Countach, the ultimate supercar

May I add some words about the gorgeous #1120292...

No car is nor was perfect, ever. We all (should) know this.
However, talking about the LP400 production, most of them 150 cars are definitely not in original condition anymore.
Over the past four decades, many of them were resprayed, some with the interior redone, some others were completely bastardised to the then-trends and local fashions (Japan stlyle, S-style, Wolf-style, etc.).
And when it comes to restoring/refurbishing them, many of them were not restored correctly (for example #1120044, #1120162, #1120200, #1120210... are some big fails that could have been easilly avoided, using available resources or asking the right knowledgeable people).

Only a very very few LP400 can be called "nearly-original condition" and #1120292 is undoubtedly one of them best's.

The asking price might seem a bit too optimistic for some.
All I can say is you certainly won't find any other "original" Red LP400 as well-preserved as this one.

Also come to my mind probably the Red with Blue interior #1120232 (that spent all its life on the French Riviera), the Thaiti Blue #1120066, the Rio Verde #1120012 and maybe the Blue Notte #1120070 as the few other LP400 to be kept almost as "well-preserved and nearly-original" as #1120292. There may be some other ones.
Someday when the green #1120034 will be refurbished just what it needs, it might become one of the very best original LP400... but, who knows...
For the moment, the award may go to #1120292.
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Good you mention it!
The period photos I shared were selected to show caulking... and they are certainly misleading regaring the reflectors!
Those pics were scans of period photos and magazine articles, the quality is not good enough to clearly see the pattern.
I'm not 100% certain, but as far as I know, those patterned reflectors were already standard for the whole LP400 production.

[the oldest photo below is the 7th (orange LP400 showing black countach script), late-1975 or early-1976]
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You're welcome.

Yes, low-res images from 1974 - 1978. Good enough to see the differences of caulking treatments though. Yet I wouldn't use them for making a book nowadays.
Actually it's really difficult to find hi-res period photos of particular details...

To answer your other question about red tape affixed to the exhaust tips of some cars:
Looking at my files, I've never seen any Countach having them from new.
Certainly not original.

 

Joe,

I've noticed this car has a digital dashboard nowadays. Do you know if it was fitted later or came like that from factory?

cheers,

Nando

 

I've got a question for the experts. I was told 1121116 was the first 400s to be painted argento. I've read where lamborghini used a silver Countach (w/flag styled mirrors) along side a turbo v12 engine for the Frankfurt auto show back in 1979(?). Could 1121116 be the Frankfurt show car? Thanks

 

Thanks Joe!

Great info, as usual

 

Yes. Post-production from B+B in Germany.

From my understanding of German language, this dashboard modification was done by the second owner, from Mainz in Germany, in April 1982.

However, according to this post: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/141186553-post11794.html, it seems like this particular dashboard might have been installed soon after delivery in 1978...
I really don't know what to think.

Joe, did Mr. Wolf ever tell you anything about it?
I may ask the current owner in Japan, who met Walter Wolf last year, if he knows.

 

It would be interesting to know how the reliability was of that digital dash.

Hopefully it doesn't have the reputation of the digital dash of the 1980's Aston Martin Lagonda!

Mike

 

#1121116 (LP400S "S2") was actually the second LP400S painted Argento Metallizzato.
There was one LP400S "series 1" #1121084 from July 1979.

#1121116 couldn't have been the 79' Frankfurt Show car for the simple reason the car was completed in December 1979, while the IAA was in September.

I read somewhere in F-Chat it was actually #1121176, a Wallace-Turbo LP400S (originally Red when new) but I think it is not possible either, as that car was not ready before Spring 1980!

If this is an original Argento Countach S we can see on this photo, it could only be #1121084, delivered to Hubert Hahne on July 27th 1979.
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Rather unlikely, BB presented DINFOS to the public in 1979 as to my knowledge.

Aside this, I do not believe that DINFOS showed speed in "lightyears/parsec" (as indicated in your linked post), aside the fact that both is a distance, not a speed .

BB was not just a "tuner", but had an own development center. Aside the DINFOS system they developed the remote IR locking system, functional steering wheel (with buttons for various functions, patented), and parking sensor systems. Also a kind of early CAN functionality was developed (e.g. for the steering wheel, wherein all added functions were transmitted via the horn cable, see https://data.epo.org/publication-server/pdf-document?pn=0153434&ki=B1&cc=EP, English claim 1 and Fig. 1, inventor Rainer Buchmann was head of BB). Many developments were adopted by the mayor manufacturers later and after expiry of patent rights.

They went bancrupt in the mid 80s.

Cheers, Bernhard

 

Indeed!

Thank you for those precisions!

 

Thanks Vic, the build date makes sense. Thanks for your time.

 

That dash looks pretty cool in my opinion, I can only imagine the reaction back in the day it was done as if the site of a Countach was not enough then you add this. Holy Moly!

 

Can anybody kindly post a close-up of the wiper on the windscreen of a LP400 or LP400s? I'm looking for the plating/color detail as well as the top nut shape...

 

The article from the 1979 Frankfurt motor show is the only thing I've ever found about #1121084.

 

The DINFOS system apparently indeed worked and I never read a story stating that it were fault-prone. It was used in various cars.

Somewhat different than the Aston Martin Lagonda system (1. series), where many of the problems were due to sensor buttons instead of electromechanical buttons. DINFOS used conventional buttons as switches.

Good that it was/is retained. It is quite contemporary and imho indeed makes the car even more spacey (for those times).

Cheers, Bernhard