RE: Showpiece of the Week: Countach 5000 QV
Discussion
Ray_Aber said:
My father asked, "want to have a go in it?". I laughed at his preposterous question, but he then said, "I'm serious". Turns out that the car had to be returned to Portman Lamborghini in London, and with the dealership owner (a friend of my father) then serving some taxi time due to a driving ban, the issue of how to get it back was discussed. My father offered to drive it down. Offer accepted. 17 year old slightly excited as a consequence.
....
What a memory, though. What a car.
...
PPS I'm not saying how fast we got it up to, but the windscreen wiper was halfway up the window due to the force of air...
great story, great post, thanks for sharing!....
What a memory, though. What a car.
...
PPS I'm not saying how fast we got it up to, but the windscreen wiper was halfway up the window due to the force of air...
JonathanE said:
Pretty poor article about a car that deserves a lot better. Just to mention the most obvious errors:
- "The Miura was, of course, the car that tied the knot between the firm and a dozen-cylinder engine way back in 1966."
No, as mentioned above, the original 350 GT had a V12. The V8s came much later.
- "the Miura provided Lambo with its technical formula for years to come"
You seem not to know that the Miura had a transverse V12 whereas the Countach and all subsequent V12 Lamborghinis have their engines longitudinally mounted (that's what the 'L' stands for in LP400).
- "the Miura eschewed the rounded shapes of performance cars from its time"
Do you mean 'emulated'? or 'echoed'? 'eschewed' means the opposite of what I think you think it means!
- "rear visibility in later cars was almost completely eliminated by the rear wing"
No, the rear wing makes virtually no difference to visibility. Have you ever driven a Countach?
- "the boost was enabled by the use of six Weber Carburettors"
How many do you think the Countach (and Miura) had previously?
- "located atop of the engine instead of to the sides for better cooling"
I don't think so; it's more to enable the engine to 'breathe' better.
- "This encouraged the fitment of a raised engine cover"
Do you mean 'necessitated'?
I wouldn't normally nitpick like this, but there are a lot of Internet myths about the Countach and you should be able to get both your facts and your English right!
Jonathan
Standards are slipping! Poor writers always believe that using big words will make the writing more impressive. This is always a bad idea, and has the opposite impact when words are used incorrectly. Have the confidence to stick with simple English and we will all benefit.- "The Miura was, of course, the car that tied the knot between the firm and a dozen-cylinder engine way back in 1966."
No, as mentioned above, the original 350 GT had a V12. The V8s came much later.
- "the Miura provided Lambo with its technical formula for years to come"
You seem not to know that the Miura had a transverse V12 whereas the Countach and all subsequent V12 Lamborghinis have their engines longitudinally mounted (that's what the 'L' stands for in LP400).
- "the Miura eschewed the rounded shapes of performance cars from its time"
Do you mean 'emulated'? or 'echoed'? 'eschewed' means the opposite of what I think you think it means!
- "rear visibility in later cars was almost completely eliminated by the rear wing"
No, the rear wing makes virtually no difference to visibility. Have you ever driven a Countach?
- "the boost was enabled by the use of six Weber Carburettors"
How many do you think the Countach (and Miura) had previously?
- "located atop of the engine instead of to the sides for better cooling"
I don't think so; it's more to enable the engine to 'breathe' better.
- "This encouraged the fitment of a raised engine cover"
Do you mean 'necessitated'?
I wouldn't normally nitpick like this, but there are a lot of Internet myths about the Countach and you should be able to get both your facts and your English right!
Jonathan
I was going to reply about the Miura being transverse but you beat me to it. The proportions of the car are dictated by the engine layout, and this is arguably why the Miura still stands out as an iconic design.
Marc H said:
Great story from Ray! That would have been high-point of my year, wow.... Still would be, really.
Ray, dunno if you are still in that area, but the blue A4 Avant that was stolen in London and used in the M&W robbery at Gleneagles was mine! It came back in one piece. Long tale on how it got stolen from outside my house....
I'm not, Marc, but my father still resides in Gleneagles. I'll ask him about the robbery! I had him down as a suspect....Ray, dunno if you are still in that area, but the blue A4 Avant that was stolen in London and used in the M&W robbery at Gleneagles was mine! It came back in one piece. Long tale on how it got stolen from outside my house....
Put the kettle on boys and girls - here's Harry. 3 videos for your Countach goodness.
I actually thought that it would cost more, but I guess a RHD UK spec with the full fat 455bhp would probably add another 100k to the price. Worth every penny if you ask me - yep, I am that 14 year old from the 80's with multiple posters of this car on my wall. Don't care!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7_YZMqOWw&t=...
I actually thought that it would cost more, but I guess a RHD UK spec with the full fat 455bhp would probably add another 100k to the price. Worth every penny if you ask me - yep, I am that 14 year old from the 80's with multiple posters of this car on my wall. Don't care!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7_YZMqOWw&t=...
Back in 87 +88 I worked part time for Town and Country car hire ( later joined with Guy Salmon group )
My job was to ferry cars about to customers or other branches . Because there had been a couple of serious accidents involving younger staff and high performance/ expensive cars the company ruled that the high performance stuff had to be driven by the older drivers over 30 years old . Younger staff were on threat of dismissal if caught in the performance cars or if speeding in anything .
We had a pair of Lamborghini Countach QVs , a red and a white one . They were not the nicest of things to drive in traffic . They are w i d e , heavish on the clutch , difficult to place the corners in traffic and they didn't like dawdling in heavy traffic . We had a few Ferraris on the fleet including a Testerosa , also most of the Porsche lineup including the 911 turbo , a couple of Carreras , including convertibles , 924 , 944 and 928 . The Porsches were probably the most practical and usable in and around traffic and didn't need as much babying when the road opened up .
We were always wary with the high performance stuff coughing and stuttering when first finding an open stretch of road , it was very easy to foul plugs and bend valves .
Tyres also took a lot of damage due to poor drivers and rubbish road services .
I seem to remember a figure of £1500 per day for that class of car and only company account or certain credit cards to be able to hire them plus over 25s only .
Our two probably spent most of their working life doing display work or giving birthday trips .
My job was to ferry cars about to customers or other branches . Because there had been a couple of serious accidents involving younger staff and high performance/ expensive cars the company ruled that the high performance stuff had to be driven by the older drivers over 30 years old . Younger staff were on threat of dismissal if caught in the performance cars or if speeding in anything .
We had a pair of Lamborghini Countach QVs , a red and a white one . They were not the nicest of things to drive in traffic . They are w i d e , heavish on the clutch , difficult to place the corners in traffic and they didn't like dawdling in heavy traffic . We had a few Ferraris on the fleet including a Testerosa , also most of the Porsche lineup including the 911 turbo , a couple of Carreras , including convertibles , 924 , 944 and 928 . The Porsches were probably the most practical and usable in and around traffic and didn't need as much babying when the road opened up .
We were always wary with the high performance stuff coughing and stuttering when first finding an open stretch of road , it was very easy to foul plugs and bend valves .
Tyres also took a lot of damage due to poor drivers and rubbish road services .
I seem to remember a figure of £1500 per day for that class of car and only company account or certain credit cards to be able to hire them plus over 25s only .
Our two probably spent most of their working life doing display work or giving birthday trips .
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