Countach, the ultimate supercar

FWIW looks like I added the 1975 article also...

 

Peter:

Lots of examples of Blu Notte on the Miura thread. See Miura SV 4870, and Michael Kadoorie's P400S which I recently posted which still has its original Blu Notte paint. Blu Notte was used in the LP400 production (1974 to early 1978), and the only LP400S S1 that I have on record as receiving this color is 1121028, the 164th Countach completed October the 26th 1978.

Blue Metallic has more silver in it to my eye, less of a blue-black tint.

Blu Tahiti WAS correct for LP400S S1, such as 1121016 and 1121038 (as Emilio points out) and a few others, I cant remember right now.

Your car was also originally Blu Acapulco Metallizzato which has that purplish tint as you know. Personally, I love that color, and it was used sparingly in production, all the way up to Annivesario.

 

I found some samples with PPG paint codes, just for fun, not that these colors mean anything as represented on our screens.

As arranged from left:

2-463-643 Blu Metallizzato

2-463-739 Blu Tahiti

2-463-924 Blu Acapulco
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A question for Raymond (or anyone else that knows): do you know if 1120001 has adjustable struts? Which begs the obvious question, any images?
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Fiamm 6ME5 (12V) battery as originally used in some LP400 and LP400S S.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks! That explains its stance.

 

Christian:

This is a fantastic image. Because it illustrates why they had to go from double wishbones to parallel links for the real LP400S production cars. Look at the negative camber being generated in the rear wheels through aggressive/high-speed cornering. In fact, in Wolf's first wide-wheeled car (1120148), double wishbones were still in place, as with this privateer conversion of an LP400 upon 1120022. The problem Wolf experienced was corrected by chassis genius Ingegnere Gian Paolo Dallara with 1120202, which has parallel links, and the rest as they say is history...

 

Lars-Erik: pictures please.

If it had parallel links, it indeed has a narrower total rear track than an LP400S, and judging from the pic above, they were not very effective.

When Dallara engineered the parallel link setup for the LP400S, it made it a very planted car thru turns, as owners of S1 cars will attest.

 

Sorry, Yes!

And that's the reverse of what you want. Its characteristic of the massive grip the wide tires are affording, coupled with a suspension set up (such as wishbones) that cant quite handle it.

 

Lar-Erik, 1120004 (red car below) also received S-style mods, but I'm not sure if it got the parallel links. Either way, the rear track is not fully extended as in a true LP400S, and that's visually obvious, without even measuring it. See 1120202 and 1120222 below (both definitely Dallara-engineered parallel-link cars) and you can see the rear track extends beyond the basic fender and actually also fills in the flares nicely. I'm not doubting 1120022 had parallel-links if you say so, but I'm sure the rear track was not fully extended and the same as Dallara LP400S and production LP400S, and Ive observed this also in other images of 1120022. If you have any suspension pics of 1120022 that will be good to see.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Speaking of 1120202, here it is in the restoration section at the factory getting prepped for one of its repaints.

Observe how one door, and the front bumper are stored on top of the engine. Such care & consideration...

BTW, to its left you can see the Flying Star.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

You took the words right out of my mouth!