IT CHERRY PICKS FROM THE COUNTACH BACK CATALOGUE
Mitja Borkert is on a roll. Every sheet of paper the Lamborghini chief designer touches turns into a blank cheque made out in the name of the most profitable brand in the entire Volkswagen Group. ‘Under new leadership and with a clear vision of the future, we’re going from strength to strength,’ he beams. Selling Lamborghini? ‘No longer an issue,’ says Group CEO Herbert Diess, who only three years ago could not care less about the future of ‘the toy brand’ headquartered in Emilia Romagna. Now that VW must boost its share value to fund the switch to electrification, anything helps – even if it is as noisy, extrovert and radical as this fossil-fuelled Countach LPI 800-4 reincarnation in Bianco Siderale, a colour inspired by Ferruccio’s personal LP500.
‘The original Countach is probably the ultimate classic Lamborghini,’ says Borkert, who joined Lamborghini from Porsche. ‘Nothing else takes your breath away quite like it.’
The first iteration, introduced in 1971, was designed by Marcello Gandini. At the time, the company was owned by the
Swiss investors Rossetti and Leimer, who failed to shoulder the investment it would have taken to keep the five-model portfolio going. Lamborghini went bankrupt in 1977 before French entrepreneur Patrick Mimran picked up the pieces three years later. For two years the Countach was the only product would-be buyers could order, although actual deliveries were a game of chance. In the wake of Gandini’s original, Giugiaro, de Silva, Perini and Donckerwolke all toyed with the idea of a Countach comeback, but half a century passed before Mitja Borkert finally put the legendary name back on the map.
See the two cars side by side and Gandini’s effort looks almost like a scale model compared to Borkert’s full-sized reboot. The wheels on the Mk1 are tiny, the NACA ducts feeding air to the V12 so small as to be lost in space. Inside, the tight packaging is an exercise in gross ergonomic negligence. A full 730mm shorter and a 69mm lower, the LP400 was also a massive 530 kilos lighter than its carbonfibre sequel. But the LPI 800-4 combines every key design detail – telephone-dial wheels, door vents, silhouette, louvred C-posts and ‘periscopio’ roof – into a breathtaking reinvention of a shape that still drops jaws half a century on.
Another Borkert blank cheque, then? Oh yes; 112 units at just over €2 million and all but five were sold before the car’s unveiling at The Quail in California.
Marcello Gandini of Bertone was big on geometric, wedge-shaped futurism when he began work on the Miura’s sequel (see Alfa Romeo’s Carabo and Stratos Zero). The Countach took this manifesto out into the world, and changed bedroom-wall posters forever.
⊲ LP400
First production Countach features skinny rubber, a 3.9-litre engine and a pure form. Reboot borrows its uncluttered and striking silhouette.
⊲ LP400 S
’78 update adds massively wide wheels and tyres – and stretched hexagonal wheelarch extensions over them to keep things legal. Flying V rear wing is optional; everyone takes it.
⊲ LP500 S
Engine capacity is bumped out to 4.8 litres and the interior updated. LP500S still wears trademark Campagnolo wheels, which the new car references.
⊲ LP5000 Quattrovalvole
Big engine changes; the V12’s bored and stroked to 5.2 litres and the valve count doubles (still some way o the engine of the new car, mind, which borrows from the QV’s face and front grille).
The LPI 800-4 uses ‘supercap’ hybrid power, but Lamborghini plans plug-in hybrids across the line-up by the end of 2024, starting with the Aventador successor in 2023. Tech boss Maurizio Reggiani explains more…
How’s development going?
‘I have several prototypes running with the whole system implemented. These are not Aventador mules. This is the car where you have the shape of the Aventador successor – for thermal and for cooling you need this.’
So the V12’s all-new, but still 6.5 litres?
‘Yes. 6.5 is where we have big experience with thermo-dynamic combustion, but it’s all-new because we need to change the behaviour, so the shape of the torque curve must be completely different and as much as possible switchable with the electric engine.
‘Our engineering simulations are looking at when the hybrid can give an increased contribution, and this is not only full power, but also handling [where torque can help stabilise the car]. You can also use it for different modes – so for Strada it’s mainly ignition, and in Sport it’s for performance.
‘If you engineer from scratch you can have much more eciency, starting from combustion, from a system that is managing everything, also weight, positioning and layout.’
What are the biggest challenges of integrating the V12 and hybrid? ‘Electronic integration, having something that is able to handle and manage everything. You need to take into account at the same time all the different parameters in a car, not only drivetrain, but chassis, steering…’
The Sian had supercapacitors, but this is plug-in hybrid... ‘Yes, if you want to attack CO2 dramatically you need PHEV.’
Where will the lithium-ion battery go? Sandwiched in the bulkhead? ‘In a supersports car you try to have as much as possible in the centre of the car, close to the centre of gravity. We are still in discussion but I want it in a protected area that cannot be crushed, to guarantee a high level of safety for our customers.’
Is this a lighter engine?
‘Yes. One of the major problems of hybrid is increased weight. You need to compensate and remove as much as possible [hence McLaren and Ferrari’s move to a V6]. You could make everything from titanium, but in the end you must have a profitable process, not only a rocket that seven people can buy… So, it’s the same material, same technology as today, but much more precise, more detailed.’
Is it the same bore and stroke? A larger bore/smaller stroke would allow higher revs and you could use the hybrid for extra torque… ‘It’s what you do to increase engine rpm, and you don’t need maximum torque like you do today, because you can compensate with the [instant torque of the] electric motor!’
You’re moving to a dual-clutch gearbox. Couldn’t you retain the single-clutch and use the hybrid for smoothing the shift?
‘Yes, but in terms of CO2 you need to optimise every single detail.’
The hybrid adds power, but will you increase power from the V12? ‘Everything will be more. Winkelmann was really clear – every new model must have more performance than the previous one [today it’s 769bhp!].’
Will the all-wheel drive have a mechanical connection to the front axle, or will that be purely e-motor?
‘I think we will reach the lightest solution possible. That’s already an answer without telling you yes or no!’
How many e-motors will you use, how far will it drive on e-power? ‘It’s too early to say, but we must achieve the target minus 50 per cent [CO2]. This is a lot, and every model must be a contribution.’
Did electric hypercars like the Lotus Evija with near-2000bhp change your targets?
‘You need something you can use, not something you can only spin. In the end what you put on top to have a big number you will pay for in weight. Our job is to strike the right balance between weight, output and performance. We’re working to ensure we have a Lamborghini – to be a hybrid but have the same emotion we have today.’