Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5

Beautiful Bianco Perlato GLA12975 in Australia
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DD being chased around the track - I think this is @ Suzuka or Fuji.
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IMVHO the big wing looks really good - if one must have a wing
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As with all data-collation & publication, much work is involved, so it remains a great idea.

Meanwhile as we learn more about the cars the search function is a good tool to get to the info that's being shared on these pages.

I agree, all variants must benefit from this, and the Countach has been a great depository of information so far.

I started this thread because the DD variant was hitherto somewhat overlooked, seemingly only ever spoken about in whispers and hushed tones. No longer!

 

Nice piece from the May 2006 issue of Classic Cars titled "The Power Struggle" covering the evolution of the Countach's engine from LP400 thru to QV, culminating in the 455 bhp version.
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Portrait of the man who started it all
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Perhaps the most tested Downdraft of them all, I'd love to know the chassis number
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Ive seen cars with the chassis number highlighted in another paint color, although I believe this is correct. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
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The goal is to fit it with a battery that looks just like the one it was delivered with, like this but with yellow top
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More detailed images of real-time progress next week.

Meanwhile, the car's lighting is almost complete.

Also, Luis has the interior installation underway.

In that regard, I hope all the work with individually restoring the minor components (below) will make a difference to the interior's look & presentation. This is one of the many aspects of a total restoration that most restorers skip.

Once the restoration is complete, a not inconsiderable time will also be spent fettling and tuning the car to make sure it actually works the way it should!

Much work still lies ahead...
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Thank you.

I purchased the car in Switzerland in October 2015, disassembly began in late November 2015 after the car made it to the USA following some test drives and much assessment, so the restoration began in earnest in December 2015. So we have been at it @ 8 months so far.

My hope is to show is that you can do a first-class restoration, and it does not have to take years & years.

 

Some details of the 6 Weber (44 DCNF) vertical twin-barrel carburettors
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Cellphone pic of the PS rear wheel-arch (spat) highlighting the Bordeaux Speciale paint
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Speaking of restorations, next up is Downdraft GLA12888 (Nero Tenebre/Nero), a solid original car which will hopefully also be an excellent restoration candidate.

I'll be sure to share it's progress here as well.
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This is a car that Joe Nastasi brought into the USA as the authorized concessionaire at the time, then it spent some time in England, now its back in the USA.

Owned by a collector with multiple Downdrafts.

 

Agreed, although a little off-topic for this thread, I find this Countach LP500S in LDB very interesting, the gold wheels being a nice touch.
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I'm seeing more Countachs with the pantograph wiper parked off to the side
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UK-registered 88.5 DD @ Goodwood
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FChatter John B in the UK sent me an email about receiving his Downdraft after the deal we made.

This is the Blu Acapulco car that belonged to F1 impresario Gerard Lopez and lived in Luxembourg.

All I can say is: 'In Before Brexit'!

With his kind permission I'll post an excerpt of his thoughts exactly as written:

"It is a car like no other that I have owned...

You think it is going to feel big and heavy, and I guess it is, but that is far from being the defining characteristic. Aside from a slightly scary blind spot in the mirrors and the very manly gear-shift, it’s a pleasure to drive. It feels remarkably comfortable and pliant, even over B roads, for a car that eats up the road and corners in such a flat and determined manner.

If I remember correctly, this obsession we now live with, that lap times at the Nurburgring are the standard by which a car should be judged, really only came into play in the late 90’s with the advent of slicker marketing, bigger business and, of course, electronic assistance to make sure all that horsepower could be transferred to the tarmac safely by the average driver.

I might make a case that the 80’s was the last decade in which the engineer, the chassis developer and the designer operated together by feel and experience, on raw talent alone, in the old-school, analogue world. Could this decade have been the last hurrah for the “art", rather than the computer driven science, of car manufacture? It could be that not only is the QV the high point of the Lamborghini Countach run, but perhaps one of the last handful of truly great, drawing board, hand-built cars, the end of a long tradition of cars as they used to be."

So well-said! The 80s were indeed the end of a special era.

Below is GLA12942 with Maestro Vale at the wheel.
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John, using your car as the subject, here is a caption from elsewhere that is in line with your thinking!

Here is a piece that agrees http://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/greatest-supercars-1980s/
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Refinished in Rosso Perlato (224147), this image shows the pearl metallic, perhaps this ought to have been a standard color at the point of production.
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