Lamborghini Countach History
Lamborghini Countach History
Early Development
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". Although this word had no official meaning, it was a local dialect expression of exclamation akin to "Cor! , wow!, look at that!".
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.
The 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.
Countach.info - History & Evolution
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Early Development
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". Although this word had no official meaning, it was a local dialect expression of exclamation akin to "Cor! , wow!, look at that!".
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.
The 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.
-
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.
The first thing making Countach so exotic was its look. The wedge-shape design combined with sharp edges and distinctive features like scissors doors, NACA ducts and square pop-up headlamps, not only caught eyes but also looked futuristic. Whenever a Countach flashed pass a viewer, it would immediately give 2 impressions. The first was that it was really low, lower than any other cars in the world. In fact, standing at 42.1 inches in height, Countach was the lowest car in history besides the Ford GT40 and Lotus Esprit. However, its aggressive lines made it subjectively seemed even lower than it was.
The second impression was: it must be extremely powerful and electric fast. Race version of GT40, with 425 hp 7-litre V8, actually out-powered the Countach, but its soft profile prevented one from believing its real speed. On the contrary, the original Countach had 50 hp less but looked like 40 mph faster. Therefore, when Lamborghini made a wild claimed of "in-excess of 200 mph top speed" in the Geneva show, most journalists believed it really could! This ingenious design was made by Marcello Gandini. Having styled several masterpieces like Lamborghini Miura and Urraco, he was hungry for a chance to show all his talents. Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was very satisfied with his previous services, gave him this precious chance. Why precious? Because Countach was to be a car emphasising on great styling and performance over practicality and cost concerns, thus giving the designer full freedom to design without limitation. Gandini did not let us down. His Countach LP500 prototype attracted overwhelming attention in Geneva show. Later, the production Countach was regarded as the most exotic-looking car ever built. Until production stopped in 1990 (that's 19 years later), it still looked fresh and appealing. If the design were not so futuristic, such achievement would have been impossible.
In 1985, Lamborghini made the biggest improvement to Countach. The V12 was stroked to 5,167 c.c., incorporated a 4-valve cylinder head (called "Quattro-valvole" in Italian, which gave its name "QV") thus a total of 48 valves. Power jumped to a world-beating 455 hp, torque rose to 369 lbft.
Finally, the Countach produced more power than the originally proposed LP500 prototype, which would have been capable of 440 hp from 5 litres of displacement. Forget the 200 mph dream, this would never be achieved with the same aerodynamic. As the body was virtually unchanged from LP500S, people were happy to see the QV could run up to slightly over 180 mph, which was among the fastest in the world. Ferrari 288GTO and Testarossa had more or less the same top speed while other competitors were quite far below than that.
Compare with LP500S's engine, the 48-valve QV unit was very powerful and revvy, it was certainly a gem. The extra power was mainly achieved by the larger valves and the repositioned Weber carburettors - now mounted vertically instead of horizontally to enable straight forward engine breathing. However, this resulted in a large mound on the engine lid thus deteriorated the precious rear visibility. Other minor changes included: Front and rear lid were made of Kevlar New Pirelli P7R replaced P7 The 5000QV is commonly acknowledged as the best version during Countach's 16 years history.
US version 5000QV
The US version differed from the European version mainly by the engine's fuel system because of stricter emission requirement. With Bosch K-Jetronic instead of the six Webers, power dropped to 420 hp. Besides, the "power dome" on the engine lid was split into two to house the new fuel system. Federalisation also changed the bumpers, rear lights etc.
You can see the differences between the US version in the middle and its european counterpart on the right.
SO CALL US TODAY!!!
1(800) 289-1577 EXTENSION 3
Early Development
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". Although this word had no official meaning, it was a local dialect expression of exclamation akin to "Cor! , wow!, look at that!".
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.
The 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.
Countach.info - History & Evolution
HOME - TECHNICAL - PERFORMANCE - GALLERY - ARTICLES - GUESTBOOK
Early Development
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". Although this word had no official meaning, it was a local dialect expression of exclamation akin to "Cor! , wow!, look at that!".
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.
The 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.
-
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.
The first thing making Countach so exotic was its look. The wedge-shape design combined with sharp edges and distinctive features like scissors doors, NACA ducts and square pop-up headlamps, not only caught eyes but also looked futuristic. Whenever a Countach flashed pass a viewer, it would immediately give 2 impressions. The first was that it was really low, lower than any other cars in the world. In fact, standing at 42.1 inches in height, Countach was the lowest car in history besides the Ford GT40 and Lotus Esprit. However, its aggressive lines made it subjectively seemed even lower than it was.
The second impression was: it must be extremely powerful and electric fast. Race version of GT40, with 425 hp 7-litre V8, actually out-powered the Countach, but its soft profile prevented one from believing its real speed. On the contrary, the original Countach had 50 hp less but looked like 40 mph faster. Therefore, when Lamborghini made a wild claimed of "in-excess of 200 mph top speed" in the Geneva show, most journalists believed it really could! This ingenious design was made by Marcello Gandini. Having styled several masterpieces like Lamborghini Miura and Urraco, he was hungry for a chance to show all his talents. Ferruccio Lamborghini, who was very satisfied with his previous services, gave him this precious chance. Why precious? Because Countach was to be a car emphasising on great styling and performance over practicality and cost concerns, thus giving the designer full freedom to design without limitation. Gandini did not let us down. His Countach LP500 prototype attracted overwhelming attention in Geneva show. Later, the production Countach was regarded as the most exotic-looking car ever built. Until production stopped in 1990 (that's 19 years later), it still looked fresh and appealing. If the design were not so futuristic, such achievement would have been impossible.
In 1985, Lamborghini made the biggest improvement to Countach. The V12 was stroked to 5,167 c.c., incorporated a 4-valve cylinder head (called "Quattro-valvole" in Italian, which gave its name "QV") thus a total of 48 valves. Power jumped to a world-beating 455 hp, torque rose to 369 lbft.
Finally, the Countach produced more power than the originally proposed LP500 prototype, which would have been capable of 440 hp from 5 litres of displacement. Forget the 200 mph dream, this would never be achieved with the same aerodynamic. As the body was virtually unchanged from LP500S, people were happy to see the QV could run up to slightly over 180 mph, which was among the fastest in the world. Ferrari 288GTO and Testarossa had more or less the same top speed while other competitors were quite far below than that.
Compare with LP500S's engine, the 48-valve QV unit was very powerful and revvy, it was certainly a gem. The extra power was mainly achieved by the larger valves and the repositioned Weber carburettors - now mounted vertically instead of horizontally to enable straight forward engine breathing. However, this resulted in a large mound on the engine lid thus deteriorated the precious rear visibility. Other minor changes included: Front and rear lid were made of Kevlar New Pirelli P7R replaced P7 The 5000QV is commonly acknowledged as the best version during Countach's 16 years history.
US version 5000QV
The US version differed from the European version mainly by the engine's fuel system because of stricter emission requirement. With Bosch K-Jetronic instead of the six Webers, power dropped to 420 hp. Besides, the "power dome" on the engine lid was split into two to house the new fuel system. Federalisation also changed the bumpers, rear lights etc.
You can see the differences between the US version in the middle and its european counterpart on the right.
SO CALL US TODAY!!!
1(800) 289-1577 EXTENSION 3
posted by MVM Productions at 6:18 PM
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