The Miura’s successor required a mechanical design that enabled the greatest possible performance as well as a body that was both aerodynamically efficient and aesthetically daring. Said so, Chief Engineer Paolo Stanzani and his staff began work on the new car — the LP112 — in 1970: test driver Bob Wallace, assistant engineer Massimo Parenti and designer Marcello Gandini of Bertone. You know the story already, it’s a story that comes from the future, it’s the story of one of world’s greatest automotive icons.
In order to properly celebrate the first 50 years of its Countach, Lamborghini set up an incredible agenda that spanned across the last year. First thing happened has been the original Countach’s anniversary, occurred on March 11, 2021, five decades after the LP 500 prototype revealing; then the launch of the Countach LPI 800-4, showcased in August at Pebble Beach; in October, last but not least, the presentation of the LP 500 recreation carried out by Polo Storico.
Few days ago we got an invitation from Automobili Lamborghini and we spent 24 hours in Sant’Agata Bolognese to finally see the last two Countach(s) made — the Fly Yellow LP 500 recreation and the white LPI 800-4 — in the flesh. Finally, together.
The Countach LPI 800-4 is a visionary car of the moment, just as its forerunner 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. It upholds the Lamborghini tradition of looking forward, of exploring new design and technology avenues while celebrating the DNA of our brand. It is a Lamborghini that innately expresses the marque’s enduring and emotive power: always inspirational and thrilling to see, hear and most of all drive.
Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini
The Countach LPI 800-4 puristic lines are immediately recognizable from the original Countach legacy: the patriarch of modern super sports cars and Lamborghini design. With its aspirated V12 engine combined with Lamborghini’s hybrid supercapacitor technology, the white Countach retains the inimitable V12 experience and sound from its Longitudinale Posteriore (LP) mounted powerplant combined with the hybrid (I) technology developed for the Sián. Delivering 814 horsepower as maximum combined power from its aspirated 780-hp powerplant and 34-hp electric motor to its permanent four-wheel drive transmission, the car produces peak performance of 0-100 km/h acceleration in just 2.8 seconds, a 0-200 km/h in 8.6 seconds and a top speed of 355 km/h.
The Countach’s distinctive silhouette with the essential line running from front to rear, sharp angles and lines and idiosyncratic wedge shape, innovated modern super sports design as well as future Lamborghini models. The Countach LPI 800-4 develops the characteristic lines of the Countach’s five models over nearly 20 years, concentrated into the purest realization of iconic automotive design.
The final outline is pure and uncluttered, with references to the first LP 500 and LP 400 production version. Giving the LPI 800-4 a distinctive Countach face, inspiration was taken from the Quattrovalvole edition in the assertive lines of the front bonnet with long, low rectangular grille and headlights, as well as in the wheel arches with their hexagonal theme. The sharp inclination of the greenhouse adopts the straight lines redolent of the original Countach, adjoining the powerful, clean front-to-rear line. There is no fixed rear wing outside the pure lines, and the airscoops are integrated fluidly in the strong shoulders of the car, embellished with the distinctive Countach slatted ‘gills’. The iconic and aerodynamically powerful NACA air intakes cut into the side and doors of the Countach LPI 800-4 while the distinctive Periscopio lines running through the roof to the rear of the car, particularly distinctive if viewed from above, appear to float towards the rear of the car.
The rear of the Countach LPI 800-4 is immediately recognizable from its distinctive inverted wedge shape, with the rear bumper featuring a lower, sleeker line, and the ‘hexagonita’ design shaping the three-unit rear light clusters. The LPI 800-4 sports the four-strong exhaust tail pipes of the Countach family, connected within the carbon fiber rear diffuser. Access for driver and passenger is of course via the infamous scissor doors, first introduced on the Countach and that have become a Lamborghini V12 signature.
The Countach LPI 800-4 20” (front) and 21” (rear) wheels are created in the ‘telephone’ style of the 1980s, fitted with carbon ceramic brake discs, and Pirelli P Zero tyres. Owners of this exclusive limited edition car can choose from a range of heritage exterior paint options, mostly in solid colours, such as the iconic Impact White, Giallo Countach and Verde Medio. Otherwise, the contemporary palette offers modern paintings, mostly metallic colors, such as Viola Pasifae or Blu Uranus.
An 8,4” HDMI center touchscreen unique to the LPI 800-4 manages car controls including Connectivity and Apple CarPlay. It also includes a unique button entitled ‘Stile’ (Design): pressed, it explains the Countach design philosophy to its privileged audience.
Produced in a run of 112 units, the Countach LPI 800-4 will be delivered from first quarter 2022 to owners worldwide, privileged to drive a piece of automotive history reimagined for the future.
