Countach 5 months on - A little update

[lambo_xx]

So I thought I’d give everyone a littler update of I’m getting on with my elderly bull. It’s just past 5 months now since I look delivery and I hate to admit this but I have only really used it a handful of times. In my defence the car arrived at a bad time with winter moving in and I won’t use the car unless the weather is reasonably decent, which sadly it has not been!
The car really is an absolute dream come true, it really was one of those cars I had a poster of on my bedroom wall and having watched the open sequence to the cannonball run far too many times I had promised myself I would one day have one. It took me quite a while to find one, as I didn’t want an Anniversary as I feel the styling went too over the top and spoiled the lines, but nor did I want of the early cars. It had to be either a “5000 S” or ideally a “QV”. Luckily I got the latter. The car has been a real surprise and quite enlightening for me as what I find with these older supercars is not that they’re particularly hard to drive, more that it highlights how easy the newer cars are to drive.

I took the car away with a few friends this weekend for a little road trip and after a couple days of driving only now do I start to feel like I’m really getting to know the car as previously I had probably only done a few hundred miles in the car. And oh my, I LOVE IT!

First off I’d like to start by saying that most things I’ve been told about the Countach are incorrect or at least grossly over exaggerated. The most obvious criticism is the poor rear visibility and yes I’ll get that out of the way, it is hopeless! You pretty much can’t see a thing of the back but what people don’t tell you is that because of the window design you can’t really see very much out of the side windows either. Meaning you have a blind spot big enough to hide 23 Range Rovers in! I would argue this self imposed visual cocoon adds to the drama. The steering is heavy but only really at low speeds. If you want to do a 3 point turn then yes it is advisable to get a muscled friend to help you, however once you’re up to speed it’s perfectly manageable and gives you decent feedback. The clutch is heavy but again not unbearable, all I need to do is engage my admittedly pitiful muscles that little bit harder. The hardest thing I would say is the gearbox which is pretty heavy if I can be so honest. I got in a fiesta to move it just after I got home and nearly ripped the gearstick off! It was scarily light compared to the old bull!

Now all that being said I honestly feel this is what supercars from that era are all about. It just feels so raw. Properly old school if I can use that little cliché. The exhaust noise is just obscene, it cracks, bangs & spits at every opportunity and makes anything more modern feel almost fake and tame in comparison. It managed to drown out my companions two TVRs! It also gets a really lovely reaction from people from that generation who always mention the Cannonball opening!

I’m looking forward to the next few months when I’m going to try and use it as much as possible. For me I don’t get the idea of buying these cars and locking them away, they must be used! So that shall be my mission over the next few months, to get the old girl out and about and contributing to the global warming so I can hopefully have a prolonged summer! I shall upload some pictures as soon as I can and I hope that wasn’t too boring!

[lambo_xx]

Thanks everyone for the kind words! Heres a couple pictures my photographer friend took and then I'll add my pictures on after. it should be reasonably clear which ones are which

[lambo_xx]

Just realised I never put my own pictures up. As I said I apologise for my poor photography skills.

[lambo_xx]

iandc said:

Great pictures. Thanks for posting. I loved the box of doughnuts on the engine cover. Beats custard every time. Glad you ate them all before setting off again!

Haha I only had one the rest were for friends

pork911 said:

OP presumably yours is the one with the reg you didn't obscure

Anyhow, both lovely.

Thanks Pete the photographer blanked the reg

[lambo_xx]

AndrewD said:

Great thread!

I think I'm buying a 2,800 mile LP5000S

Who is best to inspect, Colin Clarke?

I have always been recommended Carrera Sport as they seem to look after a lot of older Lambos including Countachs. Carlo at Top Gear Cars outside Edinburgh would also be a good choice if the cars in up in Scotland as he looks after quite a few up here.

Hope that helps