Countach, the ultimate supercar

Hi - who was the original owner (which LP500S)? Yes, I know the car - let me know the owner and I'll dig out the VIN.

 

mmm,
red with cream/tan

F920 OYR no wing / with skirt

F924 OYR with wing & skirt

WHITE/ BLUE

E181 LYY with wing & skirt

E176 BGO with wing & skirt blue interior same owner since 1995.

BLACK /CREAM

F925 OYR with wing & skirt ( original owner)

 

If I may offer some advice. I think that doing work yourself is a great thing and I always do my best to turn my own wrenches wherever I can. That said there are certain jobs where experience counts for much more than all the good will and common sense you may wish to apply to a problem. Interior and leather work is certainly one of these areas.

I for one would do all the stripping and fiberglass repair myself as you have done and leave the final leather installation to a pro. Someone with lots of experience will understand where is the best place to choose the leather from the hide, how best to align the grain for it to stretch properly where it needs to. In addition they have the correct tools to sew the material (a home sewing machine is too weak for the thread required on proper leather) and to thin it where necessary to best round corners. Lastly they will use the glues and techniques required to avoid future shrinking and separation.

I have seen lots of DIY jobs look great at first but the leather was not tensioned properly and shrank very quickly. I am all for saving a buck and learning a new skill but be aware that this will come at a cost and the dash of a Countach is probably not the best canvas to practice on.

 

A minor correction if I may - E 181 LYY was white/white, I know because Vahe Melkonian, the car's first owner was a good friend and we rode together a few times when the car was new, including some hot laps around Goodwood.

 

I forget his name, but the LP500S he owned which he traded in circa 1988 was the Blu Acapulco 12554. See below.
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My understanding is that the car was sold to Australia by a dealer, and the UK owner was not paid.

I wonder if he filed a stolen car report, and I wonder if the Aus owner knows these circumstances?

 

Can you elaborate?

 

Sure Joe.

Remember I'm not expert like you but I'll do my best.

Without even seeing the car in person, here are my observations:

USA exhaust valance still affixed
USA side markers still affixed
USA front splitter & driving lamps still affixed
25th Anniversario front bumper affixed - wrong for variant
Mismatched tires (fronts Falkens, rears Pirellis) - safety issue and also a 20k deduction.
Scratched & pitted wheel rims surfaces <<<< give me those for my gotti ridden car take the white ones that are not pitted and paint them gold. issue solved.
Dashboard leather shrinkage 5k deduction
Aftermarket non-original shift knob <<< oOooO just like mine another 5k deduction
Aftermarket (Pioneer) non-original radio <<<<< what's up with that Kitty Cat at least mine has alpine.
Transmission tunnel leather stained peepee satins?
Driver seat cracked leather 5k deduction
Chassis ID plate damaged <<<<< how much deduction for that? yikes
Door sill kick-plate aftermarket non-original logos <<<< ???pimp my ride edition??? The lamborgini lamborgini edition? That's so ghetto it's not even funny.
Gauge glass has mildew champainge party?
Headliner driver-side stained <<<< Guido's grease! 5k deduction.
Aftermarket non-original air-hoses <<<< ah oh non OEM 5k deduction
Engine bay dirty
Manifold logos in non-original red <<<< 5k deduction
Front trunk bay surface corrosion <<<< why is it so wet in there it looks like you're missing a panel or two.
Missing tools <<<< 2k deduction
Rear trunk drain peeling paint
Bull badge askew
License plate holder overspray
Missing rear panel silicone
Kitty Cat logo on the windshield how tacky typical used car salesman crap, look at me I sell used cars. SO WHAT.

If the above is the way it is....... I can only imagine the mechanical condition of this car.

If I was buying this car I wouldnt pay more than 50k. I only buy carb'd cars so I wouldnt be in the market for something like this.

If I missed anything feel free to chime in. Keep in mind I'm not eggspert this is just a rookie observation.

 

I thought about the same thing when I did mine, but when you remove the rear side lamp, you still have the big front one there. To do it properly you have to get the front fenders welded, painted etc. to except the euro front side lamp. Before you know it you will be painting the whole car

The funky valance on Roys car is the factory one. I chose a slightly different route
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That looks much better and closer to the 5000s.

When I paint my car I'm going to remove those US side markers and do it right.

Right now everyone is telling me not to touch the original paint because I want to remove the US mandated minor items and fix the minor wing bubbling in the middle.

I'm going to kick it around for a couple months and decide to paint or not to paint.

I probably never noticed a valance on Kitty Cat's car because I was too focused on those ugly rear bumpers.

 

Yep, you are right white/white the other is blue me not separating them.

 

Here's F919OYR in all its glory. 1998 at Goodwood.
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WOW!!!!! Thanks for that Joe really stoked to see it new, I was 13 a month later. Do you have any more info or pics?????

 

Is that black car a pantera GT-5?

 

No. It is a GT5S.

 

I can see that you have put a lot of effort into this valance - rivets & mesh screens in the theme of the European/ROW item, very cool, certainly an improvement over the USA item.

I think side-markers are fine because even today they are a safety item. They have never bothered me. After all, you can never get a USA car 100% Eu spec, because the engine and engine bay cover will remain USA spec.

When I restored my Miura SV 4884 (the first USA spec SV), it never even crossed my mind to mess with the original recessed side-markers and I thought they belonged as part of the car. http://www.joesackey.com/Galleria/Factory%20publicity%20&%20USA%20prototype%20SV%20(4884)/

The main thing with Europeanizing a Countach is to make sure that the tail & nose are both returned to basic Eu/ROW spec. When the tail & nose are not both completed to match, it looks like the owner didn't have the time &/or resources to see it through completely. Mostly, it just doesn't look right.

Looks like you have done some quality work there, I'd love to see your car in person.

 

Leo, I viewed the link 1988 Lamborghini Countach - a set on Flickr

Anything can be corrected, fixed, refurbished, repaired or restored. Having said that, I can see everything you point out, and more besides. When inspecting any car, the general rule of thumb is that you'll find more in person than you can see in pictures.

From a safety standpoint, I'd want to know the date code on the tires, and personally would never operate any car at speed with mixed brands.

Price valuation is subjective, of course.

As regards mechanical condition, I have covered this a few posts ago and the same applies. I'd want to know:

- What maintenance records does the car have from its manufacture to the present day, covering all the maintenance services?
- What issues has this particular car had besides regular maintenance, were they resolved, if so how?
- I'd like to see a current inspection report showing condition of all electricals, fuel system, all mechanicals including engine leak-down & compression, a report on the tires including date code, any leaks noted, smoking upon cold start or operating temperature noted, and last but not least, a road test report including acceleration, braking, going through all the gears testing synchros, clutch operation etc.

Standard stuff you should know before you pull the trigger on any Countach. Match all the above information with the best price it can be bought for and decide.

Best,

 

Got to love moms that keep all your stuff for you... Been looking for this for a long time Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That black car looks sinister!

 

When I'm done I'm sure there's going to be plenty of pictures from the festival.

You're more than welcome to pick mine apart.

I spoke to my mechanic's partner an hour ago and they assure me that it'll be properly tuned for Balboni's drive. .... and not to stress out.

As you can see by my posts over the last couple of days I am basically going around the clock with little to no sleep.

Right now as I'm typing this I'm putting my 5th coat of that yellow zinc primer on the Paddy Hopkirk wiper spoiler that just got from the UK.

Next I'm going to hit it with 3 coats of the Krylon super flat black camo followed by 2 coats of satin black and finally 2 coats of satin clear to give it that sheen like the rest of the wiper.

I got that semi gloss satin flat finish down to a science. It's like 20% semi gloss satin.

The good thing about this wiper wing if I don't like it I can take it off. No screws no rivets.

....And it's not a cheap made in China piece of garbage. It actually came off of one of Paddy's historic race cars and it's made of ultra light and ultra thin aluminum.
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Can someone tell me the date code to my NOS 205 P7's?

I have NOS 205's 225's and 195's all P7's

I'm probably going to use the 225's for the drive with Balboni in order to save my 205's for show only.

Joe if you only had two choices what would you use? P7 195's or 225's?

All my rare tires are properly stored in my closet which is like a humidor. lol

I was also contemplating on ordering some new modern 205 50 15's Pzero from the UK tomorrow for safety's sake.

Everyone has been telling me to make sure I only have p7's all the way around when I take it to the festival.
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If you post pictures of the date code sure ;-)

The relevant letter/number sequence is prepended with "DOT" and normally starts with two letters like "XA' (indicating the mfg plant) and ends with the date code.

-mick

 

205's dot xb a6 xkay 254

225's dot xb bu xkay 387

 

Without pics, odds are:

205's dot xb a6 xkay 254 = PIRELLI TYRE SPA, SETTIMO TORINO ITALY June 1984
225's dot xb bu xkay 387 = PIRELLI TYRE SPA, SETTIMO TORINO ITALY September 1987

-mick

 

OOooOo my car was built in very late May to very early June 1984. = )

Thanks!