Lamborghini Countach

Lamborghini Countach Finance

According to Lamborghini, the yellow Countach LP500 unveiled at the 1971 Geneva show ‘left all those who saw it speechless with admiration’. The Marcello Gandini-designed, scissor-doored prototype Countach was indeed astonishing, and Lamborghini had completely destroyed all preconceived notions of how a supercar, or indeed any car, could be.

With a tubular space-frame chassis it was powered by a longitudinally-mounted 4,971cc V12, with the gearbox located ahead of the engine for a precise gearchange action. During development the LP500’s 5-litre engine was deemed to be a little over-the-top, so by the time the 370bhp production version was launched at Geneva in 1973, the engine was a litre smaller and it was called LP400. 158 were built from 1973 to 1977.

The 350bhp LP400S followed in 1978, while 1982 saw the arrival of the be-winged 4,754cc 375bhp LP5000S (5000S so as not to be confused with the LP500 prototype). This in turn was followed in 1985 by the 5,167cc 455bhp 5000S Quattrovalvole. Later QVs had their Weber carburation substituted by Bosch fuel injection and power subsequently dropped to 414bhp.

The final Countach, the 25th Anniversary model, was first presented at the 1988 Italian GP at Monza. Now with the very latest in engine management technology, power was back up to 455bhp and the car boasted a 4.7-sec 0-60 time with a 183mph max.

With extensive use of composite materials and all manner of elaborate skirts and strakes designed and produced by young employee Horacio Pagani, the 25th Anniversary was the most refined, best handling and fastest production Countach built. Some 657 were delivered in 1989 and 1990, thus bringing the total Countach production figure to around 2,000.