Lamborghini spent over 25,000 hours recreating the original Countach show car



Remember the Countach that Lamborghini kept teasing on their social media channels? As it turns out, it is indeed a recreation of the original LP500 show car for a very lucky (and wealthy) collector – one that took Lamborghini over 25,000 hours to complete at that!

The recreation work was done by Lamborghini’s own in-house heritage department, Polo Storico. And notice how we say “recreation” and not “restoration”? Well, that’s because the original show car was actually destroyed in the homologation crash tests before the model’s market launch – a rather heroic sacrificial death if you ask us.

Anyway, in order to recreate the LP500, the Polo Storico had to work directly with Lamborghini’s Centro Stile design department, where they pored over original build documents and photos to ensure that every detail was emulated perfectly.

The team even had to consult the memories of people who were working at Lamborghini at that time, and even completely 3D-scanning a LP400 (chassis 001) to ensure authenticity. All-in, the team spent almost three months just working with the documents, before the build even began.

To celebrate the Countach’s 50th anniversary, Lamborghini also completely reimagined the model as a brand-new car, limited to only 112 units! Check it out here.

As for the build itself, the whole car was largely built entirely from scratch. That includes the platform chassis (different from the tubular design on the eventual model), which also had to be slightly redesigned for the modern recreation.

Despite that, Lamborghini also incorporated original parts – especially mechanical components – for the build to bring it as close to the original 1971 show car as physically possible. The pursuit for authenticity went as far as obtaining the original tread design for the Pirelli Cinturato CN12 tyres on the show car, and recreating it using modern tyre compounds.

The documentation that the team collected proved exceptionally useful when it came to painting the car, as they’ve managed to obtain the exact composition to produce the same yellow colour used on the original show car, called “Giallo Fly Speciale“.

The coolest part of the recreation, for us, is that Lamborghini also tried to emulate the production methods that were available at that time. For example, the bodywork for the rebuilt Countach is hand-beaten by traditional Italian “battilastra” artisans rather than a sheet metal press.

The same process is followed for the entire interior, including hand-sewn leather seats and the lighted diagnostic instruments as seen on the original 1971 prototype.

“The Countach reinvented high-performance cars, and it became an icon in terms of stylistic language that even today, after decades, still inspires contemporary Lamborghinis,” said Lamborghini Chairman and CEO, Stephan Winkelmann.

As part of the Lamborghini Countach’s 50th anniversary celebration, the rebuilt LP500 will be put on display at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este at Lake Como, Italy, before being handed over to the collector.