Mr. Lamborghini’s illusive Countach recently swapped hands for an undisclosed ‘world record’ price
One of the smart things to do when purchasing a new classic toy, is to get a qualified mechanic to give it a onceover.
Of course, for most of us: our new toy isn’t Ferruccio Lamborghini’s personal Countach, and our local mechanic is not leading restorer Iain Tyrrell.
In this video, we watch Iain Tyrrell talk us through some of the car’s history and documentation, before taking the rare Lamborghini for a test drive, diagnosing some small issues, and then prepares the car for its new owner.
When Ferruccio Lamborghini departed from the company in 1974, he retained ownership of his personal Miura and, later in 1980, was offered to purchase a Countach which a close friend of his had initially ordered and subsequently cancelled.
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Beyond its original ownership provenance, the Countach more specifically represents a desirable 1980 Countach S, which combines the original ‘Periscopica’ model’s ultra-low roofline with the later models’ flared wheel arches and big tyres.
After Ferruccio’s passing, the Countach was left to a very close family member before eventually being acquired by a private collector. The car has recently changed hands again for an undisclosed sum, although Tyrrell repeatedly stresses that the sum of the sale was “by many multiples, a world record”.
Given that the standing world record for a Countach sale belongs to a 1975 LP400 ‘Periscopica’ which sold at Bonham’s in 2014 for US$1.2 million, one assumes Ferruccio’s car to be worth many millions.
In the video, Tyrell talks us through the numerous minor works that the valuable Lamborghini required after years of storage. He fixes a door latch, flushes the clutch fluid and replaces some worn out tie rods; and despite the car’s near-priceless status, takes the 4.0lt V12 on a howling test drive on a damp backroad – which is almost worth watching the entire video on its own!
Have a watch above!
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