Criticisms About The Countach That You Actually Love About The Car

The amount of comments I hear about how horrible they are to drive. They’re really not. But if you compare to a modern day supercar then its apples to oranges. Of course, most of the comments from those who have never driven one! Idiots!

 

They're easy to drive, the negative comments come from people who can't drive.

 

This.

 

A quick comment perhaps for the uninitiated, although it obviously appears to be, I feel sure everyone reading this knows that the Countach windscreen is not flat, it has curvature through the horizontal plane which can easily be seen by observing the car's side profile.

With the passage of time, now that many people have owned Countachs for many years, it's not even worth debating this topic anymore, when someone says the Countach is difficult to drive nowadays, that says more about their driving ability or lack thereof, than the Countach's ease of operation.

 

If one complains about the Countach, then they were definitely a journalist in the past or their past life

Because it seems only they were the ones complaining. Owners, past and present, seem to have little or no complaints as evident of the 20yrs worth of posts and threads on here. Complaints from owners are usually self inflicted, stems from age .....butt or hips hurt in the seat. Back aches getting out. Knees makes noise while getting out, ears drums are a ringing.

So the only things wrong with the Countaach....is its owners age!

 

Well there’s no cup holder and no place to put my phone
I have to prop it where the acc vent is in the center.
That bothers me

okay, I am kidding

 

I blame the likes of Top Gear for the reigning journalistic trend of calling the Countach hard to drive. In-period reviews of the Countach are almost always (very) positive about the handling. Most modern reviews don't go further than stating it is difficult to see out of, you sit on the sill to reverse it and you need strong legs to operate the clutch...

 

I've never looked out for cars that are "easy" to drive, if you are into cars then why would you. Its always possible to drive any car.. some just take a little more time to master but that is where the fun is. Before recently buying my Countach I had only ever sat in one. Once I drove it I realised that it wasn't as difficult to drive as I had imagined... however I am learning how to heal and toe in it which I haven't managed to do properly yet but I'm enjoying learning. I've even reversed half a mile down a single lane country track using the sit on sill method. I could do with some extra headroom as my head touches the headlining but I really don't mind.

 

You can adjust the link at the base of the throttle pedal to re-position as this does make it easier for heal and toe.

 

Thanks will look at that but its more to do with the heavy accelerator travel and trying to find the right pressure. I just need to drive it more to practice!

 

When they were little, my kids always used to ask me, "Dad, what's best car in the world?' and I would always answer with "It depends. What are we going to do with it?". In other words, if you can answer the second question, I can answer the first. And that's where all this TV journalist/influencer business breaks down and isn't worth listening to. If you want to be fast round the Nurburgring or to throw a rally car up the Stelvio, a Countach is not for you. But if you want an exceptionally designed car, theatre every time you turn the key wrapped up in a unique automotive personality, you have come to the right place. Stability, mountains of torque, good steering...what's bad about the car? Hard to drive" Put it in 3rd and it's virtually an automatic. Maybe the brakes could be better. So what? There's nothing else like it. Let the haters hate.

 

Everyone says it's uncomfortable. Not to me. I love the driving position. I can do a three hour journey in mine and get out fresh. I can't say that about any of my 911s.

 

Indeed - I still occasionally misjudge the pressure, but it's very satisfying when you heal and toe it correctly. Even had one bystander ask me if it had rev matching!
I have not tried the sit and back technique yet as I am fearful of missing the clutch and backing into something - but I will find a wide open carpark to practice in one day.

 

The most important thing reg rear visibility,imo is when changing lanes in city traffic, it takes a little extra checking and head turning. On the highway , no issue, you pass whoever with a good margin then step on it a little extra. Driving the Countach in town or highway is super easy, its torque and power on tap moves the car forward with no effort. 2nd and 3 gear does pretty much every thing around town. On the Highway it hums along at 95-100 for ever. I heard some complaints reg gearbox noise from some owners. My gearbox is not noisy, just a normal hum. Love it. Nothing like it.

 

I think you can halve the number of return springs on the carbs, sure Harry Metcalfe did this to knock the efforts back.

 

I agree. The Countach is just a brut car but easy to drive. The fact that it is just the car and driver, you can feel the car responding to your command and you can react to the output the car is giving. Even thought the newer cars are faster , the Countach seems to be able to hold up very well and close in daily driving situations. I personally love my car. It still turns heads today.

 

Just joined tonight to be able to respond. 34 year owner of a 1985 DD. The main complaints are always the same from people writing about the car, visibility and clutch stiffness. I have never thought of either as a problem.

If you own one long enough you will know the real issues.
1. When the door latch has an issue it literally takes a rocket scientist to figure it out.
2. Don't look under the dash at the wiring it will scare you.
3. Don't know if I did it but I have seen several cars with the shifter lever slightly bent to the rear of the car.
4. Real big one for me, a long time ago, (around 1990), after a local Lambo trained mechanic worked on the car. The throttle got stuck wide open on a city street. The last nut on the carbs worked loose and apparently the only carb still connected sucked theater 5 full open.

My purpose of all this is that the thing I like about the Countach is that is is not a modern built car and is a real hand built supercar that is timeless. All the little things you have put up with are a sign of the times when a car company had the guts to build such a crazy car.

Literally nothing I don't like or would complain about. Image Unavailable, Please Login

Drove mine today but only around the block to put it on a trailer to be sent to George Evans for carb rebuild.

 

Wing bubbles- that's how I know it's a real and original Countach. If you don't have wing bubbles you don't have a Countach.

Jeremy Clarkson will go down in history as the wimpiest weakling to ever drive a Countach.

That guy on 60 Minutes who says "not everyone can go alound with a booteeful voman" explained the car better than anyone else. Now I just gotta go get a Rolls Royce for my baggages.