Lamborghini Rebuilt The Original Countach Prototype
Now the Countach LP 500 is for sale.
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The original Lamborghini Countach is back 50 years after changing the course of automotive history.
The Raging Bull’s in-house restoration team, Polo Storico, has just unveiled an inch-perfect recreation of the LP 500 prototype that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1971. And to make sure it got everything just right, the division spent over 25,000 hours faithfully recreating every single aspect of the car from the ground up.
It’s difficult to overstate the Countach’s impact on the supercar world. With a wide stance and its signature angular wedge profile, Lamborghini’s “idea car” broke new ground in supercar design. To be sure, the design elements were controversial at the time, but they were then adopted by countless automakers in the decades since, and the Countach would go on to become one of the most iconic cars of the ‘70s and ’80s.
Lamborghini’s Geneva show car may be one of the most important vehicles of the last-half century but it wasn’t long for this world. In fact, it was scarified for crash-testing purposes in 1974, according to the Italian marque. But the car was given a second chance at life in 2017, when an unnamed classic car aficionado contacted the brand about building another one. He wasn’t interested in a restomod that looked like the original, he wanted an exact replica both inside and out.
So, the Polo Storico team set out to build just that. They pored over original build documents, closely analyzed all the contemporaneous photos they could and utilised computer scanning technology to ensure they captured every detail. Original parts were used whenever possible and when none could be found, they were fabricated from scratch. No corners were cut: Everything from its unique chassis to the drivetrain and the car’s Pirelli Cinturato CN12 tires come from the original LP 500 prototype. Its sheet metal body is even coated in the same yellow hue, Giallo Fly Speciale.
The rebuilt Countach LP 500 will make its public debut at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, Italy this weekend. No pricetag has been placed on the rebuild, but we expect it will be far north of the approx. $3.62 million that the recently announced Aventador-based Countach LPI 800-4 hybrid goes for. But a brand-new Countach might just be worth it.
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