Original Countach recreated including one-off frame, original tires
One well-heeled owner and more than 25,000 hours went into project
The very first Lamborghini Countach has just been revealed. Sort of. The automaker’s historic division spent more than 25,000 hours building an exact replica of the car that sat on the stage of the 1971 Geneva auto show car for a customer. That meant digging out original documents and blueprints and fabricating from scratch a chassis that is completely different from the series production cars.
At the end of 2017, Lamborghini Polo Storico says, a customer approached asking if it was possible to recreate the Countach LP 500. The car that appeared at the show was sacrificed to crash tests in 1974 and disappeared.
It took months to assemble the documents, including photos, meeting reports, original drawings, and even the memories of some workers for the time. The car used a platform chassis, not the tubular frame of later cars, so Polo Storico had to learn how to make it in tune with the production methods used at the time. The same thing happened for the body and interior.
All mechanical parts were 1971-appropriate Lamborghini new parts or restored components. Those that couldn’t be found period-correct had to be built from scratch. The paint colour came from the PPG archives, identifying and remixing the Giallo Fly Speciale paint.
Lamborghini was so thorough with this recreation that they even sourced original tires. Pirelli’s archives contained the plans for the Cinturato CN12 tires used on the real car, and the brand recreated a brand new set in 245/60R14 up front and 265/60R14 in the rear. Like other Pirelli Collezione tires, they have the 1970s moulds – meaning they look period correct – but use a more modern compound and structure underneath.
The completed car will be revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Est this weekend.
