Lamborghini Countach LP 400
The Countach LP 500 was an instant and total success. However, the Countach was not ready. It was an "idea car" designed to test people's reactions. When it was decided to begin development, it was put into production as soon as possible. Roughly two years of intensive work stretching over long days on the road, driven by the legendary New Zealander test driver Bob Wallace, were needed for the Countach LP 500 prototype to become a standard production car. It was also exhibited at the 1971 Paris and Turin motor shows. A considerable number of modifications became necessary, especially linked to engine cooling and the air inlet into the engine compartment. This was why two Naca side air intakes and two ducts were added above the radiator's air intakes. The shape of the nose changed slightly by being raised a couple of centimeters.
Following the early road tests, the 5-liter engine proved to be still too immature and delicate, so it was replaced with a 4-liter engine. The Lamborghini Countach LP 400 made its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1973 with the chassis #1120001 car. It was a prototype very similar in its entirety to the one that was to then be the standard production car. Compared to the Countach LP 500, the LP 400 differs from a technical point of view, primarily by adopting a tubular trellis frame instead of a self-supporting structure. The body was made with aluminum, no longer steel panels, and it underwent all the aesthetic and technical modifications that were found necessary during its development. The car, presented in Geneva in the color red, was later exhibited repainted medium green at the 1973 IAA motor shows in Frankfurt, Paris and Earls Court London. Sold in Switzerland, it was relocated in the early 2000s and as of 2021 is owned by Automobili Lamborghini and on display at the company museum, the MUDETEC.
The standard production Countach had a differentiated diameter tubular steel frame, and was completed by a fiberglass flat base and sheet metal panels to "close" the engine and luggage compartments. Extremely rigid, it offered a number of benefits also in terms of mass, and was kept practically unaltered throughout all its years of production.
The 4-liter (3929 cc) engine, powered by six Weber 45 DCOE twin-body carburetors, developed 375 hp at 8000 rpm to reach a top speed close to 300 km/h. The suspension was derived from that of race cars, with triangles of different lengths, coil springs, hydraulic shock absorbers and stabilizer bar at the front axle and, at the rear axle, upper trapeziums and lower triangles, with adjustable double shock absorber for each wheel, and anti-roll bar. Its brakes were the disk type, self-ventilating and fitted with a new type of caliper designed for racing. Considered by many to be the purest version of Marcello Gandini's design, the LP 400, with 152 series units produced up until 1977, is today the most sought-after version by collectors.
