It is fair to say that Lamborghini has caused a bit of a stir recently with the launch of their all-new Countach. The Countach of the 1970s and 1980s was one of Lamborghini’s most recognizable and most loved supercars, and the new one does a decent job at paying homage to a car very significant to Lamborghini’s history. It is of course a very different machine to the original, with a hybrid powertrain under the hood, using the Sian as its basis, but it retains the iconic “Italian Wedge” shape of the original car.
But the role that the original Countach played in supercar history should not be forgotten. It is easy to lose track of the significance of a car among all the hype of the new one, which if we are brutally honest about it, is just a Sian with new clothes on. The original Countach bore much more significance over anything that had been seen prior to it, and built upon the success that Lamborghini had built up with the Miura. This is why the Countach was Lamborghini’s greatest car.
Countach Origins
The original Countach first appeared on the scene in a production sense in 1974, with the original concept for its design being revealed to the public in 1970. This was in the form of the Lancia Stratos Zero concept car, which also paved the way for the iconic Lancia Stratos that would become a legend on the rallying scene. The first Countach was shown off in prototype form in 1971 at that year's Geneva Motor Show and designated the LP500 concept, and it had been designed by Marcello Gandini of the Bertone design studio.
The goal of the Countach was to become a successor to the Miura. Whilst the Miura stunned with its looks and performance, by 1970 the market had shifted. The Miura was being outperformed by rivals such as the new Ferrari Dayton, and Lamborghini needed to catch up. The Countach was given the project name “LP112”, which incidentally is why only 112 new Countachs will ever be built. Lamborghini wanted a car that would have as strong a performance as possible, rival what Ferrari was doing and beat it, but also be pretty outrageous in the styling department whilst retaining good aerodynamic efficiency.
Wedge Styling
What was ultimately seen on the production Countach was unlike any supercar design seen before it. The Countach popularized the so-called “Italian Wedge” that had been seen on the Stratos Zero, as well as the Alfa Romeo Carbabo. The front of the car was incredibly low and flat, the whole car forming this wedge shape and the Countach had incredibly sharp and angular lines, making it quite pointy. In contrast, it's arguable the new Countach doesn’t go far enough and is a much softer wedge shape. Of course, the Countach was also a mid-engine affair to help with weight distribution.
The Countach also pioneered the scissor door concept, showing Lamborghini were quite ahead of their time with the car. Being a Lamborghini, power would come from a mighty V12 engine that peaked at 5.2-liters in the 25th-anniversary edition of the Countach. What helped make the Countach so great was that Lamborghini kept pushing with the development and styling. In 1978 the LP 400 S came out, and this introduced the iconic V-shaped rear wing as an option seen on so many later editions of the Countach and was seen as a rival to the Ferrari Testarossa. The wing actually hindered the car's performance, taking 10 mph of its top speed. But most owners ordered the car with the wing anyway, simply because it looked radical.
Ultimate Countach
The ultimate Countach though has to be the final special-edition Lamborghini created. Based on the already insane LP5000 Quattrovalvole, Lamborghini created the 25th-anniversary edition in 1988, to commemorate the company’s 25th anniversary. It had larger rear air-box intakes, streamlined the overall aerodynamics of the car, and was powered by a 5.2-liter V12 engine. An extended rear bumper was also added to the back, and with other design changes became perhaps the ultimate version of the Countach. This was the last Countach built, up until 1990 when the Diablo took over from the model.
A Lasting Legacy
The fact Lamborghini has gone ahead with a new Countach shows just how popular the car still is. And what’s more, it paved the way for many more wedge-shaped cars, including its successor, the Diablo. Other manufacturers soon copied the wedge shape design, such as Lotus with their iconic Esprit. The Countach quite literally shaped the supercar scene for years and decades to come, within Lamborghini itself and outwardly into the supercar market as a whole. The launch of the new Countach makes it very easy indeed to forget just how significant this car was in the supercar world. But as we have explored, it is clearly the greatest car Lamborghini ever created.
Sources: Carscoops, Man Of Many, Euro Car News, Robb Report, AutoEvolution, Reddit, Lambo Cars