Countach

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Discussion

Martin350

3,775 posts

196 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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rat rod said:
Is that Mike Lakes Daytona ? I missed the boat on the Daytona , instead of paying £4,800 for my first Ferrari 308 GT4 i should have put the same amount down as deposit on one, There was a silver one for sale in my home town that was owned by a hairdresser and left it night and day on the forecourt of his salon in not the best part of town,he was asking £7,500 but i was driving round in my daily £450 excuse for a E type at the time and probably could have bought a house for that.Some years later after graduating to some proper Ferrari's purchased mainly from Maranello's the sales director Mark Konig took me out in a plexiglass model with a asking price of £19,500, One owner from new (The chairman of the Ferrari Owners Club) had a colour change from i would say more a cherry red to traditional red (Where are you slippydiff ) and all going on on a Saterday morning when they only opened to 12 o'clock with only one member of staff .With the showroom locked we went for blast,firstly with Mark driving then my turn,As Mark had raced for Ferrari and had built his own racing car called the Nomad i was a little apprehensive and nervous of making a cock up but i got used to it fairly quickly ,although a big heavy car compared to what i had at the time (a 308 GTB ) it felt like it needed to be taken by the scruff of the neck and driven not unlike my scruffy E type and even scruffier DB4 i had some time before the 308's,but not my car and with Mark in the passenger seat i behaved myself.We were out for some time but felt like minutes and then i had to hand the keys back.I remember this in the same way you remember going in Mike Lakes Countach .
Yes it is, although I seem to remember him wearing a black crash helmet, so I think he might be the passenger in those photos, it wouldn't surprise me.

Values of Daytonas, and everything else, went crazy around the time these photos were taken. They went quickly from around, I think, about £70k up to about £350k. Then we hit recession and the supercar market collapsed and values went right back down again, but if you weren't planning on selling the car, I suppose it didn't much matter.

And in recent years values have gone crazy again!



Edited by Martin350 on Sunday 19th July 02:14

rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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Martin350 said:
Yes it is, although I seem to remember him wearing a black crash helmet, so I think he might be the passenger in those photos, it wouldn't surprise me.

Values of Daytonas, and everything else, went crazy around the time these photos were taken. They went quickly from around, I think, about £70k up to about £350k. Then we hit recession and the supercar market collapsed and values went right back down again, but if you weren't planning on selling the car, I suppose it didn't much matter.

And in recent years values have gone crazy again!



Edited by Martin350 on Sunday 19th July 02:14
(quote..I seemed to remember him wearing a black helmet,) Wow you got good a memory,how many years ago was that.I can remember the smallest of details of unimportant things going way back but can never remember anything important like birthdays,anniversaries but ask me something to do with cars i used to own or someone else's for that matter,car meets, i can remember them like yesterday.Not sure if that's a good thing ,probably not !

minster

37 posts

124 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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Martin , re LP400,, its funny how the smallest of details stick in your mind, it was Good Friday 1976 i went out in it. My dad made an arrangement with the owner as he knew him, so i walked round to his house and went out in it. Later on that year i went on the Lamborghini stand at Earls Court with my Dad, and mentioned that i had been out in one, and he asked ' where do you live?' , i replied Bolton, and immediately he said the owners name. It turns out i was speaking to Maltin Car concessionaires co- owner Rodney Turner, so i left him my name and address, and he sent me a Countach poster in the post, what a guy !! Happy days.

rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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Martin350 said:
I loved the Panteras!

They sounded like thunder, the noise of those things blasting around Castle Combe is a great childhood memory! smile

In case you don't know, those track days were organised in conjunction with the Lamborghini Club UK and the De Tomaso Club UK, other stuff was welcome too, and it was always a fantastic turnout and variety of cars.
I'd not long had my current 308 GTB and was developing it as a track car and needed somewhere to test what we had so far done and thought it a good idea to take it on a DE Tomaso track day at Castle Coombe probably around the mid 90's, don't think it was much to do with the Lamborghini club not like the ones held there previously in the early 90's but as you said there was a vast mix of cars anyway including Lambo's. Apart from the lunch time parade lap i was disappointed to see only one Pantera participating with mainly Ferrari's, Coswotths , Porsches
and other oddballs taking up the track ,most owners being content to have a picnic behind their cars which i thought strange barring in mind it was a De Tomaso track day organised by them for their members to have some fun, maybe they were to full from their lunch. When it was done as a joint effort with the Lamboghini club i have seen three or four Pantera 's on track ,maybe the Lambo boys were edging them on. shame really as they look and sound fantastic on the track.

Ian.C

39 posts

180 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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In response to Minsters post.
The 70s really were different times.

Living in the North of England, Lamborghini sightings were incredibly rare ( to this day I can recall all the sightings)
Even books and magazines had limited Lamborghini content.
A trip to the London Earl's Court Motor Show was often the only time I would see Lamborghinis, except for the extremely rare sighting.
I was fortunate to see 1120094 around 1976 twice, and on both occasions it was blasting down the East Lancs Road ( I was totally gobsmacked).
A few years ago I saw the car again painted silver and then again for sale in orange.
The colour choice was the owners I believe, but like Minster I would love to see back in Tahiti blu.






yzr500

204 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2020
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rat rod said:
I'd not long had my current 308 GTB and was developing it as a track car and needed somewhere to test what we had so far done and thought it a good idea to take it on a DE Tomaso track day at Castle Coombe probably around the mid 90's, don't think it was much to do with the Lamborghini club not like the ones held there previously in the early 90's but as you said there was a vast mix of cars anyway including Lambo's. Apart from the lunch time parade lap i was disappointed to see only one Pantera participating with mainly Ferrari's, Coswotths , Porsches
and other oddballs taking up the track ,most owners being content to have a picnic behind their cars which i thought strange barring in mind it was a De Tomaso track day organised by them for their members to have some fun, maybe they were to full from their lunch. When it was done as a joint effort with the Lamboghini club i have seen three or four Pantera 's on track ,maybe the Lambo boys were edging them on. shame really as they look and sound fantastic on the track.
Back in the 1970.s in deepest Dagenham my mates friend Mr Baron had a DeTomaso registration 10PA (temper)

rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Monday 20th July 2020
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yzr500 said:
Back in the 1970.s in deepest Dagenham my mates friend Mr Baron had a DeTomaso registration 10PA (temper)
Nice number looks familiar ,maybe seen it at Goodwood or Castle Coombe at some time,Will have to look though some old photo's . Like you Jim i've had so many exotic cars or super cars as they are know now and not being a rich person have driven them with a little apprehension at times waiting for that day when that red oil light comes on and the oil pressure needle disappears on the bottom of the gauge, accompanied by some nasty knocking noises, a bit of a worry especially when there was little value to these cars in relation to the cost of a engine rebuild, back then, nowadays less of a problem due to the high value of the cars and a rebuild although high would be a small percentage of the cars worth. This is where the De Tomaso makes so much sense ,although the 351 V8 is pretty bullet proof if it did let go a crate 300 hp 351 V8's can be had for as little as £2,532 and a 425 hp 408 stroker with aluminum heads for £5,091 both subject to duty and shipping so no second mortgage required .



Edited by rat rod on Tuesday 21st July 01:50

David_T

115 posts

81 months

Monday 20th July 2020
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Martin350 said:
I loved the Panteras!

They sounded like thunder, the noise of those things blasting around Castle Combe is a great childhood memory! smile

In case you don't know, those track days were organised in conjunction with the Lamborghini Club UK and the De Tomaso Club UK, other stuff was welcome too, and it was always a fantastic turnout and variety of cars.
Martin350 - In case you missed the Pantera pictures at one of the combined track days at Castle Combe in April 1988, here's the link:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Sorry to the Lamborghini guys, there are only pictures of the Panteras there.

footsoldier

2,258 posts

193 months

Monday 20th July 2020
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Mike Pullen still going strong...my car came back from Carrera Sport last week after having the engine out for a proper sort of various leaks. As always, it’s running brilliantly after Mike has worked on it.

Looking back, it’s funny to think I bought the car in 2013 on the back of a post at the start of this thread!

LP400S, just turned 40...black plates and original spec P7s look and feel good.



Pic @hf04_automotive

Edited by footsoldier on Monday 20th July 11:51

rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Tuesday 21st July 2020
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Martin350 said:
I loved the Panteras!

They sounded like thunder, the noise of those things blasting around Castle Combe is a great childhood memory! smile

In case you don't know, those track days were organised in conjunction with the Lamborghini Club UK and the De Tomaso Club UK, other stuff was welcome too, and it was always a fantastic turnout and variety of cars.
They are a great car ,a Lamborghini without the pitfalls of the maintenance and cost of parts , and the noise ,sounds like armageddon arrived.I have owned American cars for years and still do (sorry guys i know it's a super car thread ,just humour me) .Absolutely love the simplicity of them with there tractor mechanics ,more like a big Morris Minors,no they don't stop or handle well in standard form and to hustle them round corners is a real challenge which makes a change from some of todays super/sports cars that sometimes do it all too well and you feel as a driver a bit left out,now with the Pantera you have the best of both worlds ,Dare i say it,it's an Italian hot rod. I had two Pantera's way before the dizzy prices they are now,both needing some work,one was early car l.h.d that had left the factory as a narrow body car but was later fitted with factory wheel arches and a wing with the wider wheels to match,bought it as a none runner. Remember hiring a trailer to collect it and we couldn't get it on as the wheels were to wide for it so had to leave it there after a 160 mile round trip with a empty trailer both ways,had to get a truck to bring it back. The second was another early car but a original narrow bodied car with relatively narrow wheels.This also needed work as it had been standing for a while after it's one lady owner had died, UK r.h.d car and had only covered 26,000 miles, needed a clutch,it overheated and wanted a repaint as the previous one looked like it had been done with a vacuum cleaner, With a building project to finance i sold both cars as they were, apart from getting the winged car running and m.o.t'd the narrow body car so at least managed to drive it once or twice even with a slipping clutch and engine getting a little warm. Yet another regret but ha ho on to the next one on the wish list,funny thing is after all these years it hasn't got any shorter.Apologies for going off thread but not so much now because values have grown but back then the Pantera was considered the poor mans Countach.

minster

37 posts

124 months

Tuesday 21st July 2020
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ian.c........ think i mentioned this before , the owner of the LP400 had his head office in Leigh, so the EAST LANCS was probably his best route to work.... he had great cars all the time, BMW CSL, Rolls Royce shadow, and the like.

Enu koro

6 posts

46 months

Tuesday 21st July 2020
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Martin350 said:
I believe this was Denise Pearson's 88.5, F925OYR in front of it, at the back of Portman's.




Here is 5555DP again, seen on the inner sleeve of the album 'Rock the World' (1988). The car is quite well known, but whose was the red LM002 in the background?


rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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Anyone seen this on the "SUPERCARS MONACO TV " You Tube Channel " HOW TO BUY A LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH " with Lain Tyrrell giving the Countach background , history and advise. can't believe i missed this one,just fell over it by accident today. Still haven't got a clue how to link it so if someone can do the honours.

cgt2

7,101 posts

189 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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rat rod said:
Anyone seen this on the "SUPERCARS MONACO TV " You Tube Channel " HOW TO BUY A LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH " with Lain Tyrrell giving the Countach background , history and advise. can't believe i missed this one,just fell over it by accident today. Still haven't got a clue how to link it so if someone can do the honours.
Indeed, it's great!

https://youtu.be/cB4spd6pXJw

rich888

2,610 posts

200 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
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footsoldier said:
Mike Pullen still going strong...my car came back from Carrera Sport last week after having the engine out for a proper sort of various leaks. As always, it’s running brilliantly after Mike has worked on it.

Looking back, it’s funny to think I bought the car in 2013 on the back of a post at the start of this thread!

LP400S, just turned 40...black plates and original spec P7s look and feel good.



Pic @hf04_automotive

Edited by footsoldier on Monday 20th July 11:51
footsoldier, you did good, your Countach looks stunning, I can't believe it's 40 years old. The black plates and Pirelli P7 tyres really do finish it off rather well.

jakesmith

9,461 posts

172 months

Friday 31st July 2020
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I love them, always have, but I feel alone in Thinking they are pig ugly? Brutal. At least they’re small.
The shape, styling and utter craziness of it plus it’s purity as a drive, are as good as it gets but i can’t say it’s a beauty like a Miura or Murci

rat rod

4,997 posts

66 months

Friday 31st July 2020
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jakesmith said:
I love them, always have, but I feel alone in Thinking they are pig ugly? Brutal. At least they’re small.
The shape, styling and utter craziness of it plus it’s purity as a drive, are as good as it gets but i can’t say it’s a beauty like a Miura or Murci
You could be wright,never looked at it that way. No it's not got that feminine beauty like the Miura or the Dino and is definitely not a pretty car but is so outrageous it just works ,in fact you could say it's quirky ugliness is what makes it beautiful in a purposeful way.

thegreenhell

15,403 posts

220 months

Friday 31st July 2020
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jakesmith said:
... but i can’t say it’s a beauty like a Miura or Murci
That's the first time I've ever seen a Murci described as a beauty, and in the same sentence as a Miura...

I do somewhat agree about the Coutach though, but it's purposeful, wonderful and I love it anyway.

jakesmith

9,461 posts

172 months

Friday 31st July 2020
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thegreenhell said:
jakesmith said:
... but i can’t say it’s a beauty like a Miura or Murci
That's the first time I've ever seen a Murci described as a beauty, and in the same sentence as a Miura...

I do somewhat agree about the Coutach though, but it's purposeful, wonderful and I love it anyway.
I know what you’re saying but I feel that from the murci onwards they nailed the minimal wedge shape, where as the Countache reminds me of a 1980’s ghettoblaster with bits and bobs all over it. Just to be clear though, I still love it.

cgt2

7,101 posts

189 months

Friday 31st July 2020
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I always remember the statistic that the Countach had an atrocious drag coefficient which always surprised me with the car being a wedge though admittedly I am not Adrian Newey. I wonder if the early cars were better before all the later S addenda (which I love btw).