2021 Lamborghini Countach – the icon’s back!

Lamborghini Countach! What a design. More riveting than a Jaguar E-Type, several times more radical than Merc’s gull-wing, the Countach was a car that defined the supercar genre. And has there ever been a more original, bold or simply brilliant design? The easy answer is no. Forming the template on which all Lamborghini supercars have been designed since, it is the car that holds Lamborghini’s source code. Now 50 years on, Lamborghini, in homage, has designed a new one.

• Limited to 112 units
• 800hp, 6.5-litre hybrid V12
• Won’t be offered in India

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4: what is it?

With the new Countach or LPI 800-4, Lamborghini has recreated an icon. Instantly recognisable as a Countach, even though the design is thoroughly refreshed and modern, the new car has been re-created to represent what the Countach would have looked like, had it never been dropped from the range.  

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4: design

While the design isn’t as clean or as pure in form as, say a modern Porsche 911, Lamborghini designers have used plenty of new bits, especially towards the rear of the car.

The nose is pure Countach; the horizontal slot-like point of origin up front (with the name neatly slotted in), the placement of the headlights and the sculpting on the bonnet – these bits are clearly from the original. The front wheel arch and the plunging window line have been evolved, like the Diablo, and the designers have also evolved the iconic NACA ducts (the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is the forerunner of NASA), as well as the big rectangular fighter-jet-like intakes on the roof. And at the rear, the flat two-dimensional tail has been replaced with something more angular. The twin-pod, almost catamaran, arrangement has however been maintained. 

What are the bits that design head Mitja Borkert particularly enjoyed carrying over? “The first production car was called the Periscopio, so look at the top view of the new LPI 800-4 and you can see this Periscopio line and the small window; the latter created so the driver could spot the traffic behind. And then for me the highlight from the Quattrovalvole, one of the later versions, are the enlarged wheelhouses (arches), with their sort of  hexagonal shape.” 

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4: powertrain

Under the hood, the Countach comes with the brand’s famous 6.5-litre, V12 engine, though with a supercapacitor for enhanced acceleration and lower emissions. The V12 on its own makes 780hp while the electric motor develops 34hp. Combined, the hybrid V12 puts out 800hp, which is sent to all four wheels via a permanent all-wheel-drive system. All this allows the new Countach to do the 0-100kph sprint in just 2.8sec, go from 0-200kph in 8.6sec, and then on to a top speed of 355kph. 

Chief technical officer Maurizio Reggiani says the new Countach is different from the Sian . . .  “we have 780hp against 770hp that we have in the Sian. In terms of hardware, the supercapacitor in the electric motor are the same, and 48V is able to provide 34hp. But the difference between Sian and Countach is in the application, here we have tried to give much more emphasis on the strong delivery of torque.” 

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4: what the name means 

One of the few Lambos not to be named after a fighting bull, the word Countach actually is an expression of surprise or wonder in Piedmontese. Literally meaning plague or pandemic, the expression was used by one of the teams making the original prototype. . . and the name just stuck. Another unique aspect of the new Countach’s name is the LPI badge – where the ‘LP’ stands for Longitudinale Posteriore (seen on all rear-engined models) and the ‘I’ stands for hybrid. 

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4: will it come to India?

Lamborghini has confirmed that it will only be producing 112 examples of the new Countach. This number denotes the ‘LP 112’ internal project name used during the original Lamborghini Countach’s development. Unfortunately, the new Countach will not be offered in our market, as Lamborghini is only going to produce it as a left-hand-drive (LHD) model. And then there’s the small matter of the price; it would have cost around Rs 25 crore here. 

Also see:

Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 image gallery

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