If you’re a child of the 1980s, there was only one car: the Lamborghini Countach. Nothing was wilder, faster, or more desired. It was on your bedroom wall, just beside your Budweiser beach towel poster. Can you believe it has been 50 years since production began?
The Countach was the perfect follow-up to the Miura, the car that put Ferrari on notice. Can you imagine seeing the Lamborghini Countach LP 500 concept for the first time at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show when cars like the Ferrari Daytona and Maserati Ghibli were being produced? The Countach made those look dated. On the other hand, the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car gave a hint of what Marcello Gandini was imagining.
The car that finally reached production in 1974 was the Countach LP 400, which featured a 3.9-liter DOHC V12 with 370 horsepower. Through 1978, only 152 were built.
Upgrades would follow, starting with the LP 400 S, which was slightly down on power (370), but equipped with wheel arches that made it instantly identifiable. Only 235 left the factory.
In 1982, the LP 500 S (LP 5000 S in some markets, including the U.S.) increased the engine size to 4.8 liters to help match the LP 400’s power output. Exterior differences were marginal, though the interior was redesigned. Only 323 were produced. Three years later, Lamborghini added four-valve heads and increased displacement to 5.2 liters to create the LP 5000 Quattrovalvole. When fuel injection was added, the Countach’s engine was rated at 414 horses, which was less than the Euro-spec carbureted version that generated 449. A more impressive 631 were made.
The Countach’s swan song was the 1988-90 25th Anniversary Edition, which kept the V12 in the same state of tune but featured styling tweaks that included more (and, arguably, overwrought) air ducts. This was the fastest Countach of the bunch, plus the most popular, with a production run of 658.
The whole time, the Countach never stopped looking contemporary. Today, Lamborghini is a different company, no longer struggling to stay float through lean years, thanks to Audi’s ownership. While the Gallardo may have been the first Lamborghini to reach the masses in good numbers (currently, the Urus is taking that up a notch or two), the Countach was the stuff dreams were – and still are – made of.
Source: www.classiccars.com