New Lamborghini Countach revealed

If ever there was a car that shook the foundations of automotive design, it was the original wedge-shaped Lamborghini Countach.

Although its production run spanned 1974-1990, less than 2000 units were built during this period. Yet, the Countach has likely appeared in more wall posters than any car before or since.

It’s now 50 years since the Countach debuted as a concept at the 1971 Geneva motor show and Lamborghini is celebrating the milestone by rolling out a modern-day take on one of the most famous shapes in motoring.

The reimagined Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 was unveiled today (Australian time) at The Quail – an ultra-prestigious motorsport gathering that takes place at the Quail Lodge and Golf Club in California at the end of Monterey Car Week.

Just 112 units of the new-age Countach will be built and sold, with ex-factory pricing starting at 2,010,000 Euros ($A3.24 million), plus taxes.

Whereas most Lamborghinis derive their names from bulls, the Countach was one of the few exceptions.

‘Countach’ – pronounced ‘Coon-tach’ – is an expression of surprise and wonder in Piedmontese dialect, as it was the spontaneous response of a Lamborghini employee when he first laid eyes on a prototype five decades ago.

The modern-day Countach LPI 800-4 is based on Aventador underpinnings, but each body panel is unique to the low-volume special, helping justify its stratospheric pricetag – roughly six times that of its donor car.

Even though the debutant’s inspiration comes from its half-century-old ancestor, Lamborghini is at pains to point out it’s not rooted in the past.

“The Countach LPI 800-4 pays homage to this Lamborghini legacy but it is not retrospective,” says Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann. “It imagines how the iconic Countach of the 1970s and ’80s might have evolved into an elite super sports model of this decade.”

The Countach features Lamborghini’s familiar 6.5-litre V12, but it’s been massaged to eke out 780hp (574kW) at 8500rpm, and the torque figure is also bumped up, to 720Nm.

It doesn’t end there as the Countach also uses the 48-volt hybrid supercapacitor technology that debuted two years ago in the limited-edition Sian, which was one of the stars of the 2019 Frankfurt motor show.

The electric motor kicks in an additional 35hp (25kW) boosting the Countach’s total power output to 814hp (599kW), despite the LP 800-4 (rather than LP 814-4) model designation.

Lamborghini chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani says the beauty of the supercapacitor system is that it adds only 34kg to the car’s girth, with the Countach tipping the scales at a sprightly 1595kg (dry).

The company quotes a 0-100km/h split of 2.8sec, 0-200km/h in 8.6sec and a top speed of 355km/h for the Countach LPI 800-4.

By comparison, the 25th Anniversary Edition Countach, the fastest variant of the original car, clocked 0-100km/h in just under 5.0sec and topped out at 295km/h.

The 1970s Countach looked as otherworldly on the road as a spaceship, and the modern-day version captures much of the visual drama of its ancestor.

The distinct wedge shape has been reprised, and the slit-like headlights create a further visual link to its forerunner.

Large triangular NACA air intakes integrated into the doors and rear fenders likewise hark back to the yesteryear Countach, as do the prominent air scoops on the car’s wide shoulders.

There are clear Countach design cues at the rear, too, with distinctive three-unit light clusters housed within hexagonal shaped cut-outs. A quartet of large round exhausts thrust out of the lower rear fascia, just as they did in the original.

The Countach LPI 800-4’s wheels (20-inch at the front and 21-inch at the rear) are also created in the ‘telephone’ style of the 1980s, although these rims are now shod with Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres and housed within them are carbon-ceramic brake discs.

Lamborghini points to the moveable air-vents, produced by state-of-the-art 3D printing technology, and a photochromatic roof that changes from solid to transparent at the push of a button as proof that this car – despite its historic inspiration – is a “future automotive screensaver for the 21st century”.

Lamborghini’s head of design, Mitja Borkert, clearly relished the task of creating a contemporary tribute to arguably the brand’s most iconic car to date.

“The Countach LPI 800-4 project was an incomparable design opportunity: to take a car so important and continue its evolution into a new era is a unique privilege,” he says.

“The Countach was provocative and polarising, it made people smile and stare, but its infamous recognisability demonstrates the purity of its design legacy: the Countach LPI 800-4 elevates that clarity to a new level.

“It upholds the Lamborghini tradition of looking forward, of exploring new design and technology avenues while celebrating the DNA of our brand. It is a Lamborghini that innately expresses the marque’s enduring and emotive power: always inspirational and thrilling to see, hear and most of all drive.”

Prospective owners of the Countach LPI 800-4 will be offered a range of personalisation options, such as visible exterior carbon-fibre in the front splitter, around the front window and wing mirrors, engine cover, air intakes and rocker panel.

The standard colour palette comprises heritage paint options, mostly in solid colours, such as Impact White, Giallo and Verde Medio, but buyers will also be able to select more contemporary shades such as grey, purple and blue if they prefer.

The interior will be available in four configurations, unicolour or bicolour, also with a possible dedicated colour selection for the moquette carpets (five colours), the ceiling and the stitching.

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