In 1974, at the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Serial production of the Countach begana model that went down in legend and remained on the market for 16 years.
The Countach was the first Lamborghini whose bodywork was made “in-house” with handmade sheet metal and the first whose interiors were produced by the Italian company’s Upholstery Department, a true revolution that, 50 years later, has become a tradition in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
On the occasion of this anniversary, Lamborghini has returned the first Countach LP 400 to the production line in which it was created and where the Lamborghini Revuelto is produced today, for a photo session of the past and present.
During the Countach years, the assembly line was simple and small scale, and all operations were performed manually. body panels They were tapped and then checked on a wooden jig before being welded and tightened. in the body mold. This process was essential, as each piece, having been produced and assembled by hand, appeared identical to the others, but in reality each one was slightly different.
The Countach was also the first to involve Lamborghini’s Upholstery Department, which was initially dedicated solely to the fitting and assembly of interiors in collaboration with external suppliers.
Today, the production line has changed, as have the machinery and materials used, and is much more organized, efficient and ergonomic. If aluminum was used in the 70s, now carbon fiber is usedwhich is also produced at the Sant’Agata Bolognese plant.
This model is so important and representative in the history of the Italian manufacturer, that three years ago a special and modern edition called Countach LPI 800-4 was presented, with a V12 engine and clear inspiration from the 1970s model.
The origin of a legend
On March 11, 1971, three years before it began to be produced in series, at the Geneva Motor Show, the undisputed star of the event was presented: the Lamborghini Countach LP 500in yellow. At ten in the morning at the stand of the prestigious design center Bertone bodyworkthe first prototype to be shown in public, made its first appearance.
Its presentation was so successful that the company raced against time to satisfy customer requests and transform the car from a futuristic proposal into a production model, albeit in a small series.
The decision to present the Countach LP 500 in the Carrozzeria Bertone space was motivated by the fact that the Lamborghini stand had the center of attraction Miura SVthe latest version of another of the most emblematic models of the house of Sant’agata Bolognese.
With this double presentation, Lamborghini demonstrated its ability to produce creatively, to the point that in the months after Geneva, the Countach LP 500 appeared on all the covers of car magazines in the world.
The Countach project, with internal code LP112, where LP indicates the rear longitudinal position (Posterior Longitudinal in Italian) of the 12-cylinder engine, arose from Ferruccio Lamborghini’s desire to maintain the image of a company at the forefront of style and technology following the Miura.
At the head of this achievement was engineer Paolo Stanzani, who had been with Lamborghini since 1963, and in 1968 was appointed General Manager and Technical Director, responsible for the mechanical part of the Countach.
The angular, clean and futuristic lines of the Countach were designed by the great Marcello GandiniDesign Director of Carrozzeria Bertone. Gandini was also responsible for the decision to use the scissor doorswhich have since characterized the production of Lamborghini’s 12-cylinder models.
The LP 500 was a substantially different car from the Countach that would go into production in 1974. It had a platform chassis rather than a tubular one, it was equipped with a 4,971 cm3 12-cylinder engine, with air intakes in a gill design. shark and inside it featured sophisticated electronic instrumentation.
Legend has it that the origin of the name of this sports car is found in the dialect of the Piedmont region. In its final stages of assembly, the car was hidden in a shed for agricultural machinery on a farm near Grugliasco (province of Turin), and was “discovered” by a farmer who exclaimed with amazement and enthusiasm “¡Countach!”a word in the Piedmontese dialect that expresses astonishment.
When fellow Piedmontese Marcello Gandini realized this, he thought that this word had a particularly strong communicative force and also convinced Nuccio Bertone, Ferruccio Lamborghini and his colleague Paolo Stanzani of this.
Horacio Pagani extended his life
The Countach was a success and its fame was recognized throughout the world: posters with its image decorated the bedrooms of teenagers who dreamed of its shapes.
But a replacement had to be thought of and the development of the successor had already been in process since 1985 and was also in charge of Gandini. But Chrysler bought Lamborghini in 1987 and times were going to change.
The model that was going to succeed the Countach was the Diablo, but in Detroit they were not convinced after having seen some prototypes and postponed its presentation. The decision forced him to continue selling the Countach, but the years were weighing on him and he had to give it a new life to make it attractive again.
And the person in charge of retouching the figure of this supercar was none other than a young Horacio Pagani, who had arrived at the Italian brand in 1983 and who four years later was responsible for the composite materials division.
Pagani experimented with a prototype, which became known as Countach Evolution and that in reality it was a car laboratory where the man from Santa Fe tested a large number of solutions. A good part of them had to do with the use of composite materials to reduce weight.
Several solutions worked on in that prototype were later used for what became known as Countach 25 Aniversariodesigned to celebrate the 25 years of the brand’s founding. Pagani raised the trunk a bit and redesigned the air intakes to better channel the flow to better cool the front brakes.
The rear bumper was also modified, while the two side air intakes increased in size and received a body-color finish, instead of the black used until now.
The Countach 25 Anniversary was officially presented at the 1988 Monza Grand Prix and quickly became a commercial success, with 667 units manufactured, manufactured between 1988 and 1991.
Of From 1974 to 1990, 1,999 units of the Countach were produced. in five different series, which represents a model that, in addition to ending up displayed on the bedroom walls of an entire generation and being used in dozens of films, allowed Lamborghini to survive the most difficult years in history.
Unfortunately, nothing remains of the original prototype that gave life to the Countach: in early 1974, it was used for the crash tests required for the homologation of the production car and was subsequently scrapped.
