It’s 1971 and a UFO has just landed at the Lamborghini booth at the Geneva Motor Show. This “unidentifiable object” was the LP500 concept later known as the Countach. The people of Sant’Agata Bolognese shocked the world even more when three years later they decided to put this fantastic wedge-shaped phenomenon into series production. It was such a success that even in 1982, eleven years after the premiere of the original version, the Countach was still able to cause a stir.
At that time, it was the premiere of the modernized version of the LP500 S, which did without visual modifications (Lamborghini knew well that the appearance of the Countach did not need any changes), had an engine volume increased from 4.0 to 4.8 liters. That particular show car was the car we see in the photos. After enjoying its moment of fame, however, it spent many years out of the limelight and only recently saw the light of day again.
It is believed that only 321 units of the LP500 S version were produced in all. The car with chassis number CLA12472 found its owner at the motor show, who then took the car home to Germany. This German owner finally sold the car in 1985 to a guitarist from the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot named Carlos Cavazo.
The car remained in Cavaz’s collection for 35 years. During this time, the owner replaced the original Weber carburetors with electronic fuel injection and drove the car infrequently, but regularly, until 2001, when it was placed in storage at Franco’s European Cars, a related California sports car dealership and service center.
And it was the owner of that dealership, Franco Barbuscia, who bought the Countach from Cavaz in 2020. Barbuscia planned an extensive renovation of the car, but unfortunately he did not get to it, as the owner of the dealership passed away in 2021 – the musician from California also mentioned this sad event on his Instagram profile, where he attached a joint photo with Franco, standing together right next to chassis CLA12472 .
Foto: Bring a Trailer
A collector from Texas eventually bought the car from Barbuscio’s family. He even personally invited Valentino Balboni, the legendary Lamborghini test driver, who was already enjoying a well-deserved retirement from Italy. Balboni was to assess the mechanical condition of the car and drive it before starting the renovation of all mechanical components. Visually, the car remained practically in its original condition.
In its time, the LP500 S version served as a hammer on the Ferrari 512 BB, on which the Countach produced 375 horsepower, which was transmitted to the rear wheels by a five-speed manual transmission. Early examples like this one still carried the original “5S” designation, the LP500 S was later switched over. In addition, the car rides on extremely light (and in the 1980s extremely expensive) Campagnolo magnesium alloy wheels.
The car wears Pirelli P Zero Assimetrico tires measuring 205/55 R15 at the front and 345/35 R15 at the rear. Coincidentally, the car also has a memorable (albeit completely non-functional) rear wing, which is currently being dismantled, and the original spare with tools is also missing.
The interior is dominated by a three-spoke steering wheel with a speedometer rated up to 320 km/h. The speedometer indicates 66,000 km, but this could not be verified. On the other hand, service invoices dating back to the 1990s, including period photos and a few spare parts, have been preserved for the car. The car was auctioned on June 27 for 563 thousand dollars (about 12 million CZK).
2023-07-06 06:02:15
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