Starting & maintaining a dedicated specialist thread on a particular Countach variant helps people understand & appreciate the cars, glad this is happening for the 25th, I always thought they were excellent driving Countachs.
Another nice example Strong first hour biddings https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-lamborghini-countach-anniversary-8/
No, and for good reason, the side-skirt is an integral part of the 25th's bodywork as opposed to being an add-on as was the case with the 88.5, plus they are functional for brake cooling. If you look at the factory production images you'll see that removal would mean extensive cutting & modification resulting in a modified car that looks strange which doesn't function as it should. Image Unavailable, Please Login
See how the side skirt and rear spats are one piece, if removed what do you do to replace the side skirt and how do you handle the rear spats? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Definitely gives a new perspective to how the body parts integrate to the rest of the body. I too thought they were added on and had aesthetic value only. Always love learning new things about these cars
To be clear, the composite material side-skirt and rear spat single piece are added to the aluminum body, I meant to say the car was originally designed and built that way unlike the 88.5 where the side-skirt was an afterthought piece added on to the Countach QV's original design. Deletion of the 25ths side-skirt would mean extensive non-original design mods that would have to be fabricated somehow, it would be much easier to delete the side skirts of an 88.5 using pre-88.5 skirtless replacement parts and in fact I believe that has been done, not so the 25th. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I’m trying to find information about who manufactured the wings. I’ve read they were manufactured elsewhere, but by who? If this is the case, were they supplied as kits to the factory who then painted and installed them as ordered by customers? Like it or not, so much about what made the Countach iconic in the public consciousness through the 80’s was the low and wide look accentuated by that big wing. I believe some De Tomaso Pantera’s were also supplied with the same wing, not to mention the other V8 Lambo’s as well of course.
In fact, the wing makes the Countach's side & rear profile look taller, and it certainly doesn't make the Countach any wider. Back to the factory production of 25th bodies, here's another from the archives. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Obviously I didn’t mean it added actual width to the car. The point is, the wing is a large part of the look of the later cars. Other than the different variations, it seems like not a lot is known about who actually fabricated them and how they were installed.
Understood, the point is the wing does not contribute to the "low & wide look", a wingless Countach actually looks lower & wider for obvious reasons. I think what you're saying is the wing is a very striking application, many people recognized the Countach with one on because most of the poster cars featured one, and it was very popular in the 80s, all of which are true, but the fact remains that the majority of Countachs left Sant Agata and reached dealers without wings, many were added later. If you like the winged look that's great, but many don't so it's just a matter of personal taste, there's no right or wrong here. It seems to me that for obvious reasons the people who like wings have been somewhat reluctant to accept that they were an unofficial factory application. Basically the factory did not pay to have the wing tested or Homologated so they were not road-legal for production application as far as Lamborghini's governing Italian transportation authority was concerned. Lamborghini had to make sure that inspectors didn't catch them installing one inside the plant at point of production or they'd be fined. Of course this mandate became more flexible as time went on so by the 25th's production you see a few wings inside the factory, although group pictures of ready-to-deliver 25ths still show most of them wingless. The very first wings for a Countach were fabricated by Dallara SpA at the request of Walter Wolf. Naturally, more people saw Wolf's cars and asked Lamborghini to do the same so they found a solution by having one of the local shops make a version for the LP400S and this uni evolved over the years - wing-plates added etc. Nobody who worked at Lamborghini seems to care enough to recall exactly who made the wings for Lamborghini and believe me I've asked all the right people: Valentino Balboni, Claudio Zampolli, Luigi Marmiroli etc. You asked this same question 2 years ago and Jalpa_Mike checked from Dallara and they confirmed to him the wing was definitely made by a supplier outside the factory but couldn't recall who, again, what they are all certain about is the wing was not an official Lamborghini component and they weren't supposed to apply them inside the factory, this is consistent, and photographic evidence of Countach production at Sant Agata throughout the 80s supports this. Personally, I think (as does Emilio per his earlier posts) as was typical with Lamborghini they had more than one supplier, and if I had to guess further I'd say that the old time fabricators Bacchelli & Villa > Carrozzeria Auto Sport were involved. I think the units were ordered by Lamborghini, and the paint color was sent over by a man in a Fiat 500 at lunchtime. I've seen images of new Countachs without their trunk-lid inside the factory so the trunk-lid could be out at the Carozzeria having a wing fitted there then the trunk-lid is returned with wing already affixed. That or they were simply installed some wings well away from the production area, discreetly in the back of the Service department.
