You must know the word “Countach”? As a child, I knew the car before I knew the name as it was my favourite Matchbox car.   

Lamborghini created its supercar well ahead of its time and the prototype debuted in 1971 at the Geneva Motor Show, meaning it just turned 50. What’s incredible is that it’s scissor doors and futuristic “Italian wedge” shape still look slick today.

The concept car to the Countach was actually unveiled a year earlier in 1970 under the code name “LP112”, and was gazetted as the Lancia Stratos Zero. Interestingly the “Zero” featured in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker music video. It was last sold in 2011 for € 761,600 (NZ$1.258m) to the XJ Wang Collection in New York City. Now as I write this story I dream of it being in the Parihoa Jewelbox!

The concept and prototype Countach was the styling work of Marcelo Gandini, from Bertone although Paolo Stanzani took over for the later production version. 

The Countach also has a Kiwi connection. New Zealander Bob Wallace was the key test driver of the Countach as its pre-production journey wound into final production form.

“Countach” is the Piedmontese expression for astonishment and it was this word that Gandini and Wallace decided to stick with the prototype car (then known as the LP500) after a Piedmontese attendant at the 1971 Geneva Show kept on uttering this expression when he saw the car!

The Countach was the replacement for the Miura, which had been five years in production. It’s engine would change from the “east / west” layout of the Miura to a new “north / south” (longitudinally-mounted) for the Countach. This was the first road-going V12 for Ferrari since V12s had only been used in race cars.

Initially the brief for the Countach was a more sedate grand tourer. However, the emergence of the Ferrari Daytona in 1970 pushed Lamborghini to keep pursuing an uncompromising sports car. 

The idea was that the mechanical design should not only allow it to go very fast, but it should also be aerodynamic and beautiful. These had been imbued in the philosophy of the Miura, successfully, but the Countach would push the boundaries further.

Compared to the Miura, the rear mid-engine and rear-wheel-drive layout of the Countach, with its five-speed Porsche transmission, would improve the weight distribution, performance and high-speed stability, as well as reducing oversteer in lift-off situation. 

This engine also addressed limited maintenance access and improved cooling. The car was produced from unstressed aluminium, but later models had body components made of fibreglass and carbon composites

The prototype was built with a one-off 5-litre V12 engine, with 328kW of power that unfortunately blew up in subsequent testing. The launch car, three years later in1974, would have a more subdued 276kW 4-litre V12 engine and be known as the LP400.

From 1974 to 1990 a total of 1983 examples were built, although for much of the Countach’s history production was capped at 120 per year due to limits imposed by the factory. The image of the Countach continued to grow as its life cycle progressed and it sold strongly up until its production completion in 1990.

The scissor doors of the Countach opened upward, just like the blade of a paper cutter, as opposed to Gullwing doors. They had horizontal hinges that lifted up and tilted forward when the car was opened. This made it difficult to exit in a crash!

It was an uncomfortable car to sit in, with its bucket seats pushing shoulders forward at a bizarre angle. The sill outside the doors was bigger than a transmission tunnel and, due to poor visibility, was the place that the driver had to sit outside to reverse the car into a tight parking spot (with the scissor doors open).

Trapezoidal shapes covered the windshield, side windows, door openings, hood and engine covers, and tail lights.

The original electronic dashboard of the concept car gave way to a more conventional analogue set up by 1974. It had spaceship-inspired warning lights that include one if a chosen speed was exceeded (like an early” cruise control). It also had one of the first production car with onboard diagnosis systems.

The rarest were the first 158 examples, known as the LP400, built up until 1977, unofficially named “Periscopo” as they a periscope mirror integrated into the passenger compartment roof although later on in the production run this morphed into a conventional rear view mirror.

 From 1977 to 1982 saw 237 cars made, and it became known as the LP400S. A larger 4.8-litre V12 engine came into existence for 1982 to 1985, with 323 examples, and was known as the LP500S. 

Next was the LP5000QV from 1985 to 1988 with 5.2-litre V12 with four-valve heads. Finally, the swan show was the 25th-anniversary edition (celebrating 25 years of production Lamborghinis since the original 350GT of 1964) with 610 cars produced and which could hit 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

This week, an example came on the market in Miami, Florida, with just 623 miles on it. It’s the 1989 25th anniversary edition in red and is possibly the best example of this iconic motor car on the planet. I reckon it will go for more than US$1m and the decision for the new owner would be to enjoy it or preserve it.

Liz told me she saw a Countach at Auckland’s Caffeine and Classics monthly event, and I’d love to hear from the owner.