1976 Lamborghini Countach LP400

Details

What a fabulous way to start 2023!

Oldtimer Australia is excited to offer for sale an Australian delivered, factory right hand drive Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘periscopio’.

Lamborghini only built 150 of the original Countach LP400 from 1974 – 1978, of which it is understood that only 22 were factory right hand drive.

According to the Lamborghini factory records, this car was completed on the 14^th of October 1976 and its original colour scheme was ‘giallo fly’ (yellow) with a ‘nero’ (black) interior. It was imported new into Australia by then distributor Tony DeFina and is one of only seven Countach LP400’s sold new in Australia. There was an eighth car that was sold new into Switzerland that found its way to Australia very early in its life.

This car was sold new to Mr Brian Woo from St Ives in Sydney. The ‘Certificato Di Garanzia’ (warranty card) is dated 22nd October 1976. The car was displayed alongside a silver Silhouette and a silver Urraco P300 on then Lamborghini agent Lolita Automobile Developments stand at the 1978 Sydney Motor Show. There is a photo of the car at the show on file.

It is understood the next owners were a couple from Dapto, just south of Wollongong in NSW. They lived on a rural property and the car was kept in their lounge room! The car was then sold to a well known Sydney businessman in May 1989. At that time the car had travelled 10,800 km.

Unfortunately, the Countach suffered a major engine failure at Eastern Creek in the early to mid 1990’s. The car then sat in storage and was displayed in the Harris Street Motor Museum in Darling Harbour (Sydney) for many years, minus its engine.

The current owner, who had previously owned one of the other Australian delivered Countach LP400’s, acquired the car in 2002, with the odometer at c14,000 km. He had always regretted selling his first Countach and when the opportunity presented itself for him to acquire this car he jumped at the chance.

His first job was to get the car back on the road and he immediately commenced the journey to have the engine rebuilt. The work was completed by Lamborghini specialists, Rose Bay Autos in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

The car was repainted in 2003 and then it was reunited with its freshly rebuilt engine.In the next few years the car was used sparingly and then kept as a static display in a private Sydney collection.

This is an incredibly original car with a genuine 14,835 km on the odometer. Unlike most of the Australian delivered cars, this example has never been modified to ‘S’ specification. It has a known history from new with full books and tools.

Today the car presents exceptionally well. The yellow paintwork is immaculate and the external trim is similarly well presented. The original Campagnolo magnesium wheels have been replaced in favour of new Roin alloy wheels and they are shod with a fresh set of correct Michelin XWX tyres all around.

The interior is incredibly original and beautifully preserved. You will note from the photos that the car has been fitted with a reversing camera, which could be easily removed.

Accompanying the car is its original book set, including the warranty card, service book and other documentation in a factory leather pouch, some historical documentation, old registration documents, a number of period photos, spare wheel, tool kit (original and unique to the LP400) and jack.

Given the car has not been started for many years, it will require recommissioining.

With only 14,835 km on the odometer this Countach LP400 is a real ‘time capsule’.

The Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘periscopio’ is a true world market collector grade car and spoken about alongside the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, Ferrari 275 GTB, Aston Martin DB5 and Lamborghini Miura as ‘must haves’ for any serious high end car collection.

The opportunity to acquire a Lamborghini Countach doesn’t come along very often. The opportunity to purchase this Australian delivered, factory right hand drive Lamborghini Countach LP400 is a once in a life time opportunity.

Price: Enquire.

 

Background

The Lamborghini story is fascinating in itself but for the company to have survived all these years and indeed to be celebrating its 60^th Anniversary in 2013 is quite amazing. Ferruccio Lamborghini was an entrepreneur, a very successful businessman and a lover of the finer things in life, including sports cars. He was fortunate enough to own some wonderful cars including Ferraris, however, he found fault with them all. According to the legend, following a meeting with Enzo Ferrari to discuss some of the shortcomings of his cars, Enzo dismissed Ferruccio and he subsequently decided that he could and would build a better car.

Not long after, in May 1963, Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SPA was established and the small town of Sant’Agata Bolognese, located between Modena and Bologna, was chosen as the location to build the factory. Born under the Zodiac sign Taurus, Lamborghini chose the raging bull as the emblem for his sports cars.

Lamborghini knew what he wanted and he put together a highly skilled team. His first car, the 350 GTV, was shown at the Turin Motor Show in October 1963. This car received mixed reviews, however, Lamborghini was not deterred and made a number of improvements and design changes to the original concept. The first Lamborghini production car, the 350 GT, left the factory in 1964.

The 350 GT evolved into the 400 GT 2+2 and later the Islero. In parallel to building these classic front engine V12 GT cars, Lamborghini wanted to build a supercar. Enter the Miura, which was first shown as a rolling chassis at the Turin Motor Show in November 1965. Fast track to the 1966 Geneva Motor Show and the stunning Bertone designed Miura was officially released to critical acclaim. The Miura is considered by many to be the first real ‘supercar’. The first model was known as the P400, followed by the P400S introduced in 1969 and the P400SV which was introduced in 1971. Even though the Miura was a great success it was starting to show its age.

Under the project name LP112, chief engineer Paolo Stanzani and his staff began working on a successor to the Miura in 1970. For this project, he collaborated with test driver Bob Wallace, assistant engineer Massimo Parenti and designer Marcello Gandini of Bertone.

Ferruccio Lamborghini had a preference for Grand Tourers, but he recognized there was a real market for uncompromising sports cars. He gave the development team his approval to push the boundaries even further than what they had done while designing the Miura.

The first prototype, designated LP500, was first shown to the world at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. The prototype Countach shocked the world. Surely ‘just another show car’ they said. The Miura was a tough act to follow and Bertone’s design team pushed the boundaries to create what is today one of the most recognisable shapes on the planet! The word ‘Countach’ is a slang exclamation of astonishment in Piedmontese, a northern Italian dialect. This expletive was uttered when one of Bertone’s design team members was building a scale model of the car . . . and it stuck! The Countach became reality when the first production car rolled off the Sant’ Agata production line in 1974.

The original LP400 was replaced by the LP400S in 1978. The “S” model had the wide wheel arches and uprated suspension to accommodate the massive Pirelli P7 tyres / Campagnolo wheel rims along with other subtle improvements. In 1982 the LP500S (also referred to as the LP5000S) was introduced. The major change here was the increased engine capacity from 3929cc to 4754cc. The Countach continued to evolve and in 1985 the LP5000 Quattrovalvole (or “QV”) was introduced. With the “QV” the engine was improved again, bored and stroked to 5.2 litres (5,167 cc) and given four valves per cylinder (quattrovalvole in Italian). The final variant of the Countach, the 25^th Anniversary, was released in 1988. The 25^th Anniversary variant was celebrating Lamborghini’s 25^th anniversary as an automobile manufacturer. The bodywork of its predecessor, the LP5000 QV was redesigned by Horacio Pagani, the creator of the Pagani Zonda. There are about 500 subtle changes and improvements found on the 25^th Anniversary compared to the LP5000 QV.

The Lamborghini Countach is in our opinion THE first supercar and it was an incredible success with circa 2,000 cars built. Production spanned an amazing 17 years from 1974 to 1990.

The ultimate Countach is the first production model, the LP400 ‘periscopio’. Lamborghini only built 150 of the original Countach LP400’s, of which it is understood that 22 were factory right hand drive. There were seven cars delivered new to Australia.

---