'79 Countach at auction-- 500 orig. miles

[Steve Carlton]

Probably take you for one of the Village People.

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by speeder

I think that they are unbelievably ugly and classless in general and the one in the OP takes it to the next level. I knew a guy back in the '80s who had one, white with white wheels. I never asked for a ride, what if someone saw you in it?

I agree.
To me, they look overdone...as if a child went wild with their imagination.
Just too much.
But the one I saw and heard (white w/white wheels) had a beautiful sound - no question about that.
.
Edit: I much prefer smooth lines and curves as opposed to straight lines and edges. Like on the Dino, etc.

[sand_man]

Yes, when I was a kid I always wanted one. Never had any first hand experience with one though. This past year, I had a conversation with the "exotic car" dealer that sold me the 993, about some of the more memorable cars they moved through their dealership. An early example (first generation) of the Countach came up. They couldn't believe how horrible the car was in every way. According to them, it was very poorly constructed and poorly executed from a driver's perspective. Almost as if the car was an incomplete test mule or concept, never meant for the roads. Of course this was the end all, be all of "exotica" at the time, so utility was not a consideration.

For me, about the only Lambo I still desire is the Miura. And I'm sure that one comes complete with its own struggles, but I sure dig the sexy lines.

[sand_man]

I definitley would feel very self conscious in a Lambo, even the new ones. Just not for me. To each their own.

[nostatic]

Somewhere I have my jr. high school yearbook (circa 1975) and in the front I wrote that I would own either a Countach, Maserati Bora, or Porsche 911. I got 1 out of 3 right.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by sand_man

According to them, it was very poorly constructed and poorly executed from a driver's perspective. Almost as if the car was an incomplete test mule or concept, never meant for the roads. Of course this was the end all, be all of "exotica" at the time, so utility was not a consideration.

It wasn't poorly constructed at all, but it did suffer from being put to market before the engineers were ready, like almost all Lamborghinis. What people don't realize is that these were hand made, in small quantities, so they don't have interior parts that were engineered to be made in the thousands. When you make 157 cars (first series, LP400) your glove box lid maybe isn't as nice as the one in your Mercedes.

These were made to be driven fast, from point A to point B and they were not intended to be a touring car. They had a chassis and suspension constructed along the same lines as a contemporary race car and I thought they were fairly comfortable, as long as you were on decent roads. At high speeds, they had stability that a Miura (or pretty much any other car) could only dream about.

Where they fell short is that the lousy roads and low speed limits in America kept them out of their "happy" zone.

Most people that bought them were after the image, which was a shame. Every time I see a rapper in a Lamborghini I want to shoot him, or her.

JR

[sand_man]

And of course we should season the dealer comments in my post, considering I don't truly know the condition of the car in question or how well it was cared for along its journey.

[javadog]

I figure that most people that only drove one once or twice never really got a decent impression of them. They took a little time to get comfortable with. The seats and pedals were adjustable. The vision out wasn't was bad as people *****ed about, once you adjusted the mirrors properly and learned where to look. The later QV cars with downdraft carbs did have poor rear vision, but the early cars were fine. You could look through the right side radiator exit vents to see if a car was in your blind spot on the right. Approaching an acute junction, you did your looking in advance.

JR