2022-800 Lamborghini Countach LPI Revealed: Why the Italian brand is cashing in on nostalgia by resurrecting a poster child for '4s supercar glut
New Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4.
If you loved cars in the 1970s or 80s, chances are you have a Lamborghini Countach poster hanging on your wall. Or, if you're like me, you've watched Cannonball Run II's opening scene on replay with a color-changing V12 supercar.
Now Lamborghini has brought back its most famous nameplate and iconic shape for a very limited and very expensive run of just 112 cars. Lamborghini didn't name a price, but with so few cars available and so many kids from the 70s and 80s now able to buy their dream car, it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be an immediate sellout.
The car was unveiled to the public overnight at Monterey Car Week in California, USA. Paying homage to the past, the show car is painted in Bianco Siderale with a hint of pearl blue, the same color as the personal Countach of company founder Ferruccio Lamborghini.
The new Countach LPI 800-4 is clearly inspired by the original 1974 Countach with its wedge shape, as well as a later 80s update with a larger air intake on the door. However, Lamborghini President and CEO Stefan Winkelmann insists that this new car should not be a retro car but rather a vision of what the car could become.
“The Countach LPI 800-4 is a modern car like its predecessor,” he explained. “One of the most important automotive icons, the Countach not only embodies the design and engineering principles of Lamborghini, but also represents our philosophy of redefining boundaries, achieving the unexpected and extraordinary and, most importantly, being a ‘dream thing’. The Countach LPI 800-4 pays homage to this Lamborghini heritage, but it's not a retrospective: it represents how the iconic Countach of the 70s and 80s could evolve into this decade's elite supersport model."
While that was the idea behind this limited edition special, it really isn't necessary as there is a clear evolution of the family from the Countach to the Aventador through the Diablo and Murcielago. Still, given the hype surrounding the Countach nameplate resurrection this week, it's understandable why the brand wants to capitalize on the nostalgia for the original.
Why is Countach so important? Because the wedge-shaped V12 not only helped redefine what Lamborghini was as a brand, it also changed the expectations of supercar buyers that remain to this day. Look at today's supercars and the original Countach's extreme design echoes Audi, McLaren, Koenigsegg, Rimac and even the new Chevrolet Corvette. It was the template for the supercar as we know it today.
This new model may look like a throwback on the outside, but it's cutting edge on the inside. It is built on the same carbon fiber monocoque as the Aventador and is powered by a V12 hybrid engine found in Sian with similar restrictions. That means a 6.5-litre V12 engine paired with a unique hybrid supercapacitor system with over 600kW. With this power, plus a dry weight of 1595kg and all-wheel drive, the new Countach lives up to the expectations of a supercar, accelerating to 0 km/h in 100 seconds and 2.8 km/h in 0 seconds at its advertised top speed. 200km/h
