"Where the Ferrari was an aristocrat, the Countach was an upstart. Lambo may have done the Miura, but they still weren't quite pucker."
- James May on the Countach
Lamborghini Countach is a supercar built by Lamborghini from 1974 to 1990. The Countach is the successor to the Miura but retains the V12 engine albeit an increase of displacement. Its design became a pioneered being as an "Italian Wedged".
Like the Miura, it features a mid-engine drivetrain which is now longitudinally mounted purposely to improve the weight distribution. The gearbox also uses a unique synchro from Porsche. Initial line-up were mostly feed with a two triple-barrel carburettor (from Weber), but also suffers from reliability issues. Fuel injection was introduced in LP5000 QV initially exclusively in US-market, but also marks the phase-out of the carburettor and displacement increases up to 5.2-litre.
Unique model from the LP400 S has a three district series, such as: improved suspension (Series One), concave wheels and wider (Series Two), and a lowered and usable luggage space (Series Three) lowest figures.
The unique 25th anniversary Countach was introduced in 1988, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Lamborghini brand. It featured a completely redesigned body and new air-scoops (which acted as radiators since they were longitudinally-mounted). It also had rear-intake duct fins similar to the Ferrari Testarossa, and the wide 345/35ZR15 tyres were retained from the original Countach. This model was available to buy until its succession by the Lamborghini Diablo two years later.
Through the Countach has a limited production figures ran with almost 2,000 units on its 16-year production, making it one of the most profitable of its era.
A relaunch model of Countach was released in 2021 as the LP800-DPi, being a one-off limited model.
Appearances[]
- Jeremy Clarkson originally reviewed the Countach on Old Top Gear, driving against the Miura and the Diablo.
- Jeremy later reviewed the Countach LP5000QV on Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars, noting its difficulty to drive and its sheer impracticality.
- Jeremy revisited the Countach in Clarkson's Car Years, "The Rise and Fall of the Supercar" ultimately finding it difficult to drive and highly impractical.
- The Countach earned 96th place on Clarkson's Top 100 Cars, with Jeremy only praising it's styling.
- James reviewed the Lamborghini Countach LP400S in Series 3, Episode 4 comparing it to the Ferrari Boxer. Despite praising its styling and madness, he was appalled by how difficult it was to drive.
- In Series 14, Episode 5 James selected the Lamborghini Countach as his, "best looking car of all time" but the car proved difficult to pass through the main door into the Mima Art Gallery
- James later reviewed the LP5000QV Countach in Series 1, Episode 3 of James May's Cars of the People, finding the same faults as before, but being less disapointed.
- Reid drove Musician Example's Countach in Extra Gear S03E05.
- In The Youth Vote, Hammond championed the Lamborghini Countach LP5000QV against May in the Ferrari Testarossa in a comparison at the Eboladrome. The Countach beat the Ferrari in a drag race and set a time of 1:31.8 when driven by Abbie Eaton.