Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5

Great to learn that! Thanks a lot!

 

ZF 'box in original form.

They tried their best to make it look like it belongs in a tractor!
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In 1986, the Press sometimes could not get their hands on a new Downdraft so earlier models were occasionally used.

Did most people know the difference?

Top Wheels November/December 1986
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Does anyone know if the sports exhausts fitted by the works in 1986 had Ansa stickers affixed? (they definitely did not have the red tape that is so popular these days!)
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No idea what my son is looking for!

The interior is in the process of final installation and you can see the contrast between Panna and Bordeaux Speciale.
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The dashboard went in & out a number of times for fitment & adjusting, its amazing to think how the cars were built as quickly as they were back in the day!
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We know the 'box' exhausts had the stickers and no red tape... I'm looking for confirmation with the sports exhaust when new.
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Don't forget to mention that the factory used plasticine at the A-Pillar under the leather to fit the dashboard perfectly and get round shapes.

Is it still the leather from this time Lamborghini Countach #GLA12997 Purchase on the dashboard?

 

Luis our upholsterer found a good solution to make the A-pillar padding nicely-rounded & consistent. I gave him free reign to work on it as long as it takes or as many times as is needed to make it perfect.

Images to follow.

Regarding the leather, Raymond everything throughout the car has been restored, refurbished or renewed. If the leather looks similar, thats a huge compliment to us because we took great pains to match it! We found leather that is the correct thickness, grain & sheen, not the matt thick type that everyone seems to want to use these days that is not correct-for-period.
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Update: the engine and transmission are in the car!

Meanwhile, I've been poring over old images of original cars as we want to make sure the exhaust has the correct closeness to the rear exhaust shield, optimum angle upward angle of the tip’s extrusion, and proper centering of the unit.

Of course it will be ceramic finished in the correct satin black.
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A nice snug fitment of the exhaust makes all the difference to the rear end's presentation, and the tips will extrude at an angle slightly upward as correct-for-spec
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Hi Joe, I am not sure where this came from, probably from one of your earlier posts, if not it may help with alignment. Do Keep up the excellent coverage of your restore its awesome.
Graeme
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And this pic may help. it's a 5000 so probably similar to your qv, and had only done 715km so should be unmolested.
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Thanks Graeme.

That is a section of DGM 14753 OM, one of the collection of technical illustrations for the Downdraft given to me by Ing. Luigi Marmiroli.

This 'box' muffler is said to restrict maximum sound level to 87.5 decibels according to the full diagram's notes.

The sport exhaust is a little bit louder!

 

Yeah, big difference in sound!

I believe I published these before but could not locate them. So, here they are again. A comparison I did between my original 0EM ANSA Box unit and the new Quicksilver Sport stainless steel exhaust.

OEM Ansa Box:
http://youtu.be/i3vrqr5UKzo

Quicksilver "Sport":
http://youtu.be/VqlLEWHMesA


Mike

 

That big 'suzy haymaker' box muffler is restrictive. Thats why I'm amazed that one of the best properly-timed (electronically) in-period tests for the Downdraft featured a car using a box muffler, yet it achieved 180 mph on the runway at Bruntingthorpe.
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With a wing....

 

Indeed!

 

Stability becomes important at speed.

 

Very true.

But at normal speeds you don't need it...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9x2OPIDREI[/ame]

 

Probably a repost, but maybe not in this section. I just came across this while watching Joe's last video. I've seen it quite a bit ago, but I feel it is really fits in there!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX1ZSXxwAok[/ame]

 

Never saw it prior, nice piece, thanks for posting it.

It has been way to long since I have driven one of our Countach cars, probably late last year. Recently sold our 89 Red one, so thought I better take one out before it or our Black one sells. The 89 may not be for everyone, but it truly is a powerful car for the times and still today. It STILL holds the attention of everyone where ever you take it.


This AM I took our one of our 89 Anniversary car to cars and coffee. I totally enjoyed it. Forgot how fun a car it is to operate. With just under 5K miles on it and its two owner history, its as if driving a BRAND NEW one off the showroom floor. Of course a full up to date service, new tires etc etc make it just easy to hit the 3 digits MPH on the freeway on the way out this AM. I also forgot how the windshield wipers start to float and bump on and off the windscreen at high speed, thats funny to see again.

May not be a DD, but boy it sure sounds great and still drives the fantastic way to just put smile on for miles. I even forgot this one had the old school Miami Vice telephone in it. We took it out and put it in the trunk for the next owner.

I can easily say, it was the most photographed car at cars and Coffee this AM. It was parked in the LAMBO row, next to a NEW Aventador Roadster and a NEW Hurracan Spyder. The new cars got NO WHERE near the attention this classic did. Just cant beat the Countach.

It was a great day to take it out and have fun.
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The Sports Car Market guys really need an education on the Countach. Always some type of mis-information with nearly every mention of the car .

 

+1 on that!!!!

Mike

 

Wow! I think Mang on this site has a phone like that. I remember the big brick phones. I had a friend get one & it was cool until the phone bill came. Don't remember how much a minute, but IIRC it was something like 50 cents a minute. LOL, you should have seen him trying to get off of it.