I was 11 when the Countach was first launched. I thought I'd seen a real space ship. I still do. There has never been another car with such stunning looks. Not even close.
I saw a pristine white Countach outside Yokohama in Japan the other day. Man, what a beautiful car. If I ever get the chance to have a car collection, this will be in it.
easily the best edition of the Countach. Gorgeous. I saw a picture of a foresty green example once and I think if I was in a position to magically acquire an LP400, it'd be that spectacular colour.
I couldn't agree more. I mean, I "get it" the low profile tires and big wheels handle better and allows for larger brakes. The older cars were designed for asbestos brake pads and older cars really suffer in the braking department with asbestos pads now outlawed. If you are going to drive something frequently, going with a slightly larger wheel, slightly larger brakes and slightly lower profile tires is a nice functional upgrade but I did say slightly. People tend to go to the extremes and get the biggest wheel and lowest profile tires they can put on a car. That totally ruins the look of older cars.
@@shananagans5 Interesting. I hadn't thought of the asbestos pad situation. Aside from ceramics, do we not have a comparable option? And as for the modern trend of giant wheels and tiny side walls, it's quite frequently to an extent that diminishes overall handling. And if you look at actual race cars of assorted types, you won't find such small sidewalls, aside from something like a drift competition.
@@Raczoon The asbestos pads were really good at resisting heat. I was in high school when asbestos was first banned and the replacements were notably worse. They started using bigger disks and bigger pads on new cars to get the same braking performance. Nowadays, brakes are even bigger, the disks have vents etc and they work better than older cars ever did. No doubt, they have made improvements in non asbestos pads but, for the size, asbestos is really hard to beat.
I believe those were optional extras and they didn't age as well as the cars, while replacement ones are quite expensive, so most Countachs don't have them anymore.
The Cannonball Run with those unitard ladies. Man that was hot stuff. Also as 90's teenager I had a Diablo poster with rather busty lady in it. But I think it's the ultimate self-made billionare's dream. Diablo SV, silicon bombshell and some pink coke.
The steering wheel can be moved, there’s a video of Valentino Balboni demonstrating how to move the position of the steering wheel for both height and reach. The Countach was also offered with a choice of seats dependent upon the height of the owner and again there’s a demonstration video showing the difference, the car is capable of seating a 6ft 2 driver with the correct seat fitted
I was 11 years old when the prototype debuted and as you said simply jaw dropping back then as it still is today. As I was racing go carts & already turning wrenches at the time, I realized I was looking at something truly special. And that rear wheel arch is still utterly spectacular today! I commend you even though you weren't even born yet you really captured the essence of the car better then anyone I've ever heard. As I have owned quite a few modern go fast cars & obviously would never dispute the amazing performance advantages over vintage machines, they just don't engage me enough to want to keep any of them. Awesome video my friend, much thanks!
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yeah, a solution for Idiots who cannot drive other than a Minivan witch Beeping Alarms and backup Camera and still slam into something. I drive Sportscars since 1990ties and NEVER EVER hit anything. Rear View of my Cars is the same like in a Lambo - which i could drive once - felt familiar, no drama to backup into a Parking Place or whatever. learn driving....
agreed but they put smaller wheels on it than the miura ffsake 14 inch and skinny, but it suits it.....always loved the 400s and onwards but as a 47 yr old, love the 400 for it's clean look
I could remenber the first view on a advertising from the german importer in 1973. I was about 10 years old an I fall in love till today in this design. And you are right ... this is the Countach as it should be. Also the design of the wheels is iconic.
The original Countach is actually the LP500 from 1971 right? That car didn’t survive the crash tests so it got adjusted and the original Countach design got lost. Until now, because Polo Storico has put in WORK to get the original design back and produce the original Countach.
I too had a poster of a Countach on my wall, growing up. In my mind, it was always the blueprint for what a perfect car design should be; one-box, low wide nose, windscreen as a continuation of the front hood. With an ideal car like that, I find most new cars (suvs) looks like farming equipment in comparisson...
What a car absolutely stunning when it first came out from the factory. In my opinion it was not elegant as the Maserati or the older Ferrari but it really meant brutal business together with the engine unmistakable sound! I still remember very well when I was a boy hearing the Lamborgini overtaking my father's car at full blast on the highway in Italy! Wow...
For years I've read test reports and later watched You Tube videos on the Countach. Most complained about the ergonomics, visibility, the chunky forcefulness of the clutch and gear shift and other gripes. Yet most testers hardly got them out of town since they were barrowed private cars. Most of the reviews were actually rather critical. And then the videos by Jay Leno, Matt Farah, and Harry Metcalf came out and their stories were completely different. While Jay used his for commuting for many years, he talked about the robustness of the car. Matt talked about just how nice of a two-lane open road grand touring car this is, and Harry doubled down on the GT aspect of his car by going on a 2000 mile road trip that included his wife and their luggage. I think for years most of us never really knew where this car's sweet spot was, and that is on grand drives that take more than a few days to accomplish. Good job Lamborghini!
@@McLarenMercedes Yes, modern supercars are no fun at legal speeds, too fast for our crumbling UK roads - more frustrating than fun. All that performance and nowhere to use it. I enjoy the flaws of old cars, I want to experience what 'they' experienced in period.
I've owned three X-1/9's . All modified a bit. Went to a track day at summit point with an instructor friend and got a chance to drive an LP400 at the track. It felt like a bigger powerful X-1/9. Bunch of the same bits and bobs..
Being a child of the 80's the Countach that naturally comes to mind is the later 5000SV type designs. With he big wing, and (in the US) big bumpers it was the WOW car of the day. You forget just how svelte and pretty the early design really was. I'd take the car in this video every time over the bulbous, many vented, huge winged Countachs of the 80s.
No such thing as The countach SV..it was the 400, 400S, 5000S, QV and anniversary. The big wing was available on ALL countaches from the 1978 400S...It was an option
Amazed that I am now going to have to be the first person to say that the Miura was FAR more beautiful than even this unspoiled, original version of the Countach...
I love the Countach more but there is no denying, the Miura is the most beautiful Lamborghini ever produced and arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever.
They are 2 different things as different Twins. The Miura is the most beautiful Classic Car shape (but there are several others "paint" by Pininfarina)...the Countach is an UFO...a Battlestar Starship coming from future (and its name mean shocking in local language).
I remember this comming on sale and I bought carmagazines to read about it. A comparisson test in the German AutoMotorSport springs to mind. They matcht them with an Aston Martin V8 and a Ferrari Belinetta BB. I was a fan of the Aston back then. Probably because of Roger Moore in the persuaders dove an Aston. Damn i'm getting old.
Retro 80s/90s cars are so trendy at the moment, the want and love for a period full of character, colour, cars and pop culture has never been more obvious than before.
My favourite Countach, so pure, beautiful and elegant. The 25th Anniversary was the worst. Whoever was responsible should have been jailed by the Italian government for vandalising Gandini's art.
That is a supercar. Striking shape, raw power delivery and just oozes class. The Countach, like human beings, got fatter and uglier as it got older. This is the pure form of this design, the original. Love and peace.
My father has a LP500. He had it fully rebuilt from an elite motorsports workshop, and it performs perfectly! It is a rocket. He had built an all aluminium V12 turbo engine which can be installed in a day, but I don't know a alot about it.
First spotted one in 80 or 81 parked on the island of Sylt, Germany from several hundred meters away. It was like seeing a spaceship on wheels. Suggestion for the video: If you are going to film a test drive and say it revs to 8k, at least get it up to 6k.
I don't think Marcello Gandini ever designed an ugly car. He was pure artist. There was the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo, the first-generation BMW 5 Series (E12), the Lancia Stratos sports car, the Maserati Khamsin and many many others. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Gandini
For the time they were considered wide tires. They just look narrow compared to the over-the-top monster 12" wide tires later models had. I for one, would MUCH rather have an LP400. From what I've read, the handing is much more predictable, and the overall styling is just classic. None of the added nonsense the later models like the 500SV, and 25th Anniversary versions came with.
@@adampetten5349 No, they do not all have equal handling characteristics. The huge rear tires have historically lead to twitchy, and unpredictable handling. This is well documented. Furthermore, I'm not sure what your example has to do with anything. The Countach you mentioned was up against other notoriously difficult to handle vehicles. Not to mention, power, and lap times do not equal predictable handling in most cases. The Lancia Stratos won rally championships, but is well known for it's difficult nature, and likelihood of ending up pointing the wrong way, unless driven by an absolute master.
7:29 The 3 piece door windows were also a compromise due to lack money for development, 2:34 a 2 piece design was originally proposed. 3:50 The 4 liter displacement was also a compromise as the car was intended with a 5 liter engine capacity from the start. lack of funds for development... 3:18 these taillights were also a compromise, borrowed from Alfa Romeo. 5:33 Actually the seats also have a tilt function and the steering column is adjustable telescopically,
The 5 liter overheated and blew up during development. That's the reason they went to larger radiators which necessitated the addition of the snorkels. But yeah, in the end they resorted to using the 4 litre engine from the Miura and it took a few more years to switch to a 5 litre engine, which funnily enough made the same power in its 24 valve incarnation. Other trivia: the roof corners just above the snorkels where the thin vent slots can be found are a known stress point and crack sometimes appear in that region. Oh, and although this was very much Bob Wallace's baby (it is rumoured he didn't even want a/c in the car to deter poseur buyers), Valentino Balboni has claimed that the spaceframe chassis on the early cars was apparently not of the same quality as in later cars, but given financial situation the company was in they'd just deliver them to customers hoping they wouldn't notice. Also, there's the story of the Piedmontese technician who saw the prototype and exclaimed "Countach! Che bella machina!", which is how the car got its name. And the rumour that apart from drawing from his previous Cárabo and Stratos Zero designs, Gandini was influenced by the Lola T70. Also the fact the LP400 and Series 1 LP400S cars were 3" lower at the roofline than later cars, and much, much lighter (impressively so, even today. Close to Macca F1 / Pagani Zonda weight, if I remember correctly, but of course the cars with the carbon fibre chassis are much more rigid).
Geezus, Lambo Like most exotics don't bring cars BACK ..they go through different designs and EVOLVE...Like ferrari, aston, and basically 99 percent of any car maker????
It really makes me wonder why those who review the Countach always compare it to the modern cars today... Of course it was a legend! Why not talk about during its prime years?
Triple white Quattro valve with wing, a couple kilos but powdered sugar...... for your French toast of course... get your minds out of the gutter, hair gel and a white blazer, don't forget the South Beach address and we're all good
Luxury or no luxury always be proud of your brand and try working to improve. I love luxurious lifestyles. All thanks to crypto I just got my first Lamborghini 💝. My advice to y'all invest in cryptocurrency or gold.
It feels so weird seeing the original countach without the big useless wing on the back, it almost feels naked cos to me that wing was such a major part of this car's crazy looks
But mainly for Marcello Gandini... as seen on his other works like the Maserati Quattroporte IV or Qvale Mangusta. You can't tell the history of Bertone without Gandini.
Ferrari is the only one making rolling works of art these days. Everybody else has fallen behind. That's what I love about the Countach, it wasn't trying to be smooth, but literally cutting edge with all those hard lines. It looked like it ran; sharp, rough & hard.
The early Countach was such a beautifully designed car. The later ones, with all of the added accoutrements, lost the clean lines of the original Gandini masterpiece.
The side window was originally a two piece affair, as seen on the green pre-production car in the Lamborghini museum, but 3 out 5 times the glass would break during the manufacturing process, so they switched to the 3 piece design. It's interesting I couldn't hear any gearbox whine in the cabin in this video, there is another video on RUclips with Lamorghini test driver Mirko Venturi driving an LP400, where that noise dominates. I'm guessing the air conditioning doesn't really work in this car either. Imagine what a resto-modded car would be like, with a sports exhaust to raise the power to 450 hp (there's a yellow one in the US that's that fast, owned by Joe Sackey I think, and it came with a special exhaust from the factory), an improved lighter clutch like the one Lamborghini have fitted to their museum car, switchable EPAS (as installed in lord Metcalfe's QV), a modern aircon, and modern tyres / disc brakes... which might necessitate slightly larger replica wheels, but still with this lovely turbine fin design, as also seen on the Urracco (a dutch owner was looking to do this about 10 years ago). There's no denying that the narrowbody car looks pure, lightweight and perfect. As with the Esprit S1, it's a shame the later cars lost the sharpness and delicacy of the original design. Gandini could have simply given the car a smoother widebody á la Miura SV or 911 Carrera 4S, to accomodate the Pirelli tyres without losing the arrow nose or the wheelarch slashes. Still, this is my dream car and I can still remember a time, 20 years ago, when it was worth around £40k. Prices really started to move around 2004 and followed the Miura into the stratosphere by the end of that decade. Sigh... What must it be like to rev this car to 9000 rpm?
@@RoverWaters Not at all. Find a back issue of a classic car magazine from around 1999 - 2000, check the price guides section and you will see that LP400s were the cheapest Countachs at the time. As for the 450 hp figure, I still have the Octane magazine issue from 2004 where a yellow LP400 (with some very expensive Tag Heuer chronometers mounted on the dash) was compared to a red Series 1 LP400S and they mentioned that with the sports exhaust, the LP400 "would run with Testarossas a decade younger" and this being a serious publication, nobody was confusing the car with a QV. By that time the car was already worth £150k. Did the rest of my comment give you the impression I'm drunk or that I don't know what I'm talking about?
@@RzogL I really do know a lot 😎 I know for certain that the most powerful 4 liter NA Lamborghini engine was the original Miura Jota, it had 420hp at 8000rpm. It achieved that with downdraft Webers and dry sump, etc. So the Silvera Countach with it's wet sump and sidedraft carburetors has no chance of achieving "60-70hp" more. It is just folk tale. 😏
I recall seeing a powder-blue car on the ferry to France from England in 1973 or 1975. Didn't know what it was but it clearly (hindsight!) must have been one of the earliest Lambos.
Hammond or Clarkson could do this video justice. Why no mention of the Miura? Mr. Marcello Ghandini was working with Bertone when he designed it. No mention of Bertone? Horacio Pagani designed the 25th Anniversary and did a carbon fiber prototype version. There was plans to redesign the Countach again when Lamborghini was sold, this time to Chrysler who completely redesigned the Diablo in the US. The Diablo was supposed to look like what became the Cizta V16T. Thanks.
The Countach was THE show-stopper at auto shows back in the early/mid- 1970s. I don't think that the term "super sports car" was used back then, but the Countach was definitely the first of that breed, the first to have not only the performance, but also the looks.
I don't agree that the early Countach is the best one. It is the most elegant, for sure, but the wacky body kit with strakes on the skirts, huge wing, flared wheel arches, and even the preposterous front spoiler made the later models look like they were going to drive right off of your poster and into the nearest swimming pool. This is not the first BBC presenter I've heard recite the doctrine of "the elegant design of the LP400 makes it the most beautiful blah blah blah." It's a Lambo... I'll have the one with frikin laser beams on its head.
although it was missed, story of the wing is just as fascinating...nothing to do with downforce, it actually slows the car down..Walter Wolf stuck an F1 wing on his...the Producers of The Cannonball Run saw it...replicated it, became an overnight sensation and the rest is history...
There's this pub in Hull by the marina. For a few years in a row Hull had this freedom festival over a summer weekend. The queue at the bar would be six people deep for the whole weekend. The landlord told me he took a quarter of a million from that weekend every year. Then, after the second year, he had a Lambo just like this one.
Did he say 1971 ? If so Holly Molly . Wow a model way way ahead of its time. The wedge style on the American cars went all the way to early 90s with the iroc z and a bit earlier 88 Ferro and corrvette until 94
This is still the best looking of the series. The later cars looked like they went through the JC Whitney Catalog and ordered all the Ugly Bits to add on.
I was 11 when the Countach was first launched. I thought I'd seen a real space ship. I still do. There has never been another car with such stunning looks. Not even close.
1974..I was just born so I grew up fascinated by the 5000s
Looks you can never forget and WHAT A MACHINE it is.
i was born in "95, though we share those thoughts! Just automotive perfection.
Except it’s an incredibly big piece of crap
The closest for me was the Murcielago. That yellow one on the front of EVO magazine. Amazing.
What I do love about supercars from this era is that they were never trying to be anything else. True thoroughbreds
Do you mean they were never meant to be cars?
I saw a pristine white Countach outside Yokohama in Japan the other day. Man, what a beautiful car. If I ever get the chance to have a car collection, this will be in it.
It’s amazing the BBC actually trains presenters to be identical to whoever they’re replacing.
Wdym
he sounds like Richard Hammond. isn't it?
Yep, audio only, it's Hammond.
@@davidwatts1871 visually the car is the right side up.
Bro hahaha
easily the best edition of the Countach. Gorgeous. I saw a picture of a foresty green example once and I think if I was in a position to magically acquire an LP400, it'd be that spectacular colour.
I got some amazing pictures of that green Countach when i visited the Lambo museum at the factory. I think it's still there.
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I do like thicc tyres and hate when people put huge rims on old cars.
P pool or p
Same dude big rims are wastful
I couldn't agree more. I mean, I "get it" the low profile tires and big wheels handle better and allows for larger brakes. The older cars were designed for asbestos brake pads and older cars really suffer in the braking department with asbestos pads now outlawed. If you are going to drive something frequently, going with a slightly larger wheel, slightly larger brakes and slightly lower profile tires is a nice functional upgrade but I did say slightly.
People tend to go to the extremes and get the biggest wheel and lowest profile tires they can put on a car. That totally ruins the look of older cars.
@@shananagans5 Interesting. I hadn't thought of the asbestos pad situation. Aside from ceramics, do we not have a comparable option?
And as for the modern trend of giant wheels and tiny side walls, it's quite frequently to an extent that diminishes overall handling. And if you look at actual race cars of assorted types, you won't find such small sidewalls, aside from something like a drift competition.
@@Raczoon The asbestos pads were really good at resisting heat. I was in high school when asbestos was first banned and the replacements were notably worse. They started using bigger disks and bigger pads on new cars to get the same braking performance. Nowadays, brakes are even bigger, the disks have vents etc and they work better than older cars ever did. No doubt, they have made improvements in non asbestos pads but, for the size, asbestos is really hard to beat.
This car's personality is incomplete without that topless lady.
I believe those were optional extras and they didn't age as well as the cars, while replacement ones are quite expensive, so most Countachs don't have them anymore.
@@Pandamasque Give this man a prize
The Cannonball Run with those unitard ladies. Man that was hot stuff.
Also as 90's teenager I had a Diablo poster with rather busty lady in it.
But I think it's the ultimate self-made billionare's dream. Diablo SV, silicon bombshell and some pink coke.
@@mcdick Hey, sounds, good! I'll have to win the lottery first! Wish me luck! Ha, ha!😁
@I DUBZH you’re better than google 👍🏼😀
The steering wheel can be moved, there’s a video of Valentino Balboni demonstrating how to move the position of the steering wheel for both height and reach. The Countach was also offered with a choice of seats dependent upon the height of the owner and again there’s a demonstration video showing the difference, the car is capable of seating a 6ft 2 driver with the correct seat fitted
Me waiting foe him to tell 'we had a family friend who owned one' instead of the poster thing😅
That poster would now be nudging 100K in concourse condition.
I was 11 years old when the prototype debuted and as you said simply jaw dropping back then as it still is today. As I was racing go carts & already turning wrenches at the time, I realized I was looking at something truly special. And that rear wheel arch is still utterly spectacular today! I commend you even though you weren't even born yet you really captured the essence of the car better then anyone I've ever heard. As I have owned quite a few modern go fast cars & obviously would never dispute the amazing performance advantages over vintage machines, they just don't engage me enough to want to keep any of them. Awesome video my friend, much thanks!
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This guy sounds exactly like Richard Hammond
Like Hammond on puberty blockers
Sounds similar, but Hammond doesn't look like a car thief
This version is my favourite Countach. It was pure, no steroids
i love that the owner's manual tells you to put the doors up and sit out the side of it just to be able to back up safely without hitting something
oh he actually mentions it in the video too
It was the legendary Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni who came up with that solution
yeah, a solution for Idiots who cannot drive other than a Minivan witch Beeping Alarms and backup Camera and still slam into something.
I drive Sportscars since 1990ties and NEVER EVER hit anything. Rear View of my Cars is the same like in a Lambo - which i could drive once - felt familiar, no drama to backup into a Parking Place or whatever.
learn driving....
@@FRITZI999 who pissed in your breakfast? why does this trigger you so much
The original LP400, this one, is the most beautiful, everything they added on later made it uglier. This is true art.
Agreed. Original and best.
agreed but they put smaller wheels on it than the miura ffsake 14 inch and skinny, but it suits it.....always loved the 400s and onwards but as a 47 yr old, love the 400 for it's clean look
I could remenber the first view on a advertising from the german importer in 1973. I was about 10 years old an I fall in love till today in this design. And you are right ... this is the Countach as it should be. Also the design of the wheels is iconic.
The original Countach is actually the LP500 from 1971 right? That car didn’t survive the crash tests so it got adjusted and the original Countach design got lost. Until now, because Polo Storico has put in WORK to get the original design back and produce the original Countach.
I remember seeing this car the pack of "Top Trumps" card game. Looked absolutely stunning, but later models lost that beauty.
I too had a poster of a Countach on my wall, growing up. In my mind, it was always the blueprint for what a perfect car design should be; one-box, low wide nose, windscreen as a continuation of the front hood. With an ideal car like that, I find most new cars (suvs) looks like farming equipment in comparisson...
Lambos started as farming equipment. Never won a proper race
What a car absolutely stunning when it first came out from the factory. In my opinion it was not elegant as the Maserati or the older Ferrari but it really meant brutal business together with the engine unmistakable sound! I still remember very well when I was a boy hearing the Lamborgini overtaking my father's car at full blast on the highway in Italy! Wow...
For years I've read test reports and later watched You Tube videos on the Countach. Most complained about the ergonomics, visibility, the chunky forcefulness of the clutch and gear shift and other gripes. Yet most testers hardly got them out of town since they were barrowed private cars. Most of the reviews were actually rather critical. And then the videos by Jay Leno, Matt Farah, and Harry Metcalf came out and their stories were completely different. While Jay used his for commuting for many years, he talked about the robustness of the car. Matt talked about just how nice of a two-lane open road grand touring car this is, and Harry doubled down on the GT aspect of his car by going on a 2000 mile road trip that included his wife and their luggage. I think for years most of us never really knew where this car's sweet spot was, and that is on grand drives that take more than a few days to accomplish. Good job Lamborghini!
lord almighty that 74 Countach looks so amazing!
I would take this over ANY modern supercar. Bloody gorgeous!
But would you DRIVE it over any modern supercar?
@@McLarenMercedes Yes, modern supercars are no fun at legal speeds, too fast for our crumbling UK roads - more frustrating than fun. All that performance and nowhere to use it. I enjoy the flaws of old cars, I want to experience what 'they' experienced in period.
I've owned three X-1/9's . All modified a bit. Went to a track day at summit point with an instructor friend and got a chance to drive an LP400 at the track. It felt like a bigger powerful X-1/9. Bunch of the same bits and bobs..
Being a child of the 80's the Countach that naturally comes to mind is the later 5000SV type designs. With he big wing, and (in the US) big bumpers it was the WOW car of the day. You forget just how svelte and pretty the early design really was. I'd take the car in this video every time over the bulbous, many vented, huge winged Countachs of the 80s.
No such thing as The countach SV..it was the 400, 400S, 5000S, QV and anniversary. The big wing was available on ALL countaches from the 1978 400S...It was an option
Yep, hats off to the owner. What a fabulous machine
That car truly is a legend of motorsport and has an unimaginable sentimental value to it
Too bad it's kind of trash
Lambo never have entered Motor Sport, especially with the Countach.
🤔 motorsport
Quite a "legend of motorsport" since it was never entered in any race.
If I ever made enough money this car would be one of my ultimate goals. Always enjoyed the way they looked, their Heritage, and their sound
I don't like concept cars because they hardly make it to the production.... But this car is a living concept.... ❤️
kudos on trying to make the long sleeve black top under a white t-shirt work 😅
The LP400 for mine is the cherry pick of the entire Countach range. There are faster models, but none prettier to my eye.
I remember seeing one of these in Bristol of all places!
About 20 years ago,
I didn't know its such a rare thing!
great to see a review on the original LP400, with the lines that Ghandini originally designed without the flares and spoiler.
Incredible machine and excellent content 😎👏🏽
In the late 80's there was a kid who drove a Countach to my High School, it's a wealthy neighborhood.
Most adults struggle to drive one i highly doubt a child was driving one.
@@pegcity4eva Healthy virile 17/18 year olds are more capable than most adults.
The legendary Bizzarrini V12 😍😍
which they used all the way until the Aventador
9:35 my heart BREAKS for that 747 retrojet in the background!! Taken before it's time!! 😭😭😭
Hopefully Lamborghini is actually going to bring back the Countach
actually they wont... Lamborghini philosophy.... always look forward
@@RoverWaters exactly, Like most supercar makers, they evolve.I dunno why people don't understand this....It would be like remaking "Jaws"
@@RoverWaters au contraire...the new 2021 Countach was recently released..LPI-800-4... and it's horrid looking
That car is a dream, I also had a poster of it during my elementary years back in the mid to late 80’s.
THIS IS WHY I WILL ALWAYS BE A LAMBORGHINI FAN BOY !
even though i miss the old three musketeers jack rix does a solid job of recounting the legend that is the lambo countach
Amazed that I am now going to have to be the first person to say that the Miura was FAR more beautiful than even this unspoiled, original version of the Countach...
Agreed. This is more dramatic than beautiful.
I love the Countach more but there is no denying, the Miura is the most beautiful Lamborghini ever produced and arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever.
They are 2 different things as different Twins.
The Miura is the most beautiful Classic Car shape (but there are several others "paint" by Pininfarina)...the Countach is an UFO...a Battlestar Starship coming from future (and its name mean shocking in local language).
@@rickhunter6513 agreed!
I remember this comming on sale and I bought carmagazines to read about it. A comparisson test in the German AutoMotorSport springs to mind. They matcht them with an Aston Martin V8 and a Ferrari Belinetta BB. I was a fan of the Aston back then. Probably because of Roger Moore in the persuaders dove an Aston. Damn i'm getting old.
I used to work for Lamborghini of North America and drove a Countach across the country for a magazine test. It was, indeed, amazingly comfortable!
You must be a small dude
I'm 6'2" and it is unbelievable comfortable. Not sure about drive across the country comfortable, but much more comfortabel than my 348 Spider.
I love the first models without the flared wheel arches and spoilers.
Also heart-stoppingly beautiful IMO: the VC-10 in the background at 12:12.
Retro 80s/90s cars are so trendy at the moment, the want and love for a period full of character, colour, cars and pop culture has never been more obvious than before.
This one's from '71
@@BennyTygohome Yeah forgot to include that, but its real cool in general that should be recognised
Totally agree, I'd love an older nicely kept car than a brand new bland car that looks like everything else on the road
@@BennyTygohome that's funny since they didnt go into production until 1974...the prototype was '71
This countach is purely 70s mate
My favourite Countach, so pure, beautiful and elegant. The 25th Anniversary was the worst. Whoever was responsible should have been jailed by the Italian government for vandalising Gandini's art.
It was done by a man called Horacio Pagani. I think he redemed himself a bit though.
That is a supercar. Striking shape, raw power delivery and just oozes class. The Countach, like human beings, got fatter and uglier as it got older. This is the pure form of this design, the original. Love and peace.
speak for yourself mate I'm only getting better with age
@@Kylirr Good one!
A double-cheeseburger?? Man, if I'm taking that car to a drive-thru, the door is going UP!!!!!!!!
One of the best looking car ever have been made ..
My father has a LP500. He had it fully rebuilt from an elite motorsports workshop, and it performs perfectly! It is a rocket. He had built an all aluminium V12 turbo engine which can be installed in a day, but I don't know a alot about it.
LP500S or LP5000S
@@Tommyblueeyes i think they're the same except it was called 5000 in America and 500 everywhere else
that is the low roof version not the more common later high roof with more room head room
true
Am just here for the pop up lights ... thank you
ill be on my way
First spotted one in 80 or 81 parked on the island of Sylt, Germany from several hundred meters away. It was like seeing a spaceship on wheels. Suggestion for the video: If you are going to film a test drive and say it revs to 8k, at least get it up to 6k.
I don't think Marcello Gandini ever designed an ugly car. He was pure artist. There was the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo, the first-generation BMW 5 Series (E12), the Lancia Stratos sports car, the Maserati Khamsin and many many others. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Gandini
the Diablo he designed originally was quite ugly...
The production Diablo was reworked by Chrysler's design department
The title was quite deceiving. Should be "Grown men salivating for 13 minutes"
I'm genuinely surprised at how narrow those original rear tires were
They were the biggest tyres you could get, most 70s super cars had 205/70/14 tyres.
For the time they were considered wide tires. They just look narrow compared to the over-the-top monster 12" wide tires later models had. I for one, would MUCH rather have an LP400. From what I've read, the handing is much more predictable, and the overall styling is just classic. None of the added nonsense the later models like the 500SV, and 25th Anniversary versions came with.
@@ShonnDaylee Harry Metcalf drove the LP400 belonging to Simon Kidston for Octane magazine.
@@ShonnDaylee They all have predictable Handling. A 5000 QV torched the XJ220 and Testarossa at a lap at the Eboladrome.
@@adampetten5349 No, they do not all have equal handling characteristics. The huge rear tires have historically lead to twitchy, and unpredictable handling. This is well documented. Furthermore, I'm not sure what your example has to do with anything. The Countach you mentioned was up against other notoriously difficult to handle vehicles. Not to mention, power, and lap times do not equal predictable handling in most cases. The Lancia Stratos won rally championships, but is well known for it's difficult nature, and likelihood of ending up pointing the wrong way, unless driven by an absolute master.
In the mid 80s you could pick one of these up for less than £10k - £1.2m? that's quite an appreciation.
7:29 The 3 piece door windows were also a compromise due to lack money for development, 2:34 a 2 piece design was originally proposed.
3:50 The 4 liter displacement was also a compromise as the car was intended with a 5 liter engine capacity from the start. lack of funds for development...
3:18 these taillights were also a compromise, borrowed from Alfa Romeo.
5:33 Actually the seats also have a tilt function and the steering column is adjustable telescopically,
The 5 liter overheated and blew up during development. That's the reason they went to larger radiators which necessitated the addition of the snorkels. But yeah, in the end they resorted to using the 4 litre engine from the Miura and it took a few more years to switch to a 5 litre engine, which funnily enough made the same power in its 24 valve incarnation. Other trivia: the roof corners just above the snorkels where the thin vent slots can be found are a known stress point and crack sometimes appear in that region. Oh, and although this was very much Bob Wallace's baby (it is rumoured he didn't even want a/c in the car to deter poseur buyers), Valentino Balboni has claimed that the spaceframe chassis on the early cars was apparently not of the same quality as in later cars, but given financial situation the company was in they'd just deliver them to customers hoping they wouldn't notice. Also, there's the story of the Piedmontese technician who saw the prototype and exclaimed "Countach! Che bella machina!", which is how the car got its name. And the rumour that apart from drawing from his previous Cárabo and Stratos Zero designs, Gandini was influenced by the Lola T70. Also the fact the LP400 and Series 1 LP400S cars were 3" lower at the roofline than later cars, and much, much lighter (impressively so, even today. Close to Macca F1 / Pagani Zonda weight, if I remember correctly, but of course the cars with the carbon fibre chassis are much more rigid).
What's with the slightly stuttering engine noise? Microphone problems or does it need to visit Iain Tyrrell's Workshop for a bit of tune?
OMG! I remember seeing this car when I was a Kid, growing up in Bolton. Amazing!!
Hands up if you think that Lamborghini MUST be considering doing a 'Continuation' series of these.
Geezus, Lambo Like most exotics don't bring cars BACK ..they go through different designs and EVOLVE...Like ferrari, aston, and basically 99 percent of any car maker????
tg
English : top Gear
french : why you insult me what did I do
He missed that the seat rocks, making quite a difference to headroom (I got Ed china into one)
true
It really makes me wonder why those who review the Countach always compare it to the modern cars today... Of course it was a legend! Why not talk about during its prime years?
Triple white Quattro valve with wing, a couple kilos but powdered sugar...... for your French toast of course... get your minds out of the gutter, hair gel and a white blazer, don't forget the South Beach address and we're all good
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I wanted to trade crypto but got confused by the fluctuations in price
Stocks are good but crypto is more profitable
I heard that his strategies are really good
He's obviously the best I invested 2000USD with him and in 9 days I made a profit of 9101USD
He has really made a good name for himself
It feels so weird seeing the original countach without the big useless wing on the back, it almost feels naked cos to me that wing was such a major part of this car's crazy looks
The wing was an optional extra for 5grand at the time...You could order ANY countach all the way up to the anniversary without the wing
Thank you for your valuable time on your Lamborghini video
2:50 that rear wheel arch line is staple of Beritone, the design house behind this car :)
But mainly for Marcello Gandini... as seen on his other works like the Maserati Quattroporte IV or Qvale Mangusta. You can't tell the history of Bertone without Gandini.
I do remember the kids with the Countach-posters weren’t really car-nerds, the hardcore car kids had others, Bmw’s, 205T16, Alfas etc
lol
Lovely video
What a car
Editing protip: when there's mechanical noises to be savoured, cut the elevator jazz
My grandma owned one, i road in it several. Never experienced anything like it.
Badass grandma
Rich Grandma
background music way too loud, hard to hear the commentary, especially when hard of hearing 🧏♂️
Every youtube video ever
He sounds like Hammond if Hammond’s accent was really faint.
Ferrari is the only one making rolling works of art these days. Everybody else has fallen behind. That's what I love about the Countach, it wasn't trying to be smooth, but literally cutting edge with all those hard lines. It looked like it ran; sharp, rough & hard.
Fallen behind with *what* ??
The early Countach was such a beautifully designed car. The later ones, with all of the added accoutrements, lost the clean lines of the original Gandini masterpiece.
The side window was originally a two piece affair, as seen on the green pre-production car in the Lamborghini museum, but 3 out 5 times the glass would break during the manufacturing process, so they switched to the 3 piece design. It's interesting I couldn't hear any gearbox whine in the cabin in this video, there is another video on RUclips with Lamorghini test driver Mirko Venturi driving an LP400, where that noise dominates. I'm guessing the air conditioning doesn't really work in this car either. Imagine what a resto-modded car would be like, with a sports exhaust to raise the power to 450 hp (there's a yellow one in the US that's that fast, owned by Joe Sackey I think, and it came with a special exhaust from the factory), an improved lighter clutch like the one Lamborghini have fitted to their museum car, switchable EPAS (as installed in lord Metcalfe's QV), a modern aircon, and modern tyres / disc brakes... which might necessitate slightly larger replica wheels, but still with this lovely turbine fin design, as also seen on the Urracco (a dutch owner was looking to do this about 10 years ago). There's no denying that the narrowbody car looks pure, lightweight and perfect. As with the Esprit S1, it's a shame the later cars lost the sharpness and delicacy of the original design. Gandini could have simply given the car a smoother widebody á la Miura SV or 911 Carrera 4S, to accomodate the Pirelli tyres without losing the arrow nose or the wheelarch slashes. Still, this is my dream car and I can still remember a time, 20 years ago, when it was worth around £40k. Prices really started to move around 2004 and followed the Miura into the stratosphere by the end of that decade. Sigh... What must it be like to rev this car to 9000 rpm?
£40k Countach LP400??
450hp from a 4 liter with a sport exhaust ??
are you drunk?
@@RoverWaters Not at all. Find a back issue of a classic car magazine from around 1999 - 2000, check the price guides section and you will see that LP400s were the cheapest Countachs at the time. As for the 450 hp figure, I still have the Octane magazine issue from 2004 where a yellow LP400 (with some very expensive Tag Heuer chronometers mounted on the dash) was compared to a red Series 1 LP400S and they mentioned that with the sports exhaust, the LP400 "would run with Testarossas a decade younger" and this being a serious publication, nobody was confusing the car with a QV. By that time the car was already worth £150k. Did the rest of my comment give you the impression I'm drunk or that I don't know what I'm talking about?
@@RzogL there never was a 450hp from a 4 liter Countach
@@RoverWaters Well, I guess you know everything. Here, read this: "www.onthedash.com/countach_onthedash/"
@@RzogL I really do know a lot 😎
I know for certain that the most powerful 4 liter NA Lamborghini engine was the original Miura Jota, it had 420hp at 8000rpm. It achieved that with downdraft Webers and dry sump, etc.
So the Silvera Countach with it's wet sump and sidedraft carburetors has no chance of achieving "60-70hp" more.
It is just folk tale. 😏
this was my childhood dream car
James may already covered this car perfectly
The LP400 was the best. I love the thick tires. It’s really timeless like a Ferrari 308, then much later the Porsche 959.
Absolutely beautiful...still
I recall seeing a powder-blue car on the ferry to France from England in 1973 or 1975. Didn't know what it was but it clearly (hindsight!) must have been one of the earliest Lambos.
Powder blue would have been a Walter Wolf special?
best looking car and miura, relics for sure
Amazing car very agressive cool design
Hammond or Clarkson could do this video justice. Why no mention of the Miura? Mr. Marcello Ghandini was working with Bertone when he designed it. No mention of Bertone? Horacio Pagani designed the 25th Anniversary and did a carbon fiber prototype version. There was plans to redesign the Countach again when Lamborghini was sold, this time to Chrysler who completely redesigned the Diablo in the US. The Diablo was supposed to look like what became the Cizta V16T. Thanks.
*kneels on hands and knees*
Praise be the Countach! May she drive eternal on the neon covered streets and may her headlights never stop popping up!
The LP 400 ist "the Countach" ... rough and dirty. I really love this pure version of this car.
The Countach was THE show-stopper at auto shows back in the early/mid- 1970s. I don't think that the term "super sports car" was used back then, but the Countach was definitely the first of that breed, the first to have not only the performance, but also the looks.
I’m disappointed it wasn’t Chris Harris doing this review ,
I don't agree that the early Countach is the best one. It is the most elegant, for sure, but the wacky body kit with strakes on the skirts, huge wing, flared wheel arches, and even the preposterous front spoiler made the later models look like they were going to drive right off of your poster and into the nearest swimming pool. This is not the first BBC presenter I've heard recite the doctrine of "the elegant design of the LP400 makes it the most beautiful blah blah blah." It's a Lambo... I'll have the one with frikin laser beams on its head.
That is good looking. Later ones where basically cartoon versions, a shame.
although it was missed, story of the wing is just as fascinating...nothing to do with downforce, it actually slows the car down..Walter Wolf stuck an F1 wing on his...the Producers of The Cannonball Run saw it...replicated it, became an overnight sensation and the rest is history...
The Cannonball Run had no part in the wing story
Wait a second! You showed us the interior of an Italian supercar and left out the extremely well used and over sized ashtray?
As an italian smoker growing up with a father smoking a shitload of cigs, there is no such thing as an over sized car ashtray
Too small, has to be emptied more than once in 25 years
Very good video, can't wait for the others.
There's this pub in Hull by the marina. For a few years in a row Hull had this freedom festival over a summer weekend. The queue at the bar would be six people deep for the whole weekend. The landlord told me he took a quarter of a million from that weekend every year. Then, after the second year, he had a Lambo just like this one.
Did he say 1971 ? If so Holly Molly . Wow a model way way ahead of its time. The wedge style on the American cars went all the way to early 90s with the iroc z and a bit earlier 88 Ferro and corrvette until 94
Beautiful
This is still the best looking of the series. The later cars looked like they went through the JC Whitney Catalog and ordered all the Ugly Bits to add on.
Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!