A famous singer once stated ‘you buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody, you buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody’, and in all honesty, I couldn’t have said it any better than that. Don’t get me wrong, a Ferrari is an amazing supercar, but for me, a Lamborghini is still on another level, it is commonly known that the Lamborghini Miura from the Sixties was the world’s first supercar, but the successor to that rare Bull was what put Automobili Lamborghini SpA firmly into automotive history forever.
The Lamborghini Countach was introduced as a prototype from Bertone back in 1971, it would take about three more years before the first units of the Countach LP400 would reach customers, but that car was so extreme and out of this world, it immediately set the record for anything that would follow ‘made in Sant’Agata’, the trademark Lamborghini ‘scissor’ doors were introduced with the Countach, doors that open up to reach for the sky were a novelty at that time, and countless ‘lesser’ cars would be customized by their owners with ‘Lamborghini doors’, but it was the Countach that brought them into the world of supercars, imagine seeing a ‘spaceship’ car like that on the road in the mid-Seventies.
With the help of Walter Wolf, Lamborghini developed the Countach into the LP400S, adding wide wheel arches, a deep front spoiler, and a modified suspension that would allow the fitment of the widest wheels on the market back in 1978, Pirelli’s that measured 345mm at the rear, steamroller rubber for the magnificent Countach S, note that the famous rear wing wasn’t actually fitted to the Countach on the assembly line, but outside of the factory, rumor had it, Lamborghini didn’t managed to homologate the rear wing, but we can all agree it does look impressive nonetheless, despite that fact that is did shave a few mph from the top speed due to the added drag, and make no mistake, it did not add any downforce to the Countach.
By 1982 Automobili Lamborghini SpA offered a larger displacement V12 engine for their flagship model, known as the Countach LP500 S, sometimes also referred to as the LP5000 S, and you might think that would mean a 5-liter engine, but it was exactly 4,754 cc, so more an LP480, but that doesn’t look right, so LP500 S it was, with a power output of 375 hp, mostly as a response to Ferrari’s new Boxer that was released, visually nothing much changed, and after only three years of production, Lamborghini took the Countach to the ultimate evolution, the QV, or Quattrovalvole, which was a reaction to the Ferrari Testarossa to be fair.
As the name suggests, this was a V12 with a four-valve per cylinder head, displacement was again raised from the LP500 S, now up to 5167 cc with a power output of no less than 455 hp resulting in a top speed of 245 km/h, making it the fastest production car in the world once again, exactly what Automobili Lamborghini SpA intended in 1985, and if I’m being honest, this is the one to get if you want to add a Countach to your collection at the time of writing. I know many will argue it is the original, narrow-body, periscopio Countach LP400 to get, but I prefer the one with the wide arches, and massive wheels, preferably with that impressive rear wing, I like it, especially in red on a tan interior.
Automobili Lamborghini SpA was founded in 1963, so 1988 would mark the 25th anniversary of the company. The intention was to have the successor to the legendary Countach ready to be unveiled, remember we are talking about a model that had been sold to customers since 1974. Still, things turned out differently, and none other than Horacio Pagani was asked to create a ‘new’ Countach as a celebration model, the original Countach was designed by Stefano Pasini mind you, but the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary restyle was courtesy of Pagani.
The intention was for the Countach 25th Anniversary to be a very limited production model, a celebration model, that would quickly be replaced by what we know today as the Lamborghini Diablo. Still, things tend to go wrong sometimes, and it would take several more years before the Diablo was ready for delivery. It turned out the Countach 25th Anniversary would become the most produced version in the entire Countach range, now with current production numbers on the Huracan, Aventador, and Urus, this number might seem very low, but a total of 657 units left the factory gates between 1988 and 1990, which was a huge number for Lamborghini at that time.
Today most of the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary models are about 35 years old, but rest assured, when one shows up at an event, let alone on the open road, heads will turn in awe, so let’s join Jay Leno as he reviews one of these rare Raging Bulls in the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage on YouTube:
