Creation

Concept

From the first day Ferruccio Lamborghini decided to establish his own sports car factory, the only idea in his

mind was: knock down Ferrari ! Within 3 years, he did that with Miura, a mid-engined V12 supercar with beautiful look and incomparable speed.

Having fulfilled the original goal, his next dream was to create an all-time greatest supercar. That car should be
unbounded by any existing rules, should be so outstanding that no word could describe its excellence. Therefore he named this car "Countach", an Italian word simply meaning "Wow ! Look at this !".

Miura, the fastest car in the world then, could run up to 172 mph. Countach, on the other hand, aimed at 200 mph. Yes, it was TWO HUNDRED MPH. Besides, it should have an appearance that could stun everybody. Having these 2 basic goals in his mind, Ferruccio Lamborghini ordered his engineering team to start the project.

Development

Countach was developed under the leadership of chief engineer Paolo Stanzani, although some technical background came from Miura, which was penned by Giampaolo Dallara (the famous chassis expert for Formula 3).

From the beginning, Stanzani chose the most advanced technology available (most expensive, too) without the slightest hesitation, these included:

Mid-engined
V12 engine with 4 camshafts
Space frame chassis
Aluminium body

At nearly the same time, Bertone studio was chosen to responsible for the styling. Very lucky, Nuccio Bertone had already recruited a young and ingenious designer, Marcello Gandini. This man created a really stunning design for Countach. Without installing an engine, the so-called "Countach LP500" prototype was unveiled in Geneva motor show 1971 and immediately became the star of the show.

The LP500 prototype shown in 1971. Notice its pure lines compared with the production Countach.

The tail was even more stunning.

In fact, more work need to be done for production. Gandini's design obviously lacked practical concern because of his non-technical background. When chief tester Bob Wallace methodically sorted out the problems, a so-called "NACA" duct was added behind each door in order to draw sufficient air for engine cooling. A pair of big "air boxes" was also added behind the side windows for the same purpose. However, one of the most important gimmicks, scissors doors, was retained as a unique feature of Countach.

When Lamborghini showed the car again in the 1973 Geneva show, it was very much closer to production. Next year's Geneva show displayed a real production Countach, now called LP400 because it adopted V12 displacing roughly 4 litres instead of the originally proposed 5 litres. The bigger engine was discarded because of technical difficulties.

In April 1974, the first Countach was delivered to a customer in Milan.

Could you spot the difference between this LP400 and the LP500 prototype ? Less pure, more aggressive.

Creation

Concept

Development

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