www.QV500.com - Lamborghini Countach Part 1 - LP500
 

Does the Lamborghini Countach really need any introduction? The boyhood dream of a generation, the fastest car of its time and arguably the most awe-inspiring piece of automotive design ever - the Countach remains the seminal supercar. Intended as a replacement for Lamborghini's Miura, the Countach looked for its visual cues elsewhere, the most influential study having been Alfa Romeo's Tipo 33/2 Stradale Carabo concept shown at 1968's Paris Salon. Like the Countach, the similarly wedge-shaped Carabo was also designed by Bertone and featured outlandish vertically hinging scissor doors. Our Countach profiles cover the famous LP500 prototype and subsequent production versions that began with the LP400 in 1974. Be-winged S models are also accounted for along with the ace Quattrovalvole and last-of-the-line 25th Anniversario, Lamborghini's handful of factory hot rods built for Walter Wolf also getting their own chapter.

   

The solitary LP500 prototype was designed around a semi monocoque chassis made up of square tubes and welded panels. Completely different from any previous Lamborghini frame, the LP500 was to accomodate its mid-mounted engine in a longitudinal rather than transverse position, this to achieve the most advantageous weight distribution and best handling characteristics. Its engine was to be another development of Giotto Bizzarrini's 60° V12 albeit with capacity now stretched to 4971cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 85 x 73mm respectively. Output was reputedly a huge 440bhp at 7000rpm with compression set at 10.5:1 and six twin-choke Weber 45 DCOE downdraught carburettors. Endowing the LP500 with incredible performance, factory test engineer Bob Wallace has oft-recounted tales of 195mph plus motoring along the de-restricted Italian autostradas. Sprinting from 0-60 was rumoured to have been possible in well under five seconds, however, it was, the LP500's stunning bodywork that attracted most attention. As with the Miura and Espada, Lamborghini’s most commercially successful vehicles, the Countach was to have its body designed and fabricated by Bertone in Turin. They created perhaps the most extreme design of the decade, a groundbreaking look that made the Miura look decidedly old hat and absolutely shocked an unsuspecting industry.

 

Entry to the cockpit was via hydropneumatic doors that rose scissor-like parallel to the body, these further accentuating the LP500's other-worldly appearance when opened. In the rush to complete the prototype on time, Bertone didn't pay too much attention to making a production-ready cabin and created a conceptual extension of the exterior that was visually at least very impressive. The most interesting feature was the installation of a primitive digital instrument console, but this was quickly discarded after testing began owing to the number of technical problems it was causing the design team.

   
While the cockpit was hardly traditional, it did fuse cutting edge features with a number of nice details from great sports racing cars of the late 1960’s. Launched at 1971's Geneva Salon after chief test driver Bob Wallace had driven from Sant' Agata the previous night, Lamborghini's Countach became an overnight phenomenon. Many commentators doubted the firms intention to put it into series production but even if Ferruccio himself had any qualms, they were quickly dispelled by the flood of orders that came in for what had suddenly become the worlds most desirable motorcar. The LP500 was, however, far from being production-ready and had to be intensively developed over the next two years. During this time, it became apparent that a more complicated but lighter tubular spaceframe would have to be used for the production chassis and additional sail panel engine-cooling ducts would be needed to solve the overheating experienced with the five-litre engine. It was this continual overheating and the engine's questionable longevity (rumours of a complete rebuild being necessary at 20,000 mile intervals) that convinced Stanzani, Parenti and Wallace, to adopt a smaller four-litre version of the V12 for production - enter the LP400. By the time the 400 was introduced in 1974, the tired and tatty LP500 prototype had been used for crash-test purposes and completely destroyed in the process.