Wirral Life February 2019 | Page 94

LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH by David Gidman In 1970, Ferruccio Lamborghini tasked Paolo Stanzani and his staff with creating a successor to the widely acclaimed Miura. The project was code named “LP112”. From the beginning of the project Stanzani’s collaborators included test driver Bob Wallace, assistant engineer Massimo Parenti and designer Marcello Gandini of Bertone. Stanzani and Ferruccio agreed that the Miura’s successor required a mechanical design that enabled the greatest possible performance as well as a body that was both aerodynamically efficient and aesthetically daring. These principles were first introduced in the Miura’s development and enabled the commercial success of that model. Despite Ferruccio’s preference for comfortable grand tourers, he recognized the commercial value of a more uncompromising sports car like the Miura and gave Stanzani’s team permission to further push boundaries with the LP112 project. The resulting design incorporated successful aspects of the Miura, such as the rear mid-engine, rear wheel drive layout along with many new engineering and styling innovations. Lamborghini’s engineering team addressed several flaws in the Miura design. Improving high- speed stability and reducing lift-off oversteer as well as addressing the limited maintenance access, uneven weight distribution and cooling issues endemic to the Miura’s transverse engine layout. After a year of intensive development work, the first prototype designated LP500 was shown to the public at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Subsequently the Lamborghini engineering team spent three years refining this radical prototype into the production-ready LP400 Countach, which debuted in 1974. The Countach name originated in late 1970, near the beginning of the LP112 project. Previous and subsequent Lamborghini car names are associated with famous bulls and bullfighting, but the Countach broke with this tradition. The name originated from the word “contacc” an exclamation of astonishment in the Piedmontese language from the north western region of Italy. Lamborghini used a system of alphanumeric designations in order to further distinguish Countach models. This designation begins with “LP”, an abbreviation of the Italian “longitudinale posteriore,” meaning “longitudinal rear”. This refers to the engine orientation or position. For 94 wirrallife.com the prototype and early production models, “LP” was followed by a three digit number designating nominal engine displacement, “400” for 3.9-litre engines and “500” for 4.8 and 5-litre engines. Therefore, the full name of the first production Countach was the Lamborghini Countach LP400. As in the Miura, “S” was added for later high performance variants. This naming scheme was disrupted by the 1985 LP5000 Quattrovalvole equipped with a 5.2-litre engine, also called the 5000QV. The LP- designation was dropped entirely for the 1988 25th Anniversary Edition, also called the Anniversary. This alphanumeric designation is still used today but the engine displacement has been changed to the power output from the engine commonly known as BHP. At the start of the LP112 project in 1970 Ferruccio commissioned Gandini and his team at Bertone to develop a body for the then-unnamed prototype. Chief engineer Paolo Stanzani supplied the design team with chassis information so that body design could proceed while the mechanical details of the prototype were finalized. Shortly before the 1971 Geneva Auto Show, the finished chassis was shipped to Bertone where the prototype bodywork and interior was installed. The resulting Countach LP500 prototype was unveiled at the 1971 Geneva Auto show, where it’s unconventional design drew great public interest and extensive press coverage. The LP500 prototype had a crisp, wedge-shaped design that compared to the Miura was wide and very low but shorter in overall length. The nose of the prototype tapered sharply to a thin grille. The uninterrupted slope was enabled by headlights in retractable housings that flipped down inside the body when not in use. The prototype’s body lacked bumpers, aerodynamic spoilers, side mirrors and any other addition that would have interrupted the lines of Gandini’s design. Trapezoidal shapes appeared throughout the body, including in the windshield, side windows, door openings, hood and engine covers and taillights. Air was supplied to the engine and side-mounted radiators through louvered vents immediately behind the side windows, although road testing quickly demonstrated these vents alone were inadequate to control engine temperatures. The interior of the prototype was equally notable to contemporary audiences as the exterior, as it incorporated new technologies and bold styling decisions. Gandini initially sketched a dashboard with all-digital