Eight things you need to know about the Lamborghini Countach | Top Gear
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- It was the Countach that properly established Lamborghini as the world’s number one purveyor of supercar otherworldliness. Yes yes, the Miura was technically revolutionary (mid-engined) and intriguing (transversally disposed V12), and most of all heart-stoppingly beautiful. But the Countach was - and remains - something else. So using a gorgeous 1974 Countach LP400 Periscopo, let Top Gear Magazine’s Jack Rix show you in eight ways why this wedge is one to rule them all.
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I was 11 when the Countach was first launched. I thought I'd seen a real space ship. I still do. There has never been another car with such stunning looks. Not even close.
1974..I was just born so I grew up fascinated by the 5000s
Looks you can never forget and WHAT A MACHINE it is.
i was born in "95, though we share those thoughts! Just automotive perfection.
Except it’s an incredibly big piece of crap
The closest for me was the Murcielago. That yellow one on the front of EVO magazine. Amazing.
What I do love about supercars from this era is that they were never trying to be anything else. True thoroughbreds
Do you mean they were never meant to be cars?
I do like thicc tyres and hate when people put huge rims on old cars.
P pool or p
Same dude big rims are wastful
I couldn't agree more. I mean, I "get it" the low profile tires and big wheels handle better and allows for larger brakes. The older cars were designed for asbestos brake pads and older cars really suffer in the braking department with asbestos pads now outlawed. If you are going to drive something frequently, going with a slightly larger wheel, slightly larger brakes and slightly lower profile tires is a nice functional upgrade but I did say slightly.
People tend to go to the extremes and get the biggest wheel and lowest profile tires they can put on a car. That totally ruins the look of older cars.
@@shananagans5 Interesting. I hadn't thought of the asbestos pad situation. Aside from ceramics, do we not have a comparable option?
And as for the modern trend of giant wheels and tiny side walls, it's quite frequently to an extent that diminishes overall handling. And if you look at actual race cars of assorted types, you won't find such small sidewalls, aside from something like a drift competition.
@@Raczoon The asbestos pads were really good at resisting heat. I was in high school when asbestos was first banned and the replacements were notably worse. They started using bigger disks and bigger pads on new cars to get the same braking performance. Nowadays, brakes are even bigger, the disks have vents etc and they work better than older cars ever did. No doubt, they have made improvements in non asbestos pads but, for the size, asbestos is really hard to beat.
Me waiting foe him to tell 'we had a family friend who owned one' instead of the poster thing😅
That poster would now be nudging 100K in concourse condition.
This car's personality is incomplete without that topless lady.
I believe those were optional extras and they didn't age as well as the cars, while replacement ones are quite expensive, so most Countachs don't have them anymore.
@@Pandamasque Give this man a prize
The Cannonball Run with those unitard ladies. Man that was hot stuff.
Also as 90's teenager I had a Diablo poster with rather busty lady in it.
But I think it's the ultimate self-made billionare's dream. Diablo SV, silicon bombshell and some pink coke.
@@mcdick Hey, sounds, good! I'll have to win the lottery first! Wish me luck! Ha, ha!😁
@I DUBZH you’re better than google 👍🏼😀
The original LP400, this one, is the most beautiful, everything they added on later made it uglier. This is true art.
Agreed. Original and best.
agreed but they put smaller wheels on it than the miura ffsake 14 inch and skinny, but it suits it.....always loved the 400s and onwards but as a 47 yr old, love the 400 for it's clean look
I could remenber the first view on a advertising from the german importer in 1973. I was about 10 years old an I fall in love till today in this design. And you are right ... this is the Countach as it should be. Also the design of the wheels is iconic.
The original Countach is actually the LP500 from 1971 right? That car didn’t survive the crash tests so it got adjusted and the original Countach design got lost. Until now, because Polo Storico has put in WORK to get the original design back and produce the original Countach.
I remember seeing this car the pack of "Top Trumps" card game. Looked absolutely stunning, but later models lost that beauty.
The steering wheel can be moved, there’s a video of Valentino Balboni demonstrating how to move the position of the steering wheel for both height and reach. The Countach was also offered with a choice of seats dependent upon the height of the owner and again there’s a demonstration video showing the difference, the car is capable of seating a 6ft 2 driver with the correct seat fitted
It’s amazing the BBC actually trains presenters to be identical to whoever they’re replacing.
Wdym
he sounds like Richard Hammond. isn't it?
Yep, audio only, it's Hammond.
@@davidwatts1871 visually the car is the right side up.
Bro hahaha
easily the best edition of the Countach. Gorgeous. I saw a picture of a foresty green example once and I think if I was in a position to magically acquire an LP400, it'd be that spectacular colour.
I got some amazing pictures of that green Countach when i visited the Lambo museum at the factory. I think it's still there.
Buy a few shares of GME and you just might
I saw a pristine white Countach outside Yokohama in Japan the other day. Man, what a beautiful car. If I ever get the chance to have a car collection, this will be in it.
So ahead of its time, the shape is still so prominent in supercars to this day!
Nah, the Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968), Bizarrini Manta (1968), Porsche Tapiro (1970), Maserati Boomerang (1971) *all predate the Lamborghini Countach*
Google or Wiki those cars and learn a thing or two.
You can achieve anything you put your mind to, you just have to take the first step.
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You're damn right, trading bitcoin these days is the only way to reduce the gulf in class between the rich and poor. That's what I love about it.
This guy sounds exactly like Richard Hammond
Like Hammond on puberty blockers
Sounds similar, but Hammond doesn't look like a car thief
I was 11 years old when the prototype debuted and as you said simply jaw dropping back then as it still is today. As I was racing go carts & already turning wrenches at the time, I realized I was looking at something truly special. And that rear wheel arch is still utterly spectacular today! I commend you even though you weren't even born yet you really captured the essence of the car better then anyone I've ever heard. As I have owned quite a few modern go fast cars & obviously would never dispute the amazing performance advantages over vintage machines, they just don't engage me enough to want to keep any of them. Awesome video my friend, much thanks!
This version is my favourite Countach. It was pure, no steroids
i love that the owner's manual tells you to put the doors up and sit out the side of it just to be able to back up safely without hitting something
oh he actually mentions it in the video too
It was the legendary Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni who came up with that solution
yeah, a solution for Idiots who cannot drive other than a Minivan witch Beeping Alarms and backup Camera and still slam into something.
I drive Sportscars since 1990ties and NEVER EVER hit anything. Rear View of my Cars is the same like in a Lambo - which i could drive once - felt familiar, no drama to backup into a Parking Place or whatever.
learn driving....
@@FRITZI999 who pissed in your breakfast? why does this trigger you so much
I too had a poster of a Countach on my wall, growing up. In my mind, it was always the blueprint for what a perfect car design should be; one-box, low wide nose, windscreen as a continuation of the front hood. With an ideal car like that, I find most new cars (suvs) looks like farming equipment in comparisson...
Lambos started as farming equipment. Never won a proper race
What a car absolutely stunning when it first came out from the factory. In my opinion it was not elegant as the Maserati or the older Ferrari but it really meant brutal business together with the engine unmistakable sound! I still remember very well when I was a boy hearing the Lamborgini overtaking my father's car at full blast on the highway in Italy! Wow...
I was drawn to this beauty from my first glance years ago. Having seen this video and heard those 12 incredible cylinders, I'm more in love with her than ever.
For years I've read test reports and later watched You Tube videos on the Countach. Most complained about the ergonomics, visibility, the chunky forcefulness of the clutch and gear shift and other gripes. Yet most testers hardly got them out of town since they were barrowed private cars. Most of the reviews were actually rather critical. And then the videos by Jay Leno, Matt Farah, and Harry Metcalf came out and their stories were completely different. While Jay used his for commuting for many years, he talked about the robustness of the car. Matt talked about just how nice of a two-lane open road grand touring car this is, and Harry doubled down on the GT aspect of his car by going on a 2000 mile road trip that included his wife and their luggage. I think for years most of us never really knew where this car's sweet spot was, and that is on grand drives that take more than a few days to accomplish. Good job Lamborghini!
Being a child of the 80's the Countach that naturally comes to mind is the later 5000SV type designs. With he big wing, and (in the US) big bumpers it was the WOW car of the day. You forget just how svelte and pretty the early design really was. I'd take the car in this video every time over the bulbous, many vented, huge winged Countachs of the 80s.
No such thing as The countach SV..it was the 400, 400S, 5000S, QV and anniversary. The big wing was available on ALL countaches from the 1978 400S...It was an option
Wonderful video again, love these classic car vids! That LP400 was and is the most elegant countach and in that colour, it looks good enough to eat. Thanks for the great vid!
I've owned three X-1/9's . All modified a bit. Went to a track day at summit point with an instructor friend and got a chance to drive an LP400 at the track. It felt like a bigger powerful X-1/9. Bunch of the same bits and bobs..
Incredible machine and excellent content 😎👏🏽
kudos on trying to make the long sleeve black top under a white t-shirt work 😅
If I ever made enough money this car would be one of my ultimate goals. Always enjoyed the way they looked, their Heritage, and their sound
lord almighty that 74 Countach looks so amazing!
Very good video, can't wait for the others.
I remember seeing one of these in Bristol of all places!
About 20 years ago,
I didn't know its such a rare thing!
Yep, hats off to the owner. What a fabulous machine
great to see a review on the original LP400, with the lines that Ghandini originally designed without the flares and spoiler.
That car is a dream, I also had a poster of it during my elementary years back in the mid to late 80’s.
That car truly is a legend of motorsport and has an unimaginable sentimental value to it
Too bad it's kind of trash
Lambo never have entered Motor Sport, especially with the Countach.
🤔 motorsport
Quite a "legend of motorsport" since it was never entered in any race.
I would take this over ANY modern supercar. Bloody gorgeous!
But would you DRIVE it over any modern supercar?
@@McLarenMercedes Yes, modern supercars are no fun at legal speeds, too fast for our crumbling UK roads - more frustrating than fun. All that performance and nowhere to use it. I enjoy the flaws of old cars, I want to experience what 'they' experienced in period.
OMG! I remember seeing this car when I was a Kid, growing up in Bolton. Amazing!!
So refreshing, you never hear much about the early cars! Love these! Just like I love early 911's and 356's! Heck, I guess I love almost any older car tbh... anyway, you lucky ... human being! xD
I remember this comming on sale and I bought carmagazines to read about it. A comparisson test in the German AutoMotorSport springs to mind. They matcht them with an Aston Martin V8 and a Ferrari Belinetta BB. I was a fan of the Aston back then. Probably because of Roger Moore in the persuaders dove an Aston. Damn i'm getting old.
In the late 80's there was a kid who drove a Countach to my High School, it's a wealthy neighborhood.
Most adults struggle to drive one i highly doubt a child was driving one.
@@pegcity4eva Healthy virile 17/18 year olds are more capable than most adults.
Also heart-stoppingly beautiful IMO: the VC-10 in the background at 12:12.
Hopefully Lamborghini is actually going to bring back the Countach
actually they wont... Lamborghini philosophy.... always look forward
@@roverwaters3875 exactly, Like most supercar makers, they evolve.I dunno why people don't understand this....It would be like remaking "Jaws"
@@roverwaters3875 au contraire...the new 2021 Countach was recently released..LPI-800-4... and it's horrid looking
I love the first models without the flared wheel arches and spoilers.
love that sound
Very cool video. What a cool car. Motoring icon. Poster car for many . Currently working of futuristic concepts paying Homage to the Countach, never an easy task when it comes to icons..
The LP400 for mine is the cherry pick of the entire Countach range. There are faster models, but none prettier to my eye.
Retro 80s/90s cars are so trendy at the moment, the want and love for a period full of character, colour, cars and pop culture has never been more obvious than before.
This one's from '71
@@BennyTygohome Yeah forgot to include that, but its real cool in general that should be recognised
Totally agree, I'd love an older nicely kept car than a brand new bland car that looks like everything else on the road
@@BennyTygohome that's funny since they didnt go into production until 1974...the prototype was '71
This countach is purely 70s mate
I remember seeing a black on black version of one of these.. it was in a parking lot with a crowd gathered all around it.. the owner fired up that v12 and goosed it, giving it some serious revs... I can tell you ,the ground shook and the hair on the back of ur neck stood up and you felt it in ur bones!..Thunderous, BIG sound, vicious, visceral and violent like it could eat any car around it for lunch...I believe that engine was a euro spec model and had an aftermarket exhaust and was a quatrovalve ..whatever it was, it was a rare spec model and it had mods... it made this one here sound like a pussycat.. anyway, it left a strong impact in memory!
Amazed that I am now going to have to be the first person to say that the Miura was FAR more beautiful than even this unspoiled, original version of the Countach...
Agreed. This is more dramatic than beautiful.
I love the Countach more but there is no denying, the Miura is the most beautiful Lamborghini ever produced and arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever.
They are 2 different things as different Twins.
The Miura is the most beautiful Classic Car shape (but there are several others "paint" by Pininfarina)...the Countach is an UFO...a Battlestar Starship coming from future (and its name mean shocking in local language).
@@rickhunter6513 agreed!
2:50 that rear wheel arch line is staple of Beritone, the design house behind this car :)
But mainly for Marcello Gandini... as seen on his other works like the Maserati Quattroporte IV or Qvale Mangusta. You can't tell the history of Bertone without Gandini.
THIS IS WHY I WILL ALWAYS BE A LAMBORGHINI FAN BOY !
I don't like concept cars because they hardly make it to the production.... But this car is a living concept.... ❤️
Lovely video
I'm genuinely surprised at how narrow those original rear tires were
They were the biggest tyres you could get, most 70s super cars had 205/70/14 tyres.
For the time they were considered wide tires. They just look narrow compared to the over-the-top monster 12" wide tires later models had. I for one, would MUCH rather have an LP400. From what I've read, the handing is much more predictable, and the overall styling is just classic. None of the added nonsense the later models like the 500SV, and 25th Anniversary versions came with.
@@ShonnDaylee Harry Metcalf drove the LP400 belonging to Simon Kidston for Octane magazine.
@@ShonnDaylee They all have predictable Handling. A 5000 QV torched the XJ220 and Testarossa at a lap at the Eboladrome.
@@adampetten5349 No, they do not all have equal handling characteristics. The huge rear tires have historically lead to twitchy, and unpredictable handling. This is well documented. Furthermore, I'm not sure what your example has to do with anything. The Countach you mentioned was up against other notoriously difficult to handle vehicles. Not to mention, power, and lap times do not equal predictable handling in most cases. The Lancia Stratos won rally championships, but is well known for it's difficult nature, and likelihood of ending up pointing the wrong way, unless driven by an absolute master.
I remember that poster and I also remember the scene at the start of Cannonball Run.
Great review.
One of my very first 1:18 modellcars i had as a kid, black with the big triangle wing on the back.
Absolutely one of a kind, still to this day one of my dreamcars, totally get why Jack couldn´t stop smiling, i´m pretty jealous right now, not gonna lie. 🤤👌
What brand was your 1/18 countach?
@@Danse_Macabre_125 Bburago from Italy
(no, the 2 B´s aren´t a typo 😉)
@@Schmitzelhaus i know, I had like 50 1/43 BBuragos when I was little. Might get the 1/18 BBurago Countach for nostalgia lol
@@Danse_Macabre_125 Hell yeah, do it! They´re really cheap still as well on Ebay. Maybe you even got some spare for the F40, can definitly recommend. 😁👍
@@Schmitzelhaus I'll get one this year (not sure when)
Hmm...no top comments of how Mr Harris should take over Top Gear in comments...
It's probably the magic of the Lamborghini Countach legacy.
He should though but probably declined when he was told the insurance would only let him drive on a airfield at 30mph.
The legendary Bizzarrini V12 😍😍
which they used all the way until the Aventador
That is a supercar. Striking shape, raw power delivery and just oozes class. The Countach, like human beings, got fatter and uglier as it got older. This is the pure form of this design, the original. Love and peace.
speak for yourself mate I'm only getting better with age
@@Kylirr Good one!
Amazing car very agressive cool design
I used to work for Lamborghini of North America and drove a Countach across the country for a magazine test. It was, indeed, amazingly comfortable!
You must be a small dude
I'm 6'2" and it is unbelievable comfortable. Not sure about drive across the country comfortable, but much more comfortabel than my 348 Spider.
First spotted one in 80 or 81 parked on the island of Sylt, Germany from several hundred meters away. It was like seeing a spaceship on wheels. Suggestion for the video: If you are going to film a test drive and say it revs to 8k, at least get it up to 6k.
He missed that the seat rocks, making quite a difference to headroom (I got Ed china into one)
true
Thank you for your valuable time on your Lamborghini video
What a car.. just beautiful
My father has a LP500. He had it fully rebuilt from an elite motorsports workshop, and it performs perfectly! It is a rocket. He had built an all aluminium V12 turbo engine which can be installed in a day, but I don't know a alot about it.
LP500S or LP5000S
@@Tommyblueeyes i think they're the same except it was called 5000 in America and 500 everywhere else
even though i miss the old three musketeers jack rix does a solid job of recounting the legend that is the lambo countach
My grandma owned one, i road in it several. Never experienced anything like it.
Badass grandma
Rich Grandma
What a clean example 😱
I had a picture of one of the later models hanging on my wall when I was 10, that might have also been the last time I would have been able to fit in one.
fantastic!
I saw one of these 70's Countach's without the rear wing many years ago. It was right hand drive and finished in blue.
Love this guy, wish he was in the main top gear
In about 1976 I was 14 and riding with my family down the M4 west of London, when we were passed by a red Countach. It made a huge impression on me. I wonder if this is the very same car? It seems likely, as there were very few Countachs in the UK at that point, and even fewer red ones.
that is the low roof version not the more common later high roof with more room head room
true
What's with the slightly stuttering engine noise? Microphone problems or does it need to visit Iain Tyrrell's Workshop for a bit of tune?
Looks so much like the James Bond Lotus, I never realized just how much 😀😀 that's the esprit turbo not the white esprit so much.
funny u should say that..I think they were both unveiled at the same show
Nice 👍🏻
My favourite Countach, so pure, beautiful and elegant. The 25th Anniversary was the worst. Whoever was responsible should have been jailed by the Italian government for vandalising Gandini's art.
It was done by a man called Horacio Pagani. I think he redemed himself a bit though.
It feels so weird seeing the original countach without the big useless wing on the back, it almost feels naked cos to me that wing was such a major part of this car's crazy looks
The wing was an optional extra for 5grand at the time...You could order ANY countach all the way up to the anniversary without the wing
Some cars become icons, not just because they were fast or pretty. The Countach, rightly so, is probably the most iconic one of all in motoring history. Marcelo Gandini will forever be remembered for this, if nothing else.
Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's this pub in Hull by the marina. For a few years in a row Hull had this freedom festival over a summer weekend. The queue at the bar would be six people deep for the whole weekend. The landlord told me he took a quarter of a million from that weekend every year. Then, after the second year, he had a Lambo just like this one.
Incredible design
I'd happily have one even though I am just on 6'.
Absolutely beautiful...still
Am just here for the pop up lights ... thank you
ill be on my way
9:35 my heart BREAKS for that 747 retrojet in the background!! Taken before it's time!! 😭😭😭
i love the backwards left hand key start lol
only car ive ever seen where you turn the key towards you very wierd .
There's a Countach parked inside a glass display box in North Vancouver. It's adjacent to a public beach and I'm always sitting there oggling it instead of doing beach things.
I imagine that you’d need an extra/different mirror to look out of the periscopio window 😅
You can fit a rear mounted camera instead
I don't think Marcello Gandini ever designed an ugly car. He was pure artist. There was the Lamborghini Miura, Countach, and the Lamborghini Diablo, the first-generation BMW 5 Series (E12), the Lancia Stratos sports car, the Maserati Khamsin and many many others. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcello_Gandini
the Diablo he designed originally was quite ugly...
The production Diablo was reworked by Chrysler's design department
I do remember the kids with the Countach-posters weren’t really car-nerds, the hardcore car kids had others, Bmw’s, 205T16, Alfas etc
lol
One of the best looking car ever have been made ..
my favourite bit of countach trivia is that the slowest version of it is about equal to the quickest pt cruiser 0-60 (to within a tenth of a second anyways)
Not this one. Autosport tested it at 0-100 in 5.4 and 200 in 18.7. The PT Cruiser has a top speed of 200, and a 0-100 of 7.3. The Prowler would be very comparable to slower Countachs though.
@@adampetten5349 according to www.zeroto60times.com/compare-cars/
the 76 LP400 Countach and 06 Cruiser GT are both 6.8 to 60, but the Countach has a full second on it to the quarter mile
LP400 0-60 in 5.6 tested by Motor magazine in 1975
I recall seeing a powder-blue car on the ferry to France from England in 1973 or 1975. Didn't know what it was but it clearly (hindsight!) must have been one of the earliest Lambos.
Powder blue would have been a Walter Wolf special?
Wait a second! You showed us the interior of an Italian supercar and left out the extremely well used and over sized ashtray?
As an italian smoker growing up with a father smoking a shitload of cigs, there is no such thing as an over sized car ashtray
Too small, has to be emptied more than once in 25 years
7:29 The 3 piece door windows were also a compromise due to lack money for development, 2:34 a 2 piece design was originally proposed.
3:50 The 4 liter displacement was also a compromise as the car was intended with a 5 liter engine capacity from the start. lack of funds for development...
3:18 these taillights were also a compromise, borrowed from Alfa Romeo.
5:33 Actually the seats also have a tilt function and the steering column is adjustable telescopically,
The 5 liter overheated and blew up during development. That's the reason they went to larger radiators which necessitated the addition of the snorkels. But yeah, in the end they resorted to using the 4 litre engine from the Miura and it took a few more years to switch to a 5 litre engine, which funnily enough made the same power in its 24 valve incarnation. Other trivia: the roof corners just above the snorkels where the thin vent slots can be found are a known stress point and crack sometimes appear in that region. Oh, and although this was very much Bob Wallace's baby (it is rumoured he didn't even want a/c in the car to deter poseur buyers), Valentino Balboni has claimed that the spaceframe chassis on the early cars was apparently not of the same quality as in later cars, but given financial situation the company was in they'd just deliver them to customers hoping they wouldn't notice. Also, there's the story of the Piedmontese technician who saw the prototype and exclaimed "Countach! Che bella machina!", which is how the car got its name. And the rumour that apart from drawing from his previous Cárabo and Stratos Zero designs, Gandini was influenced by the Lola T70. Also the fact the LP400 and Series 1 LP400S cars were 3" lower at the roofline than later cars, and much, much lighter (impressively so, even today. Close to Macca F1 / Pagani Zonda weight, if I remember correctly, but of course the cars with the carbon fibre chassis are much more rigid).
make more vids like this!
This is still the best looking of the series. The later cars looked like they went through the JC Whitney Catalog and ordered all the Ugly Bits to add on.
Beautiful