Countach; Race Against Time!

Countach LPI 800_4; Race Against Time!

 Automobili Lamborghini, the Italian automobile marque shocked every auto enthusiasts during the 1971 Geneva auto-show by taking wraps off their first ever ‘awkward’ looking car, which turned to be most iconic one, the Countach. Designed under the leadership of the chief engineer Paolo Stanzini and his team of magnificent engineers, Countach was the successor of Miura, the most beautiful Italian car. Even though Countach was the successor of the Miura, the design was not widely accepted by the public and it was considered as a weird concept. Not their bad the design of the Countach was the first of its kind as I said in the Aventador’s post. The negligence was not taken to account by the automaker and the awkward design of Countach was given life by the leadership of Paolo Stanzini and his team, and it was developed under the code-name ‘LP 112’. Stanzini was joined by the test driver Bob Wallance, assistant engineer Massimo Parenti and designer Marcello Gandini to start the task of bringing the awkward design into life, the Countach was known for the angular ‘Italian wedge’ shape. The Countach, even though was an awkward car of its time, came with many features like the scissor doors and NA(Naturally Aspirated) V12 engines. The later cars which came after the Countach bid goodbye to the automobile market was heavily inspired by their great father the Countach. The scissor doors later became the signature elements of Lamborghini models and the naturally aspirated V12 engine became the common heart for the Lamborghini performance cars. Countach bid goodbye to the world in the year 1990, and until then about 2000 units rolled out of the factory and that said people began recognizing the value of Countach.

Fifty years later in 2021 accurately few weeks ago there was big news which made petrolheads and super-car enthusiasts like us excited like hell. ACR designs rendered their concept of the new Countach which really let the spark off and discussion forums and petrolhead groups began to fill with new Countach. The initial renders were really similar in shape to that of the classic icon then again after a few weeks two new images of the upcoming Countach began trending on social media. The new images contained an old font “Countach” writing on it and an “LPI 800_4” named fuel-cap. This helped the fire to burn faster and stronger. Finally in 13 th august 2021 the Countach LPI 800_4 braked its cover in the presence of the CEO Stephen Winkelmann and the Mitja Borkert, the dad of new LPI 800_4, ending all the anticipations and predictions, at the Monterey Car Week which is ongoing now. Yeah as my brother KRN Speed said; “there is something new and iconic for the 21 st century petrolheads to hang on in their bedrooms and dream for it!”.

Countach LPI 800_4 the mid-engined hybrid-electric two seater sports car, “Inspired By the Past, Made For the Future” is accurately captioned, inspired from the LP 112 and designed from both LP 112 and new Sian FKP37. The new Countach is having minor cosmetic changes which are timely but sadly never matches with the old one. The chief designer Mitja Borkert took the LP 112 Countach as the main study material for the design of LPI 800_4 Countach, he also took the new Sian FKP37 as another new age inspiration. The name Countach, which is named after Countach LP 122 the icon, has broken the nomenclature system of Lamborghini instead of being a bull the Countach means “Plague”. And the new LPI stands for the “Longitudinale Posteriore Ibrido”, which means longitudinally placed engine with electric hybrid technology and the 800_4 stands for producing 800 Horsepower. The front fascia of the new LPI 800_4 is really similar to that of the old LP112. The sleek front nose really matches with the LP 112, and is integrated with a thin air-dam. As you look face to face with the LPI 800-4 there is a small name badge on the left side of the central air dam. The name badge is written “COUNTACH” and is given the old font styling, which reminds us of the LP 112. On the Front lip cum skid plate is another air intake which one both ends are sculpted out and separated somewhere just reminds me of the new Huracan STO. The horizontal front fascia is really resembling the old Countach. Up in the hood or technically the “froot”, as Vivekji says there are two character lines, projecting out in the white color, on either side of the hood scoop. The two character lines sharp and minimal, emerges from the top of the hood and merges out in the front nose. On the hood there is a small air intake aka the hood scoop which feels like a small tear on paper but efficiently does the job. Another main attraction on the front end is the headlamp unit, the negative point is that it is not pop up just like that in the old Countach. The trapezoidal headlamp unit is placed elegantly on either sides of the hood. The headlamps, even though are not pop up kind, are placed deep inside the sloppy  hood so as to give the feel of a popup headlamp. There are three lamps on the headlamp unit with two lights and one DRL strip. The ‘light house’ is outlined and slanted off so as to give an angry face. On the top of the front air dam sits the badge of the raging bull. The portion were the windscreen wipers sit is blacked out so as to give an endless feel. Overall the front-end is given an angry aggressive fascia with sculpted hood and nose ends. 

Side profile is emphasized by the hexagonal wheel arch which houses the massive wheels with 20 inch on the front and 21 on the rear. The tyres are so sleek that the blends in with the alloys. The diamond cut thin and powerful alloys are given a dual tone finish. The outline is given a silver- white combination and inside portion is blacked out, absolute beauty and the rims are strengthened by circular holders on the inside which are also finished in black, look closely if you want to see it!. Alloy wheel design is so clean that the disc of the dual hydraulic circuit braking system with vacuum brake booster; front and rear CCB along with the 6-cylinder brake calipers, 4-cylinder brake calipers, can be easily seen. Another striking part on the massive NACA Duct that sits on the sides which feeds the V12 with enough air for function. The NACA duct on the LPI 800_4 is exponentially bigger than that minuscule NACA duct on the old iconic one and the duct is finished in black all the way through and that makes it stand out in the white body color and gives you an aggressive appeal. The window line is sculpted out with sharp cuts and creases, making the car more aggressive. The mirrors are placed on the both sides elegantly and they are finished in black, is integrated with LED turning indicators and look familiar too. The side view mirrors are taken from the other raging bulls like the Aventador and Sian FKP37. The shoulder line is pretty much similar to that of Aventador and other models. The design and finish is just aggressive and the door panels are given black finish along with a small triangular separation on the front end. The shoulder line raises up like a wave as it reaches the rear end. The window line becomes narrow as it reaches rear and it merges out with the tail end. On the B pillar there are five small gills which are actually air ducts and they pave way to a big opening a duct at the rear end of the shoulder line, the new Countach, its all about aerodynamics. The side-skirt is placed on the very bottom and is projecting out a bit to get an aggressive appeal. The Periscopio Lines over the Rear Deck; and the Air Scoops that sit over the Rear Arches are all designed by taking lessons from the original Countach model.

The shoulder line merges out as it reaches the rear end. The rear end is instantaneously similar to that of the limited edition Sian FKP37. On the rear end, which is finished taking lessons from the Sian, is thus pretty similar to it. The horizontal rear end is thin on the center and opens wide as it reaches both ends. The rear is highlighted by 5 black, hexagonal glass engine compartment lids, which also acts as a design element along with the roof finished with electrochromic glass. The main point of attraction on the rear end is the quad LED Hexagonal 3D tail lamp units placed perfectly on the opening, highly inspired from the Sian FKP37. Right at the center sits the “LAMBORGHINI” name badge finished in chrome sleek and classic. The surrounding portion beneath the logo is finished in black and the rear wing which is fixed make the rear end look badass!. There are 2 air vents on just below the tail lamps on either sides, the new LPI 800_4 is not compromising on aero. On the central bottom panel sits the air dam where the license plate s placed. The air dam is also given black in contrast to the white body color. Another massive highlight on the rear end is the quad-exhaust pipes sitting right at the center, the place where this beast spits flame!. The quad-exhaust pipes are divided by the exhaust cover which covers the erection of exhaust pipes thus making it clean rear tail. From the side profile the rear end is more like a thin tail which is heavily inspired from the Sian FKP36. 

Overall the new Countach LPI 800_4 looks pretty much like the old godfather the LP 112. The catchy misses include the signature popup headlamps and iconic tail end. The new iteration is pretty well designed making the necessary timely changes which for the bad side affects the total image created by the old but gold LP112.

The doors of the new Countach is not similar to that of the old one, in the old one the doors opens straight up and in the new one opens out and up just like that in the Aventador and others. The new Countach is completely different from the cockpit of the old LP112 and is completely similar to the Sian FKP37. The cockpit, finished with candy red and carbon fibre is extravagantly beautiful. In the cockpit, the front dash, seats and the door pads are given red leather finish with white outline stitching along with carbon fibre accents. The X white stitching pattern embroidered around the edge of the upper deck of the dashboard is giving out a checkered flag pattern making you hungry to take this beast to the place where it belongs, the track!. The remaining portion of the upper deck is given black in contrast with the red and it really compliments to the aggressive styling. The AC vents are highlighted with black in the red leather dashboard. The AC vents, finished in hexagonal shape is placed on both sides and the center, the center AC vent is divided by the black covering. There are carbon fibre accents on the top portion of the lower deck of the dashboard and that carbon fibre strip creates an outline for the AC vent region, well executed. Down below the AC vents is the infotainment screen placed well with the carbon fibre exterior covering. The Italian folks have incorporated a rugged looking sci-fi infotainment system and

the central console is basically like a fighter jet cockpit with many different switches arranged down the center console, and the central console is finished in carbon fibre with candy red leather upholstery outlines. And there, at the end of the console sits the ignition key which is pretty similar as we have seen this in almost every other Lambos. The hand rests are made extra comfortable with alcantara material finish. The door pads are integrated with window and mirror control switches and they are placed perfectly in the carbon fibre finished pads. The door pads also have double curve stitching done perfectly in contrast with the overall interior theme. The seats as said are finished with candy red and the stitching bordering and the inner embroideries are with horizontal white linings and a single long vertical line cutting all of them, the seats are done in white and the bolsters are given carbon fibre stripes which again completely matches with the interior theme. The head rests are decorated by the logo of the raging bull which is embroidered elegantly with white strings. The drivers seat is reminding you of the huge responsibility of handling a huge beast. The main point of control is the steering wheel. The steering wheel is pretty clean and boxy without any kind of buttons or controls so as to keep the driver focused and, with an old school inspired steering wheel which is finished with carbon fibre and leather. The three

spokes of the steering wheel is finished in carbon fibre and the other remaining parts are given an artigo leather finish. The digital meter console is also placed inside a carbon fibre finished cavity which is also given red leather accents on the upper and side portions. On the center of the steering wheel sits the raging bull with the signature Lamborghini color combination. The X white embroidery and the Italian flag on the bottom spoke of the steering wheel are carved out perfectly with small attention to details. The meter console surrounded with carbon fibre is designed pretty futuristic way. The roof is also given leather upholstery in black and white embroidery works are done elegantly to make it look classy. On the top there are two sun visors and there right at the centre sits the button for the door controls. The roof is given glass finish at the central area in contrast with the exterior design elements and there is a hexagonal carbon fibre plate written “SUPER CAP” placed in the space between the two seats dual horizontal white stitching is also incorporated perfectly which generates a techno futuristic feels.

Overall the interior is pretty minimalist and clean, filled with red leather and carbon fibre accents all over yet comfortable, a perfect place to be in!. the steering wheel and the meter console along with the central infotainment screen adapted from the Sian FKP37 all together makes it techy and futuristic.

This Italian beast is powered by the iconic 6.5L V12 Multi Point Injection Internal Combustion engine coupled with an electric super-capacitor together spitting out 814HP power and 720NM torque. And the engine, adapted from the Sian FKP37, sounds so WILD!There the IC engine, 6.5L Naturally aspirated V12 produces almost 770HP and the 48V Hybrid electric super-capacitor produces about 34HP and 35NM. Now this monstrous combo is mated to a 7 speed ISR (Independent Shifting Rods) single clutch gearbox, this beasty drivetrain makes the 0-100 acceleration in about 2.8 seconds.

The exceptional combination of the Lamborghini Dynamic and Rear-wheel Steering systems enables the Countach LPI 800-4 to deliver top-level, dynamic performance with greater agility at low speeds and optimum stability and control at higher speeds. The new Countach LPI 800-4 has an all-wheel drive system optimized to work specifically with all the new dynamic systems, in particular the Rear-wheel Steering. When grip is otherwise reduced, this innovative system provides excellent performance, assuring the driver of maximum reliability from the Pirelli P Zero tires And the chassis of the new LPI 800_4 is monocoque finished in carbon fibre except the front and rear aluminum plates. Also the new Countach is pretty safe place to be in, equipped with front dual stage driver airbag and front adaptive passenger airbag; seats with side “head-thorax” airbags; knee airbags in selected markets. Now this extraordinary icon is available at a price of $2M-$3M. 

So coming to a verdict on the all new Countach LPI 800_4, the new Countach which is the spiritual successor of the old Countach LP112 is almost similar to the old one as we see it from the front side, with small, but very much timely cosmetic tweaks which ended up in loosing some of the signatures of the LP112, but the rear profile is a copy of the Sian FKP37 with small tweaks. The interior is pretty minimalist and is also extremely similar to Sian FKP37. The new Countach is inspired from the past and made for the future. The new Countach is not a carbon copy of the old one but is pretty cheerful for the 21 st century petrolheads. The new one also carries the low lying aggressive stance of other raging bulls and this is hybrid-electric. Amazing piece of artwork which is really ready for the  race against time!.

So this is all about the all new Countach LPI 800_4! See you again with another post another day!, Adios! Thank you! Follow me on Instagram @petrofestauto. Special shutout to my brother KR Narayanan @krn_speed for your valuable suggestions!