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Lamborghini Countach review
“The Countach is back. It’s mostly a reclothed Sian, but in all important ways it’s a Lamborghini through and through”
Good stuff
Almighty V12, blood and thunder driving experience, the most famous name in supercar-dom
Bad stuff
Confused, half-cocked styling. After that, nothing much matters
What is it?
Now come on, you know this one. Wedgy Seventies supercar, seminal moment in car design, defined the era, helped set the mid-engined supercar template that has held true to this day, some 50 years later. The one, the only, Lamborghini Countach.
Mark II. So let’s start with the main issue here. Lamborghini claims this is what the Countach would look like if it had evolved. But the original was about revolution, not evolution – if there had been more Countachs each should have been a radical new beginning. It should not be a rebodied Sian, which in turn is a made-over Aventador. On that, Lamborghini and TopGear will have to agree to disagree.
Here’s what I want to know first – how do you pronounce it?
Koon-tatch. That second syllable needs to be hard, apparently. The most accurate translation is ‘it’s a miracle!’
But this one’s hardly a miracle is it?
There’s less romance and more hard-nosed business decision about this one, that’s for sure. But you can see the reason for doing it – take 112 old Aventador chassis and turn them into £224 million quid? Stroke of genius. Funds enough to develop new cars and no long term damage done to the image of the original Countach, because people will see straight through this one for what it is and realise the place the original holds.
This is retro done… peculiarly. Most firms have either been entirely faithful to the original (all those lost VIN number cars) or exaggerated/perfected the old timer (Singer 911, Alfaholics GTA-R, GTO Engineering 250 SWB).
Fewer have taken a new car and given it old kit to wear. Ferrari has recently given us the Daytona SP3 which is sort of in that vein, so too the Porsche 935. Neither, arguably, is as successful as Aston’s mighty Victor – not a strict recreation, but brilliant at evoking a sense of time, place and British brutishness.
The trouble for Lambo is that too much of the Sian is still visible, which alludes to the fact this has been done on a relatively tight budget, retaining the hard points, underpinnings and much of the interior.
So what is going on here?
The Sian was the first production Lamborghini ever to feature electrification. It was based on the Aventador, but added a 33bhp electric motor to the 6.5-litre 770bhp V12. That drew charge not from a battery pack, but a light, power dense supercapacitor. The electric motor couldn’t drive the car, but was there to help torque fill during gearchanges. Important work, seeing as the Aventador’s ISR sequential manual gearbox has never been the smoothest, fastest shifter around.
Lamborghini made 63 Sian coupes and 19 roadsters, each costing £2.5 million plus tax. And now it’s built 112 more, each costing £2 million (again plus tax) but wearing a different body.
Underneath the Countach is largely identical to the Sian. Yes, there’s new stitching patterns inside, a Stile mode in the central screen which shows you around the car, different badges and a few other little trinkets, but mechanically this is the same car: a carbon-tubbed, loud-piped 4WD extrovert capable of 0-62mph in 2.8secs, 124mph in 8.6secs and 221mph flat out. At the other end of the scale, 14.5mpg and 440g/km of CO2. So no, that electric motor doesn’t contribute much.
Read More https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/lamborghini/countach
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