Auction 1979 Lamborghini Countach LP400S Series 1 ‘Lowbody’ | 1-of-1 Livery, Impeccably Maintained

spspspeechless

 

Series One. Lowbody. The Holy Grail.

 

i;m not a lambo guy but that car is insane.....WOW......unreal lines. GLWA

 

Not Enough superlatives on Earth for this...But if I had to pick one......Penultimate

 

The fabled Stage III Stewart Warner gauges as appointed in just 27 Countach LP400S S1s, grown men go misty-eyed over these, if you know, you know.

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Game Over.

The proper way to arrive at next year's Lamborghini 60th Anniversary will be in this S1.

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Lamborghini History.

Just over 43 years ago, here's the brand new 1121046 ready at the Lamborghini factory on April the 26th 1979 shortly after it had been final-tested by Valentino Balboni (who has now signed the car all these years later), this image was taken by USA owner Dr Gene Boston who was there to collect his own new Countach S S1 1034 which is on EE plates in the foreground, it's amazing this image exists by random impeccable timing, image copyright JSC.

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Black Bull on the Farm.

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Good luck with the sale.

Incredibly scarce Lowbody that does not often come up for sale.

 

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

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define low body

 

Great question!

So for all LP400S from chassis number 1121002 Walter Wolf's Prototype LP400S Series One to the final Series Two 1121310, the Countach LP400S was specified with not just a low suspension ride-height setting which is quite obvious when compared with all later 5 liter Countachs such as the LP500S and QV, but the bodies of the earlier cars were slimmer as well.

Some time ago a couple of Countach owners were able to put an LP400S S1 Lowbody next to a later car and take measurements of their respective body dimensions. The conclusion was the fact that, interior floor-to-roof dimensions of the Lowbody are almost 1.8 inches lower or smaller than that of the later Countachs, and further, the lower side sills to roof dimension is almost 2.2 inches lower or smaller on the Lowbody. Accordingly the glass area of the doors are correspondingly taller on the the later cars. What this translates to in profile is the fact that the Lowbody has a sleeker or lower side profile, sitting as it does 40.8 inches from the ground, that's low!

The practical downside of this is the fact that the Lowbody requires a thoughtful pilot to prevent it from bottoming out on some roads, and one who is preferably less than 6 feet tall. That said, I have personally owned 3 Lowbodies (1121034, 1121036 & 1121038) and whereas I would describe the cockpit space as snug for my 6' 2" frame, I was able to recline in the way that one might when driving a race car and effectively enjoy them.

When Mimram took over Automobili Lamborghini in the early 80s, his factory created a new Countach body template with more space in the cockpit and an increased ride height for purposes of practicality and to make the Countach less hardcore and more user-friendly, this started from 1121312.

Bear in mind that 'Lowbody' is a created expression in Countach parlance, an unofficial moniker given to this highly desirable variant of Countach by owners and enthusiasts over the years, one which has become part of popular car culture in the same was as Ducktail, Shortnose, Gullwing and other unofficial monikers are used to describe certain other iconic makes & models.

Here below is a rough comparison between a 5 liter QV Downdraft FLA12863 and a Lowbody, our subject car 1121046 which gives a general illustrative idea of the above, you can actually see that the later red car has a taller body.

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Look at the difference in height of the glass area of the doors.

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One other distinct and oh-so-cool feature of the S1 Lowbody is the way the narrower front track positions the wheels more inset than the later cars, mimicking a period F1 car which was in fact Walter Wolf's inspiration as he told it to me when I spoke with him in person some years ago. Here's our former 1121034 illustrating the point.

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Narrow front track of 1046 illustrated.

One thing I have noticed about driving a Lowbody versus a later 5 liter car is the former aided by smaller dimension 205 series tires has pin-sharp steering that feels kart-like, so the overall handling of a Lowbody with lower suspension and narrower front track makes it a fabulous Countach through any twisties. You also 'feel' you are sitting a bit lower to the ground because you really are.

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So you got me curious...if this is the penultimate, what's the ultimate?

 

MIURA SV 1972

 

Like This Ultimate
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Of interest, the LP400S S1 is 3 times as rare as the Miura SV.

Beautiful, our former 4870 which by the way was built in 1971, many fond family memories.

 

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