1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400

Production of the Lamborghini Countach lasted from 1974 through 1990 with 1,983 examples built during that time. Its styling was by Marcello Gandini at Bertone and fine-tuned by Paolo Stanzani. Horacio Pagani was responsible for the styling features of the 25th Anniversary edition.

Lamborghini's mid-engine Miura had shocked the automotive community upon its arrival in the mid-1960s and its replacement would have to build upon that enthusiasm and greatness. At the close of the 1960s, many rivals have begun to match the Miura's charisma, style, and performance, which prompted Lamborghini to bring about a worthy replacement.

Chief engineer Paolo Stanzani began work on the Miura successor in 1970 under the project name 'LP112.' The work included input from a number of individuals including assistant engineer Massimo Parent, designer Marcello Gandini of Bertone, and test driver Bob Wallace.

Styling

The prototype version of the Countach was designated LP500 and first shown to the public in 1971 at the Geneva Motor Show. Just like the Miura, it altered the definition of a supercar as its outrageous appearance flagrantly shunned user-friendliness in favor of sheer shock and awe with its impossibly wide wedge-shaped bodywork, scissor doors, and angular lines. Its name was equally flamboyant, originating from the contacc and representing an exclamation of astonishment in the Piedmontese language.

The styling was by Marcello Gandini of Bertone design studio who had also designed the Countach's predecessor, the Miura. The Countach's refined form and shape represented years of experimentation with angular and geometric designs, applied to a series of concept cars for Lancia, Alfa Romeo, and Lamborghini. Direct styling precursors to the Countach included the Alfa Romeo Carabo of 1968 and the Lancia Stratos Zero. Like the Countach, they had unconventional methods for entry and egress, mid-engine configuration, a low, flat front, angular details, and a wedge shape. They were wide, low, and short in length. The Countach incorporated trapezoidal shapes throughout the body, including the side windows, door openings, engine covers, taillights, hood, and windshield. Side-mounted radiators with louvered vents positioned behind the side windows funneled air to the engine. These radiators and vents were quickly proven to be inadequate to cool the potent powerplant, prompting alterations to the design. Pre-production testing prompted additional alterations to improve high-speed stability, aerodynamic efficiency, and to comply with mandated safety requirements. Thus, there were numerous differences between the LP500 prototype and the production LP400.

The most visual change from the prototype to the production version was the addition of several vents, called NACA ducts, to help cool the engine. They spanned the doors and rear wings on each side, and protruding air intakes boxes replaced the louvered vents behind the side windows. To reduce excessive front-end downforce, the slope of the nose was made shallower. The side windows inset with small trapezoidal glass sections on the prototype were changed to horizontally-split two-piece windows with a retractable lower half on the production version. Behind the side windows, small windows were added to aid in rearward visibility.

Interior

The extravagant and mesmerizing design of the exterior was equally as futuristic on the interior, with design sketches incorporating an all-digital readout, aircraft or spaceship-inspired warning lights located centrally on the steering column, within the arc of the steering wheel, and an on-board diagnostic system. The dashboard design was not ready by the time of its debut, so the LP500 prototype received a conventional analog speedometer and tachometer. It did receive the warning lights on the steering column, with one of them functioning similarly to a modern cruise control system, illuminating when a set speed was surpassed. A periscope was integrated into the passenger compartment roof to aid in the poor rearward visibility. Donnelly Mirrors had first developed this periscope system from an ESV (Experimental Safety Vehicle) project. There were deeply recessed bucket seats, a single-spoke steering wheel, and scissor doors. The poor rearward visibility, low seating position, scissor doors, and wide sills made reversing a difficult task, especially with low ceilings that were not accomodating to the open scissor doors.

Chassis

The LP500 Countach prototype used an all-steel partial space frame with steel sheet and square-section steel tubing, with stamped and spot-welded sheet steel used for the front section. Stamped ribs and welded reinforcement panels were used for additional stiffness and rigidity, and the rear section was comprised almost entirely of square-section tubing with diagonal bracing and multiple cross-members. Sheet steel and tubing extended through the center of the frame, around the central transmission tunnel and along the door sills.

Marchesi of Modena constructed the prototype chassis and weighed approximately 70 pounds heavier than the Miura's chassis, due partially to the lightening holes in the Miura, along with the extra durability required for pre-production testing.

Testing brought about further chassis improvements, including a full space frame constructed of welded round-section steel tubing replacing the prototype's steel sheet and square tube construction. This design, similar to the ones used in Formula One, was more complex and required welded assembly of cross-braced tubular frames with sheet metal gussets for reinforcement. The benefit was its increased stiffness and its weight of 198 pounds, nearly 40 pounds less than the prototypes.

This new chassis design was used for a second prototype and subsequent production cars with only minor changes. The bodies of the production vehicles were primarily formed from unstressed conventional aluminum alloy panels. The production vehicles had slightly thicker aluminum panels (1.5mm vs 1-1.2mm thickness of the prototype) and were fabricated by Bertone. Thin steel frames welded to the main chassis provided support for the panels, which were hand-formed by factory workers once in place.

The LP400 wore the all-aluminum body while later versions of the Countach received fiberglass and carbon composite bodies.

Engine

The engine selection was simple, as Lamborghini had just the V12 which had been developed in-house. Since its inception, the company has had two generations of V12 engines and both have been developed by their engineers. The engine powering their early vehicles was a sixty-degree V12 petrol unit that initially displaced 3,465 cubic centimeters (211.4 cubic inches) and powered the 350GT. It would remain in use for nearly fifty years, eventually growing to 6.5-liters. The quad-cam engine was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini and initially offered 280 brake horsepower.

For the Miura, the engine was transversely-mounted while the engine in the Countach was longitudinally-mounted, making it a first for a road-going V12 (this configuration had been used on the Ferrari P-series racing cars). The Lamborghini engine had a unique setup, however, as chief engineer Paolo Stanzani placed the output shaft at the front of the engine, immediately connecting through the clutch assembly to the transmission. This relocated the mass of the transmission away from the rear of the car, improving upon the vehicle's weight distribution.

Mounted in the middle of the car, between the two seats, the transmission was a five-speed manual with Porsche-type synchromesh. The engine was located between the transmission and the rear-mounted differential. A driveshaft connected the transmission to the differential through the engine's oil sump.

Along with weight distribution improvements, this configuration allowed for a shorter overall wheelbase than the Miura, better cooling, easier maintenance access to engine components, place more mass near the car's center, increased stability, and a more direct gear-shift linkage for easier and faster shifting.

Initially, plans for a five-liter version of the Bizzarrini-designed engine would power the Countach. This was selected so horsepower would equal or exceed the output of the Miura SV (374 horsepower), and a 3.9-liter version had offered upwards of 434 horsepower in the experimental P400 Jota. This engine, however, was not suitable for normal city driving and was expensive to manufacture. It was hoped that the 5-liter unit would develop approximately 440 horsepower at 7,400 RPM. Beginning with a conventional 3.9-liter engine block, engineers increased its size to 5-liters and added numerous lightweight castings made from Elektron. It was installed in the Countach LP500 prototype but was destroyed during a road test in 1971 with Bob Wallace behind the wheel. For the remainder of the pre-production testing, the LP500 prototype used a 3.9-liter version of the V12, as did the first production examples.

The engine powering the LP400 was rated at 370 horsepower at 8,000 RPM, less than that produced by the Miura SV. The Miura used down-draft carburetors while the Countach was fitted with side-draft Weber 45 DCOE carbs.

Engine displacement eventually grew to 4.8-liter (4,754cc) in the 1982 LP500S, and then to 5.2-liters (5,167cc) with four valves per cylinder in the LP500 Quattrovalvole of 1985. Except for the LP5000 QV which some used Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, all variants of the Countach were equipped with six Weber carburetors.

Prototypes

Lamborghini created three prototypes of the Countach including the LP500 that was shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, the second Countach prototype (chassis number 1120001) was shown to the public at the 1973 Geneva Motor Show, and the final prototype (chassis number 1120002) that appeared at the 1974 Geneva Motor Show. Only the final example was constructed entirely in the Lamborghini factory, except for the chassis built by Marchesi.

The LP500 had numerous styling and mechanical differences compared to the production LP400. It was finished in bright yellow bodywork and its styling was very similar to Gandini's original design for the car, receiving a few modifications during testing, mostly to improve engine cooling. Its original 5.0-liter engine was destroyed and it later received a 3.9-liter unit. The LP500 prototype was later destroyed in a crash test at the MIRA facility in England to gain European-type approval. This test resulted in approval, despite being the prototype being very different than the production vehicles.

The second prototype was painted red for the 1973 Geneva Motor Show and green for the 1973 Paris Motor Show. Its bodywork had the NACA ducts and air intake boxes, incorporating a blend of styling cues from the prototype and several that would later be seen on the production versions. It had the trapezoidal windows, recessed grille, and bumperless nose as the prototype, and even though it was described as an 'LP500', it was equipped with a 3.9-liter engine. It was the first car to use the tubular full spaceframe chassis.

Lamborghini displayed the third prototype at the 1974 Geneva Motor Show. it wore bright yellow paintwork, a three-panel design for its side windows, was 5.1-inches longer than the previous prototype which increased the interior space, and the wheel arch shape was slightly altered to eliminate rubbing from the rear tires. Conventional gauges manufactured by Stewart-Warner replaced the electronic diagnostic display from the first prototype, and the thickness of the body sheet metal increased from 1.2mm to 1.5mm.

Lamborghini Countach Production Models

The prototype was known as the LP500, with the 'LP' being an abbreviation of the Italian 'longitudinale posteriore,' meaning 'longitudinal rear.' The '500' was in reference to its five-liter engine. The production version was known as the LP400, for its 3.9-liter engine. Later 4.8-liter versions were also known as the LP500. Just like the Miura, the letter 'S' was in reference to 'Sport' which was added for later high-performance variants. 'QV' was in reference to Quattrovalvole (4 valves per cylinder).

The design and mechanical configuration of the production LP400 were very similar to the third prototype, except at the rear, where conventional lights were installed in place of the futuristic arrangement used on the prototype. The narrow tires gave it the lowest drag coefficient of any Countach model, as later versions of the Countach wore much wider tires. While later variants would have engine displacement or valve arrangement markings on rear-mounted emblems, the LP400 simply displayed 'Lamborghini' and 'Countach.'

Production of the LP400 lasted through the end of 1977, with 158 examples built during that time. In 1978, Lamborghini added an 'S' to the name resulting in the new LP400 S. Although the 'S' was in reference to 'Sport,' it actually developed slightly less horsepower, now rated at 350 bhp. It received wider 345/35R15 Pirelli P7 tires, fiberglass wheel arch extensions, an angular 'S' emblem was added after the 'Countach' emblem and an optional V-shaped rear wing. The Walter Wolf Countach had popularized the rear wing and although it improved high-speed stability, it reduced the top speed by approximately 10 mph.

The first series (Series 1) of the LP400 S wore unique Campagnolo 'Bravo' wheels with protruding hole edges, had a lowered suspension ride height, and 45mm carburetors. The very early examples received small Stewart-Warner dashboard gauges, while larger versions were installed mid-way through 1979. Early 1978 examples had an unpadded LP400 steering wheel, while later versions used a padded style.

After fifty Series 1 cars were built, engine with chassis 1121100, the Series 2 cars introduced, and eventually, 105 would be built, ending with chassis 1121310. Distinguishable features included a lowered suspension ride height and concave wheels.

Beginning with chassis 1121312, 82 examples of the third and final series of the LP400 S were built, engine with 1121468. They had an increased suspension ride height compared to series I and II cars, and slightly more usable interior space, increasing by 1.2-inches.

The 237 total LP400 S models were replaced in 1982 with the LP500 S powered by an enlarged 4.8-liter (4,754cc) engine. The interior received minor updates and the exterior remained unaltered, and a total of 321 examples were built before the arrival of the LP5000 Quattrovalvole in 1985. Its engine displaced 5.2-liters (5,167cc) and it used four valves per cylinder. To improve cooling, the carburetors were relocated from the sides to the top of the engine, necessitating a hump on the engine cover which further reduced rearward visibility. Later examples used fuel injection. The engine was rated at 414 horsepower with the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection system installed while European versions used six Weber carburetors and delivered 449 horsepower at 7,000 RPM and 370 lb-ft of torque at 5,200 RPM.

66 examples of the LP5000QV had the fuel injection system of the 610 total examples built.

Horacio Pagani restyled the Countach for the 25th Anniversary Edition built to celebrate the company's twenty-fifth anniversary in 1988. They were mechanically similar to the 5000QV and capable of accelerating from zero-to-sixty mph in 4.7 seconds and reaching a top speed of 183 mph.

The styling modifications included enlargement and extension of the rear 'air-box' intake-ducts, and relocating the secondary pair of debossed ducts forward and on top of the intake ducts. The refashioned fins now ran longitudinally rather than transversely, allowing the airbox to be rotated from a transverse to a longitudinal position. Along with changing the vehicle's appearance, these updates provided better airflow from the radiators out through the secondary fins. The engine-bay cover gained a center-raised section with dual-ducting, and the rear gained an outwardly extending bumper from the lower portion.

Production of the Anniversary edition continued through 1990 when it was superseded by the Lamborghini Diablo. 657 examples of the 25th Anniversary Edition were built.

by Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2021