When it was unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show, the Lamborghini Countach LP 500 it had no equal in the automotive world. The futuristic lines were unlike anything else and, despite being a prototype, the truth is that no one was indifferent to it.
However, despite all the attention it deserved at the Swiss event, this first prototype of the Countach LP 500 did not have an “easy life”. After three years of development it was sacrificed in a crash test in March 1974 and then disappeared.
In 2017, a fan of classic cars and an important Lamborghini customer remembered this historic example and launched a challenge to the Italian brand's “Polo Storico”: would it be possible to recreate the model of which there were only photographs? The answer was positive and thus began a long and difficult project, the result of which has now been revealed.
Search before creating
The first few months were spent not only finding the parts needed to recreate the car unveiled in 1971, but also carefully researching to ensure that all the details were right. Documents, photographs, original sketches and even the account of some employees of the brand, all served to ensure that this recreation was as faithful as possible to the original.
This is confirmed by Giuliano Cassataro, Director of Service and of “Polo Storico”: “The collection of documents was fundamental (…) Great attention was paid to every detail of the car, its general consistency and technical specifications”.
Once a good "database" was assured, the next step was to recreate the chassis of the Countach LP 500. Unlike the Countach that followed, this one did not use a tubular chassis but rather a platform that the "Polo Storico" from Lamborghini made a point of redesigning and producing according to the methods used in the 1970s.
It was images like this that Lamborghini's "Polo Storico" resorted to to recreate the Countach LP 500.
The fidelity to traditional production methods was maintained when recreating the bodywork (with the panels being molded manually) and the interior. In the field of mechanics, replacement parts from that time were used, restored and, when neither were available, new parts were produced according to the original specifications.
Recreate the original lines
To recreate the original lines, the Lamborghini “Polo Storico” had the invaluable help of the “Lamborghini Centro Stile”. There, a team led by Mitja Borkert, design director, launched one of its biggest challenges.
First a 1:1 scale model was created based on research done by “Polo Storico” and then, to ensure that the proportions were right, the “Lamborghini Centro Stile” resorted to 3D modeling of the first Countach LP 400. In total , this work took about 2000 hours and was then repeated to recreate the interior.
When recreating the tires, Pirelli's help was crucial, which thanks to images and materials stored in the archives of Fondazione Pirelli used the original plans to recreate the Cinturato CN12 used by the Countach LP 500 in Geneva, but now with a modern rubber compound.
Painted in the color “Giallo Fly Speciale”, the Lamborghini Countach LP 500 “reborn” is the result of 25,000 hours of work and has now been unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where it was entered in the class of prototypes. As for its price, it hasn't been revealed, but we calculate that a “50 year old brand new” prototype isn't cheap.