If you were a kid in the 80s and early 90s, there was only one supercar that mattered (and was on every kid’s bedroom wall): the Lamborghini Countach. And it’s back.
Lamborghini (VWAGY) is reviving the most famous name in its stable — one that is arguably the most renown name in modern Italian motoring, and one that also influenced the design of many Lamborghini's after it: the Diablo, the Murciélago, and the Aventador. And in case you didn’t know, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the original Countach.
Debuting at Pebble Beach on Friday, the familiar wedge shape remains, one that is distinctly Countach looking but modernized with the current styling language of the brand.
“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,” says Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini CEO. “It upholds the Lamborghini tradition of looking forward, of exploring new design and technology avenues while celebrating the DNA of our brand.”
Like the original Countach, there is no fixed rear wing, and those signature side air-scoops remain, as do the Countach's distinctive slatted "gills" near the C-pillar.
Sitting behind the driver, just as in current Lamborghini sports cars, is the engine — but it has a little trick. The monstrous 6.5 liter V-12 engine is positioned longitudinally in the car like other Lamborghini sports cars, but directly bolted onto its gearbox is a 48 volt e-motor — making this Countach a hybrid.
If this setup sounds familiar, it’s because this is the same hybrid system pulled from the Sián supercar. Instead of a battery, this hybrid system uses a supercapacitor to store and expend electrical energy.
Combined, the engine and e-motor produce 814 cv (approximately 802 hp), with the engine producing 780 cv and electric motor 34 cv, all driven through Lamborghini’s permanent four-wheel drive transmission. Lamborghini says the Countach will hit 0-62 mph in 2.8 seconds, with a top speed of around 220 mph.
Lamborghini intends to make only 112 units of the Countach, and no price was given at release. Given that the Sián started at around $2.6 million, we have to imagine the Countach might be slightly more than that.
It will be a dear price to pay, but one that deep-pocketed Countach fans reared in the synth-pop days of the '80s may find hard to ignore.
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Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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