The Lamborghini Countach was created because the successor to the Miura, which was the automotive that successfully modified Ferruccio Lamborghini’s imaginative and prescient for his firm.
Lamborghini turned dedicated to being a creator of excessive efficiency supercars and thus the Countach was made because the supercar successor to the Miura and the design basis for the Lamborghinis that might come after it.
Quick Info – The Lamborghini Countach
- The Lamborghini Countach was named after a Piedmontese expression “Countach” which loosely interprets as contagious or infectious, however is now used as an exclamation of shock. It was utilized by one of many staff on the Countach prototype when he first noticed the design.
- The Countach marked a turning level in Ferruccio Lamborghini’s perspective to the kinds of vehicles he needed to make. Lamborghini’s imaginative and prescient had been to make luxurious touring vehicles and his early fashions mirror this. However the recognition of the Miura confirmed him that making excessive efficiency supercars was going to be way more worthwhile. So the market set the route for the corporate.
- The Countach was to be based mostly on the Bizzarini designed V12 DOHC 4.0 litre engine that Lamborghini had used for all its earlier fashions. Nonetheless the plan was to extend that engine’s energy considerably. This proved to not be doable within the quick time period so the Countach first went on sale fitted with the identical fundamental engine because the Miura.
- Growth of the extra highly effective model of the V12 culminated within the creation of a 5.2 litre DOHC V12 with quad valves (4 valves per cylinder).
The Origins Of The Countach
The Lamborghini Miura solid the idea of the supercar: a automotive that offered extraordinary efficiency and mixed it with luxurious inside consolation, and in so creating the supercar Lamborghini obtained its rivals busy attempting not solely to play catch-up, however decided to make one thing higher.
As Ferrari specifically obtained busy on this Ferruccio Lamborghini and his group that had created the Miura discovered themselves in an “arms race” with the strain on to create a brand new mannequin, one that might deal with the shortcomings of the Miura and enhance on its efficiency.
The very first thing the engineers checked out was the Miura’s chassis, which had been a masterpiece, however using a transverse engine, whereas good in idea, had created some issues with regard to weight distribution and upkeep.
So the choice was made to alter to a longitudinally mounted engine, paradoxically with the clutch and gearbox mounted on the entrance of the engine but nonetheless driving the rear wheels.
After we first have a look at this it appears a bit odd: rear-mid-engine vehicles usually have a longitudinally mounted engine with the clutch and transaxle on the rear to extra instantly attain the rear wheels.
Lamborghini’s engineers realized nonetheless that to stability the load distribution between entrance and rear it was advantageous to maneuver the load of the gearbox ahead to carry the entrance to rear weight distribution extra intently to a great 50/50, versus the Miura’s 45/55 with a full tank of gas, and extra uneven as that entrance mounted tank emptied.
The aerodynamics of the brand new Countach had been created to optimize excessive pace stability.
The added benefit of this was to make the gear change linkages very quick offering the most effective gearchange expertise doable.
To get the drive from the gearbox to the rear wheels required a shaft that handed by means of the crankcase to the rear differential and wheels.
To go along with this new and improved chassis design the brand new automotive would want a radically new physique design that each recognized the automotive as one thing utterly new, and utterly completely different from its opponents: however not simply that, the automotive wanted to handle the efficiency shortcomings of the Miura coping with its aerodynamic traits.
When the Miura was designed again within the 1960’s designers weren’t as conscious of the impact of elevate below the entrance of a automotive at excessive pace as they’re now.
Racing vehicles and excessive pace highway vehicles akin to Jaguar’s D-Sort and E-Sort allowed air to comb below the entrance of the automotive and in so doing created uplift which diminished the impact of the steering. The automotive would reply to the elevated air strain below the automotive by lifting – an impact that might be measured by measuring the rise in experience top because the pace elevated.
The answer to this downside was to put in an “air-dam” below the entrance of the automotive’s physique which prevented extra air strain from increase, and in reality might create a diminished air strain below the entrance of the automotive actually sucking it down onto the highway.
Within the early 1970’s excessive efficiency manufacturing vehicles started utilizing a entrance air-dam, the Australian Ford Falcon GT being one of many early examples.
The mixture of entrance built-in air-dam and wedge form contribute to the Countach having glorious excessive pace stability.
In its design section the brand new Lamborghini was named mission LP112, the “LP” standing for “longitudinale posteriore,” in Italian and translated into English as “longitudinal rear”, referring to the engine orientation and site.
The identify by which this new automotive would turn out to be recognized to the world was coined by a employee on the mission from the Piedmont space of Italy, who spoke virtually no Italian.
At some point when folks had been wanting on the new design he exclaimed “countach!” with nice enthusiasm – which is a Piedmontese exclamation a bit just like the English exclamation “Wow.”
Its literal which means is one thing like “contagious” or “infectious” in a great way. The identify caught, and it turned the identify for the manufacturing automotive.
The brand new physique type for the Lamborghini Countach included the most effective of aerodynamic design options of the 1970’s and this meant it had a wedge formed entrance with a low air-dam included into the physique.
In contrast to the curved traces of the Miura, the Countach was given an angular and aggressive look that characterised the excessive efficiency vehicles of the 1970’s and past. It was made to seem like one thing that might eat Ferraris and Porsches for breakfast, which was after all acceptable.
The physique design was completed by Marcello Gandini, who had beforehand created the Miura and to allow the best doable entry and exit from the automotive he included “scissor” doorways that folded up and away.
To allow the best entry and exit into the Countach Gandini used scissor sort doorways. They’re additionally very eye-catching.
Gandini’s preliminary designs for the Countach’s inside had been moderately house age and its most likely a great factor that a lot of his preliminary concepts didn’t get included into the ultimate design.
So the only spoke steering wheel was changed with a 3 spoke one and the instrumentation was made typical and simple to learn below all circumstances.
The inside of the twenty fifth Anniversary Countach is typical, restrained and superbly understated.
The pre-production Countach was referred to as the LP500, for “longitudinale posteriore 5 litri” or longitudinal rear mounted 5 litre engine: and it was the intention of the design group to create a 5 litre model of the Bizzarinni designed V12 that had been the mainstay of all of the Lamborghini vehicles that got here earlier than the Countach.
To make the Lamborghini V12 exceed 400 hp the engineers labored on boring out the Bizzarrini authentic from 3.921 cc to get to 5 litres or extra.
One experimental engine even included magnesium alloy elements by the identify of “Elektron”, an alloy that had been utilized by Jean Bugatti within the 1930’s when he constructed the bodywork for his Aérolithe present automotive.
However that engine blew up throughout testing and so not solely was {that a} “again to the drafting board” second, however it was the decider that the primary mannequin Countach could be fitted with the engine in a lot the identical type as was fitted to the Miura, besides with side-draft Weber 45 DCOE carburetors which dropped the ability a bit of to 370 hp at 8,000 rpm.
The Countach’s physique was designed with aerodynamics and excessive pace stability in thoughts. In its preliminary design section the physique produced an excessive amount of down-force over the entrance wheels which induced instability in excessive pace braking – so the physique design was altered to treatment that fault.
The will increase in engine capability and energy got here in two levels, first to a 4,754 cc (4.8 litre) within the 1982 LP500S, after which the 5,167 cc (5.2 litre) double valve LP5000QV (quattrovalvole/4 valve) engine fitted with six Weber side-draft carburettors for non-US markets and Bosch Okay-Jetronic gas injection for North American market vehicles.
The Lamborghini Countach LP5000QV V12 engine as fitted to the twenty fifth Anniversary mannequin.
There have been a lot of fashions of Countach produced; The LP400 and LP400S fitted with the 4.0 litre V12, the LP500S fitted with the 4,754 cc (4.8 litre) engine, and the LP5000 Quattrovalvole fitted with the 5,167 cc (5.2 litre) quad valve engine.
The final mannequin was the a lot wanted twenty fifth Anniversary Version which is thought to be essentially the most refined and arguably quickest of all of the Countach made.
The LP5000QV Quattrovalvole V12 engine as fitted to the twenty fifth Anniversary Version Countach.
The twenty fifth Anniversary Version Lamborghini Countach was a refined and subtly re-styled LP5000QV.
The styling was refined by Horacio Pagani. Pagani modified the air ducting to enhance the circulation of cooling air by means of the radiators and elsewhere, delicate and essential revisions.
Pagani additionally added a rear bumper that prolonged out beneath the rear of the automotive.
Horacio Pagani’s re-styling of the rear of the fifteenth Anniversary Version included a bumper that prolonged out beneath the rear of the automotive.
The twenty fifth Anniversary Version’s 4 valve V12 produces 449 hp at 7,000 rpm with torque of 369 lb/ft at 5,200 rpm, giving the automotive a standing to 100 km/hr time of about 4.5 seconds – ample to make the driving force really feel like Star Battle’s Han Solo within the Millenium Falcon making the shift into hyperspace.
High pace is 183 mph (295 km/hr) at which velocity the driving force is just about assured to really feel like they’re touring in hyperspace.
The 1989 Lamborghini Countach Proven Right here
The 1989 Lamborghini Countach twenty fifth Anniversary pictured on this put up is arising on the market by RM Sotheby’s at their St. Moritz, Switzerland public sale to be held on ninth September 2022.
This automotive was initially delivered to america when new though it now could be fitted with the enticing European type bumpers.
The automotive was first registered for highway use in Pennsylvania in July 1997 and was commonly serviced in Pittsburgh.
The automotive has had house owners in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Texas earlier than being shipped again to Europe in October 2017. It has solely 12,484 km on the time of its current cataloguing by RM Sotheby’s previous to this upcoming sale.
Made within the second final yr of Countach manufacturing, which resulted in 1990 to make method for its successor, that is an instance of essentially the most refined model of the Countach one might hope for.
If you want to search out out extra particulars about this automotive you possibly can go to the RM Sotheby’s sale web page right here.
The final and most refined of all of the Countach fashions.
Image Credit: Neil Fraser ©2022 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s.
Jon Department has written numerous official car Shopping for Guides for eBay Motors over time, he’s additionally written for Hagerty, he’s a very long time contributor to Silodrome and the official SSAA Journal, and he’s the founder and senior editor of Revivaler.
Jon has completed radio, tv, journal, and newspaper interviews on numerous points, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China, and Hong Kong. The quickest factor he’s ever pushed was a Bolwell Nagari, the slowest was a Caterpillar D9, and essentially the most difficult was a 1950’s MAN semi-trailer with surprising brake failure.
