Lamborghini Countach (Italy, 1971-1989)

Lamborghini released its supercar model Countach in 1971 and produced it from 1974 until 1990. Throughout this car’s 16-year lifetime, several versions and limited editions derived from the first and original Countach.

The “Project 112” received its actual name after Nuccio Bertone – from Bertone design studios where the car was conceived – exclaimed the word “countach” (pronounced “coon-tahsh” or “cun-touch” in the North Italian dialect) when he saw the car, as an expression of positive surprise.

Lamborghini firstly showed the Countach to the public at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show and started its production in 1974.

In the North Italian region of Piedmont, “countach” is actually an expression of surprise in the local dialect that is most used when North Italian men see an extremely attractive woman. The history of the Countach tells that Nuccio Bertone (from Bertone design studios) used that expression when he first saw the car, which was provisionally named “Project 112”.

When the Italian car builder took the 16-year old Countach out of the markets, in 1999, Lamborghini had built 2042 copies of this model.

The rear-wheel drive Countach is powered by the longitudinally mounted Lamborghini V12 mid-engine. The cars received the V12 engines from an initial 4-liter displacement to the latter 5.2 L.
Power output for the Countach cars during the model’s lifetime ranged from 325 to 420 hp. These cars were able to reach a top speed from slightly under to a bit over 190 mi/h (306 km/h).
The Countach comes with a 5-speed manual transmission.

Aircraft-grade aluminium over a square-section steel tubular space frame and sheet-metal stiffeners welded together.   Platform (no data)   Suspension Independent suspension built with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers.   Steering Unassisted rack-and-pinion steering.   Brakes Girling ventilated disc brakes with vacuum assist on all wheels.

Marcello Gandini, from Bertone design studios, designed this 2-door, 2-seat mid-engined coupe and Bertone studios built it. The Countach is mostly renowned for its sharp-edged shape and angular looks, which this car managed to popularise as far as converting it into a common trait of high performance automobiles.

This Lamborghini model was also quite popular for its lift-up, lean-forward doors and for its “pushed-to-the-front” passenger cabin that was meant to provide room for a large engine. The upward-opening doors weren’t made for mere styling reasons, as conventional doors couldn’t quite fit the car’s peculiar body dimensions, so the doors used in the Countach were functional as well.

The Lamborghini Countach has a wide and low shape, not too long, and a wedge-shaped and angular body styling almost all made of flat, trapezoidal panels. The sharp-styled car – despite some curvy and smooth lines that one could find – has a rather small passenger cabin and very little room for luggage in the hot area behind the engine.

Also, the car’s windows were so minimal in size that one couldn’t almost see anything to the rear and just a part of the side windows could be rolled down.

Despite its 16 years of active production, the Countach was mostly sold – more than half of all units sold – in the last five years of its lifetime, due to Lamborghini’s new owners at that time and their will to increase production and sales.