{"id":2757,"date":"2019-09-04T08:22:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T08:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/?p=2757"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:23:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T09:23:52","slug":"lamborghini-countach-wild-bull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamborghini Countach – Wild Bull"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamborghini<\/a>, in the grand scheme of things, is not an old company. In fact, it only came into existence in 1963. It is a baby in the motoring world, relatively speaking. But despite this, the globally understood and adopted supercar principle of engine in the back and power to the rear wheels, which was first adopted in the Lamborghini<\/a> Miura, is still recognised as being <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> way to do it. Lamborghini<\/a> has always been forward thinking, but more than that, it has always been brave. The Miura was a revolution in terms of both styling, handling and power. It took the sports and supercar world, grabbed it by the shoulders and forcibly shook it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s all well and good, but with such a game-changing car, where could Lamborghini possibly go? What could it do to keep the momentum going? It couldn’t sit back, point at Miura and say \u201cyeah, well, we did that and that\u2019s your lot\u201d could it? No, it had to push forward. It had to take the mould it had already shattered, glue it back together, then shatter it all over again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

The Miura, while beautiful and mechanically impressive, was losing its edge come the 1970s. Ferrari\u2019s Daytona for one, was kicking the Miura\u2019s bottom. And Ferruccio Lamborghini<\/a> could not have that. No, sir. There was rivalry there, and Ferruccio wasn\u2019t going to back away from the fight. As such, he brought in Paolo Stanzani as Chief Engineer, Bob Wallace was the test driver while Massimo Parenti took the role of assistant engineer. Oh, and let\u2019s not forget the addition of Marcello Gandini to the team. He would be the car\u2019s designer. Handily, he came from Bertone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new Lamborghini would build on the lessons learned from the Miura. The engine would be out back and it would be rear-wheel drive. However, there would be significant design advances, too. The cabin was pushed forward to aid engine positioning and to also address the Muira\u2019s complaint of uneven weight distribution. The suspension was completely reworked so as to improve high-speed stability while also serving to counter the Muira\u2019s propensity for lift-off oversteer. The cooling system was also improved – important when your engine is in the back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

The whole chassis of the car was completely new. The initial development cars used a steel box section space frame design, with gusseting to offer additional strength. However, this came at a considerable weight cost. It was stiffer than the Muira, but it was also some 32kg heavier at 107kg over the Muira\u2019s 75kg. In the end, after considerable testing, Stanzani and his team opted to change the design, instead using a tubular steel space frame. The tubes were 30mm in diameter with 1mm thick walls. Their use meant more triangulation and consequently fabrication, but the end result was a chassis with technology that could be linked to Formula 1. It was stiff, it was light (at 90kg) and the materials were readily available. Perfect then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It then fell to Marcellio Gandini to pen a body in which all this new engineering would live. It needed to be long, low and wide. It need to be striking, but also functional. It needed, then, to be revolutionary. Gandini had penned the Miura originally, so he was deeply invested in the evolution into the new car. After he\u2019d penned the Miura, he went on to experiment with hard-edged, wedge designs for Lancia (the Stratos Zero) and Alfa Romeo (the Carabo concept) as well as a number of concepts for Lamborghini itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

With the new Lamborghini, he was given free reign. While it was a known fact that Ferruccio wasn\u2019t a fan of cars so hard-nosed, he did recognise that they were what the market wanted. Gandini jumped at the chance to create something bold and frankly, shocking (in a good way) and in 1973, he delivered the original concept. It was so good that it would go on to the production stage with minimal changes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The only thing the car now needed was a name. At the 1971 Geneva Motorshow, it was simply known as the LP500 (LP for longtiudinale posteriore, meaning longitudinal rear in relation to the engine). It needed something snappier though, something with weight and purpose. The final name, Countach<\/a>, is not Italian. In fact, it\u2019s from Piedmontese language and means to show exclamation or astonishment. It was often muttered by one of the engineers who was Piedmontese, and was actually suggested as a joke, but it stuck!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

And what about the engine? Well, a V8 was never going to cut it, which is why the engineers threw a V12 in it instead. There was the LP400, which was a 3,929cc unit with 375bhp. The LP500, which was a 4,754cc unit with more power still, while the LP5000 Quattrovalvole was a 5,167cc four-valve per-cylinder unit with 420bhp. All of these engines were mated to a five-speed manual transmission. If you wanted an automatic, you had to buy something else!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Countach<\/a>, despite being known for being a bit of a handful, was a huge success for Lamborghini. It was produced from 1974 to 1990, and over those 16 years the car didn\u2019t deviate from the original design too much. Yes, it grew fins and wings, and there were several limited editions that added more features, but at its core the Countach<\/a> remained true to the original vision penned back in the late-1960s. That\u2019s how ahead of its time it was.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

In the end, the Countach<\/a> was killed off when the Diablo came about. But even in its death, the Countach<\/a> has remained incredibly popular. By modern standards, it\u2019s a bit of a swine to drive. It\u2019s heavy, the interior is cramped, the visibility is terrible and it\u2019s not particularly comfortable. But none of that matters. Get it on the right road, with the right driver, and the Countach<\/a> is unbeatable. It\u2019s flair, excess and bravado. It\u2019s outrageous without compromise, and it\u2019s a car that has captured the imagination of more than one generation of car fans. It\u2019s an unmistakable design of automotive history. It is, for lack of a better word, a legend. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lamborghini,<\/p>\n

Huge thanks to <\/span><\/i>Kaaimans International<\/span><\/i><\/a> for letting us point our camera at the black 5000S Countach featured here. Being right-hand drive, it is an incredibly rare car, and it is presented in immaculate condition thanks to only having one previous owner. And the best bit? It can be yours for <\/span><\/i>\u00a3449,975<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lamborghini, in the grand scheme of things, is not an old company. In fact, it only came into existence in 1963. It is a baby in the motoring world, relatively…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[2],"tags":[15,872,873,12,13,11,868,182,456,869,870,871,14,16],"yoast_head":"\nLamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Car & Classic Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DSC02349.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1013\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Car & Classic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Car & Classic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Car & Classic\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/9faf82502e956d89ea59bb842c637f39\"},\"headline\":\"Lamborghini Countach – Wild Bull\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\"},\"wordCount\":1094,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"automotive\",\"Bertone\",\"Cannonball Run\",\"carandclassic\",\"carandclassic.co.uk\",\"classic car\",\"Countach\",\"Ferrari\",\"Lamborghini\",\"Lamborghini Countach\",\"LP400\",\"LP500\",\"motoring\",\"retro car\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Classic Cars\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\",\"name\":\"Lamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lamborghini Countach – Wild Bull\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/\",\"name\":\"Car & Classic Magazine\",\"description\":\"The latest in the classic car world - articles, news, how to's, advice and more\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Car and Classic Limited\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Car-and-Classic-Square-Green-Background-Large.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Car-and-Classic-Square-Green-Background-Large.png\",\"width\":4262,\"height\":3881,\"caption\":\"Car and Classic Limited\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/9faf82502e956d89ea59bb842c637f39\",\"name\":\"Car & Classic\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df8ff943eb64ce998eeba2661f03a69a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df8ff943eb64ce998eeba2661f03a69a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Car & Classic\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/author\/car-and-classic\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine","description":"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine","og_description":"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/","og_site_name":"Car & Classic Magazine","article_published_time":"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DSC02349.jpg","width":1800,"height":1013,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Car & Classic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Car & Classic","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/"},"author":{"name":"Car & Classic","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/9faf82502e956d89ea59bb842c637f39"},"headline":"Lamborghini Countach – Wild Bull","datePublished":"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/"},"wordCount":1094,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization"},"keywords":["automotive","Bertone","Cannonball Run","carandclassic","carandclassic.co.uk","classic car","Countach","Ferrari","Lamborghini","Lamborghini Countach","LP400","LP500","motoring","retro car"],"articleSection":["Classic Cars"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/","name":"Lamborghini Countach - Wild Bull - Car & Classic Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-04T08:22:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-12T09:23:52+00:00","description":"Others tried, but there was nothing as mad, as unhinged or as utterly eye-catching as the Lamborghini Countach in the \u201870s, \u201880s and possibly even today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/lamborghini-countach-wild-bull\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lamborghini Countach – Wild Bull"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/","name":"Car & Classic Magazine","description":"The latest in the classic car world - articles, news, how to's, advice and more","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#organization","name":"Car and Classic Limited","url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Car-and-Classic-Square-Green-Background-Large.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.co.uk\/magazine\/app\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Car-and-Classic-Square-Green-Background-Large.png","width":4262,"height":3881,"caption":"Car and Classic Limited"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/9faf82502e956d89ea59bb842c637f39","name":"Car & Classic","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df8ff943eb64ce998eeba2661f03a69a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df8ff943eb64ce998eeba2661f03a69a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Car & Classic"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.carandclassic.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/author\/car-and-classic\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2769,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757\/revisions\/2769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carandclassic.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}