Yep, you read that right – Lamborghini’s incomparable Countach is half a century old. While the earlier Miura is lauded as one of the most beautiful cars of all time, it was the Countach, Gandini’s V12-engined wedge, that put Lamborghini on the map, on a million bedroom-wall posters, and set it on a path to greatness.
Lambo’s current supercars, the Huracan and the Aventador, still riff on the Countach’s eye-popping shape. And now, on a roll and under new management, the extrovert Italian marque has seen fit to bring back the Countach as a big-ticket, limited-run special.
The new Countach is effectively a reworked Sian, and shares much of its underpinnings with the V12 hybrid. But Lamborghini design boss Mitja Borkert has done a masterful job removing all trace of the Sian’s angular, Aventador-esque design, replacing it with something unmistakably Countach (and entirely skinned in carbonfibre) – even if the new car’s dimensions dwarf those of the original car.
This business model (creating new versions of old legends on existing platforms) is one returning CEO Stephan Winkelmann employed successfully during his time in charge of Bugatti, and makes a lot of sense for Lamborghini, with its star-studded back catalogue. Customer deliveries will commence in the first quarter of 2022, and 110 new Countachs will be built. Demand is such that they were all but sold out before the car was even unveiled… That’s good business.
Lamborghini is asking just north of 2 million euros for the car. That figure represents both a staggering amount of money and something of a bargain.
Play the numbers game and it doesn’t add up. For something like a fifth of that sum, Ferrari will sell you a properly hybrid and considerably more powerful SF90 Stradale (as opposed to Lamborghini’s barely-hybrid supercapacitor system, which offers just 34 electric horsepower and can’t be plugged in).
But the SF90 is a series-production car, not a potential collector’s item, and it doesn’t evoke one of the most iconic supercars of all time. And the Countach is less expensive than the Sian on which it’s based, making it look like something of a bargain…
The Aventador, Lamborghini’s series-production V12, is due for replacement in the next couple of years. But its magnificent engine – which displaces a full 6.5 litres, as opposed to the very humble 3.9-litre V12 in the original LP400 Countach of the 1970s – is going out with one hell of bang.
In the new Countach, the titanium-valved masterpiece is good for 769bhp. To that the electric motor adds a further 34bhp, while also taking care of reversing and helping to smooth the now antiquated single-clutch semi-auto transmission. That’s a healthy 803bhp all-in.
Come 2071, Lamborghini will surely wheel out a 100th anniversary Countach. Elon Musk will be living on Mars, by then even Lamborghini will be all-electric, and only us old duffers will have any idea what a Countach is…
Lamborghini LPI 800-4 Countach: circa €2 million, 803bhp V12, 2.8sec 0-62mph, 222mph
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