PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - The original Lamborghini Countach was a groundbreaking supercar that also became the quintessential poster car of the ‘70s and ‘80s. And now, 50 years after the LP112 prototype broke cover, Lamborghini has created an all-new Countach for the modern era.
The Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4, to give you its full name, is a limited edition model, with the Italian supercar maker planning to build just 112 units. The car comes with a price tag of $2.6 million, which equated to around R38.4 million at the time of writing.
Beneath is retro-inspired, but still suitably modern skin the 2021 Lamborghini Countach is fairly similar to the Sian. That means the ‘lucky few’ can look forward to a mid-mounted 6.5-litre normally aspirated V12 petrol engine, paired with Lambo’s hybrid supercapacitor technology.
The petrol engine produces 574kW at 8500rpm and 720Nm from 6750 revs, and the gearbox-mounted electric motor contributes 25kW and 35Nm. With a combined output of 599kW, the Countach can scream from 0-100km/h in 2.8 seconds, according to factory claims, with 200km/h coming up in 8.6 seconds. The top speed is listed at 355km/h.
The chassis and body panels of the Lamborghini Countach are all made from carbon fibre, allowing for an impressive dry weight of 1595kg.
Although the car’s exterior lines are decidedly modern, the newcomer does pay the necessary tributes to its forebear, with a wedge-shaped frontal section and side scoops as well as hexagonal wheel arches, while the sharp inclination of the greenhouse adopts straight lines reminiscent of the original supercar. However unlike the earlier LP500 S, there’s no rear wing at the back end, and the air scoops have been integrated into the shoulders of the car.
“The first Countach has been present in our Centro Stile as a model for some years now”, Lamborghini design head Mitja Borkert said. “Whenever I look at it, it gives me goose bumps and it serves as the perfect reminder for me and the entire design team to design every future Lamborghini in a visionary and futuristic way.
“This is a non negotiable part of our DNA, the essence if you so will. The first Countach shaped the Lamborghini design DNA like no other car; the new Countach translates that unconventional and edgy character into the future,” Bokert added.
CEO Stephan Winkelmann described the Lamborghini Countach as a visionary car for the moment, just as its forebear was: “One of the most important automotive icons, the Countach not only embodies the design and engineering tenet of Lamborghini but represents our philosophy of reinventing boundaries, achieving the unexpected and extraordinary and, most importantly, being the ‘stuff of dreams’.
“The Countach LPI 800-4 pays homage to this Lamborghini legacy but it is not retrospective: it imagines how the iconic Countach of the 70s and 80s might have evolved into an elite super sports model of this decade,” Winkelmann said.