When Ferruccio Lamborghini decided that the marque needed a new bull in the bullring, his top designer, Marcello Gandini, threw away the blueprints for the suave lines of the Miura and developed an edgier profile – the ‘Italian Wedge,’ the first-ever car to feature scissor, or ‘Lambo’ doors. The prototype was christened LP 500, but was soon renamed ‘Countach’ – an exclamation of awe in an Italian dialect.
This 1973 Countach LP 400 is the earliest surviving prototype created to develop the Countach model. This car was painted red with a black interior and launched in March 1973 at the Geneva Motor Show. The car was repainted green (Verde Medio), over a light green interior (Verde Chiaro), and was shown at the Paris Show, followed by Frankfurt and Earls Court, London. This is the Countach that was photographed for the first Countach brochure, was featured in CAR Magazine, UK, in 1973, and was used as the master model for every Countach that followed. Subsequent to the car’s debut, it was purchased by Rene Leimer, 49% shareholder in Lamborghini, and shipped to Switzerland. In 2000, this Countach was discovered in a barn in Switzerland where ti had been stored for years. Automobili Lamborghini acquired the Countach in 2004, 30 years after its initial ownership.
