Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5

Frankly, I don't (yet) know the answer to that question, but, when you look at the piece with its angular planes & trapezoidal shapes, it certainly compliments the car and has become an iconic Countach detail as with the LP400's 'periscope' roof for example, I sometimes find myself staring at it.

Al Copeland, founder of Popeyes Chicken fast food empire, correct, FLA12835 sat in the showroom for years, it has just over 9,000 miles to date

Copeland was a rather flamboyant personality, and stories abound about his love affair with speed on both land & water.

Around the time he received his new Countach, he tasked a noted superboat builder with a project to create a quad-engined aluminum catamaran capable of triple-digit speeds so he could rule the Class Offshore series. The design team reported that team boat's creation involved many late night parties, luxury accommodations, beautiful design 'assistants', limousines, fast cars, and an F1 aerodynamicist.

This was the result, seen here competing @ Nassau, the Bahamas

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FWIW as a little bit of trivia, Al was responsible for sponsoring the New Orleans leg of the World Championship Super Boat races, sometimes competing in Popeyes 1, a later boat

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Period image of the man himself behind the wheel of his luxury motorhome, no doubt at speed

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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but, I do believe the showroom is long gone, most of the contents dispersed by auction.

That said, his FLA12835 exists in superb condition, a testament to the men & women @ Sant Agata who built these cars

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Interesting, it figures.

Six! I get the impression that there was a fair amount of experimentation going on.

Back on topic, I now have two separate sets of the new generation Pirelli Cinturato P7 to compare, both on restored cars

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Lots of differences.

Even though the 2 cars are the same variant of Countach, you can see the production differences from MY 1985 to MY 1986, and of course, all the individual specification differences between the cars.

When I've spent some time with them, I'll make a list.

The one thing the differences remind me of is the fact that we are dealing with cars that were truly hand-built, and as such they maintain their individuality all these years later even after they have been restored.

 

That's correct, and FLA12835 being a very early car will certainly have the Lamborghini trans, I'll be sure report on this

 

JLA12307 cruising, surely close to 200,000 kms by now

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That's a useful timeline

 

Proving yet again that a wing on a Countach is not an entirely useless appendage.

Pic by Dan Pluck

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Le Mans Classic road trip

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There is a good reason they went to the ZF unit

Thanks for this, great images!