real show car, the dashboard did not have the normal analog instrumentation, but Bertone used experimental digital units, while a first edition of the check computer was installed, monitoring all the important areas of the car like the different fluids, the brakes, etc… Later when Bob Wallace was testing the LP500, he had the digital instrumentation replaced with normal ones. From the first moment on, the orders started coming in, at that time it was not even sure the car would actually be produced, but after Ferruccio saw how much people were willing to buy a Countach he decided to build it in small quantities. This first prototype, which was finished in a bright yellow, had only a short life, which was very hard. Various modifications were needed to transform the unique prototype into a production model, large air scoops were installed on top of the rear fenders to pull the air into the radiators, who were now mounted vertically.

In addition, a pair of NACA-ducts was cut behind the doors and various windshield wipers were tested, after several thousands of hard miles the car ended its life with a barrier crash test at MIRA in Britain.

After this first rolling prototype, two others were built to get the Countach into production, a red one that was still close to the original design but now with the big air intakes already built into the car from the start. On this red car, a test was performed with dual windscreen wipers, residing both to the left and right of the front windscreen, but this system proved to be inadequate under rain at high speeds.

This second prototype was also heavily tested by Bob Wallace during several circuit runs, but a third prototype was needed to be really able to get the Countach ready, this green example was later also used for the first official factory brochure offering the Lamborghini Countach LP400 as a production model, later another brochure was created with an actual yellow production car. This green car already featured the single windscreen wiper system that would be used on the actual LP400, the front bumper now was lowered a bit, and included driving lights like the LP400 would later on.

Both these late prototypes used the 4-Liter engine, which would be built into the actual production model, but the side window configuration of these prototypes never made it into production.

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Toward the end of 1986 the Countach 7000 was presented, this very different looking Countach used a four-valve engine bored out to 7.1 Liter with twin-turbo chargers, pumping out a whopping 592 bhp, instead of the 455 Bhp produced by the ‘normal’ 5 Liter QV engine. A top speed of 240 Mph was mentioned for this very special prototype.

But another big change was visible on the outside, the Countach was almost completely redesigned, the front received a new, deeper chin spoiler but the driving lights and pop-up headlight units remained. On the side of the car, new deep skirts were mounted to better integrate into the enlarged rear wheel moldings. Who now incorporated two big vertical air intakes, one to cool the massive, perforated rear disc brakes, the other to cool down the engine, together with altered air intakes on top op the rear shoulders, this would supply enough cold air into the engine compartment to keep the big V-12 at normal running temperatures.

The design of the upward opening door was slightly changed to allow full size side windows to be used, the back of this new Countach 7000 was completely redesigned too. Now a small spoiler was integrated into the bodywork, eliminating the need for the massive rear wing.

This drawing was however completely changed before Lamborghini built a running prototype, this running prototype became known as the Countach Restyling, which is also featured on these pages.

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This car is actually the first LP500 S with US modifications, it was the Geneva Show car, after the show it was shipped to the US and received all modifications necessary to meet DOT and EPA standards in California.

This Countach was then tested and approved in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after six months in California the car was returned to the factory in Italy where is was to serve as the US prototype, the later actual US-Specifications Countach was closely based on this car, only the rear treatment was altered.

In 1986 it returned to the United States and was sold to a lucky customer, the color combination of silver metallic and blue leather interior was claimed to be unique until 1989.

An enthusiast acquired the car back in 1988 and used it mainly as a show car, occasionally displaying the car at various auto shows like the Monterrey Pebble Beach event. It was stored in a controlled environment since 1989 and only traveled to shows in an enclosed trailer, therefore this very rare Countach has only 13000 Km (about 8000 Miles) on the counter. This special Countach was sold in the United States after Lamborghini USA converted it from carburetors to an full electronic fuel injection.

Since this specific Countach is actually a one of a kind Lamborghini it would be a very nice addition to any collection, during late 2000 this car was for sale by the person who owned it since 1988.

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He remedied several disadvantages of the original Countach design, like its Cx value, which was a problem from the LP400 S on, he jointed the wheel wells in a less abrupt way by mounting special rocker panels, softening several corners and redesigning the air scoops behind the side windows. Cooling air for the radiator, oil cooler and engine was now ‘grabbed’ through grilles similar to those used on the initial 1971 prototype, but by increasing the inclination of the side windows, these air intakes conveyed more air. Also because of this inclination, these side windows were now finished in one piece, and not in two as on the ‘normal’ Countach, and were even electrically powered.

To the side, the original NACA ducts were replaced with large side grilles, mounted in enlarged, flat rear wings like on a Porsche 935. These grilles used thermostatically-controlled vertical louvers, as on the Bugatti 57, the front spoiler was now blended into the body line.

The chassis had to be redesigned to accommodate the radiator and oil cooler to the left of the engine, behind the driver’s seat, with the fuel tank to the right.

Suspension, brakes and the rest of the space frame structure were left unchanged. This car was developed during 1987, and Patrick Mimran himself decided to have this prototype actually built to be able to judge the entire car. The Restyling prototype, an unofficial name given inside the company for the official ‘Project L150’, was completed in April 1987, but it was never used for further tests, it was finished for Patrick Mimran, who as a lover of exotic cars, added it to his collection of special Lamborghinis.

Specs

• Lamborghini Countach L150 (1987)
• Engine: 12 cylinders 60º V
• Displacement: 5167 ccm
• Horsepower: 455 bhp @ 7,000 rpm
• Maximum speed: n/a km/h
• Acceleration 0-100 km/h: n/a s
• Weight: 1490 kg
• LxWxH (cm): 414 x 200 x 107
• Design: Based on Marcello Gandini’s original design

Pictures

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