Countach Downdraft 1985 to 1988.5

Frozen Countach.

Here's a rarely seen 88.5 RHD Downdraft spotted in London recently, Bleu Acapulco with dark blue interior leather piped in dark red with dark red carpets.

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This Countach is still Bleu Acapulco and completely original I believe, IIRC from seeing this car when it was new, what you describe as 'purple' is dark red or bordeaux, I suppose it could be described as purple, people used to describe my ex-Mimran Bordeaux Speciale Downdraft as purple.

The image is from Joe Macari's Service Center, 249-251 Merton Rd, London SW18.

 

The sublime FLA12831 serviced and ready to rejoin it's stablemates in an epic collection, they can only be original once Image Unavailable, Please Login .

 

No, that's a recent-era non-original re-trim.

That's clearly evident from:

- The typical modern thick matte leather as used for seats, center console and dashboard, very unlike the original thin shiny dark blue standard leather.
- The seat insert padding was originally much more full, in the case of this re-trim you can see the looseness of the leather of the seat inserts, and, an incorrect seat insert design without the split seam like the original seat insert design.
- The exposed fitment tab beneath the passenger air vent which originally upholstered beneath the carpets.
- Poor fitment of the fore section of the lower center console, even the factory would not have done this in period, clearly that unit has been removed and poorly refitted.
- Carpet mats without the rubber heel pads [unless those ore over-mats].

FWIW the re-trimmed interior seems to have black or dark grey piping, not purple piping as you state.

Moral of the story - there are many Countach interiors that have been refurbished and restored to a state that looks nothing like their original application when new.

See below, another UK RHD 88.5 Countach's original well-preserved interior as imaged in recent times which illustrates most of the points I've made above.

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Robert, this UK RHD 88.5,s seat illustrates the correct seat insert design with the split seam design, and the fullness of the seat insert padding, this applies wether the seats were done by Paratelli or the outsource people.

This is the driver's seat of the ex-Gerald Carroll Downdraft, even after 34 years of use, you can see how the seat's form & finish remains.

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Forgot to mention another item which underscores the re-done interior: missing seat belt clip-in stalk, any original interior will be showing this in place.

Meanwhile, in my misspent youth as a new Countach owner, I used to go down to George Street in London to visit Mike Perry every Saturday morning just to see which shiny new Countach/s had arrived from the factory ready to be delivered, I recall this car with the interior livery as I mentioned above, the dark blue interior was similar to Rod Stewart's JLA12256's interior except his car was piped in white trim, you can see the leather the factory typically used was dark blue and shiny, not matte and medium blue.

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One last example of an in-period 88.5 interior is the special-order ex-Kaiser JLA12292 we perviously sold, again it illustrates the leather type and upholstery design etc. imaged here as the interior has survived to this day.

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Speaking of Countach upholstery (a subject which holds not inconsiderable fascination for me), Bruno Paratelli is still doing a few interiors, not inexpensively as one might imagine, but I'd recommend him if you wish to say you have the best done correctly by the original maker.

If one cares to pay a visit to him in Ferrara, a few trade secrets can be revealed, for the seat width of the Countach is less accommodating than that of the Miura as it's only 44 cm, whereas the seat width of Miura is 48 cm, the reason is the Countach's seats are slimmer is the width of the side sills and center console.

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Paratelli's signature piece is the perforated seat insert strips, though he did some Countach seats without this appointment.

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He's still got all the original seat & upholstery patterns from the 350 GT onwards, and even uses the same sewing machines as he did in the 1970s to achieve the same stitching.

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The studio is exactly the same today as it was as depicted in the Borel Countach book of over 35 years ago, that's Bruno back in the day making a dashboard in blue sweater, bottom left.

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The artisan.

He was instrumental in developing the seat adjustment mechanism that resulted in the seat being able to not only be able to be adjusted for rake, but to slide fore & aft.

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Well-said, however if you have an original Paratelli interior in your car absolutely preserve it, even he sometimes has to use the bulky modern leather that customers bring him and insist on using to retrim their cars.

 

Here's a good example of preservation of original leather from a Nero/Bianco Downdraft, well worn after 35 years.

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Cleaned, treated, repaired and re-dyed, Paratelli's craftsmanship sympathetically preserved.

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Leather damage in evidence.

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Restored.

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My pleasure, over the holidays I have time to post away.

Isn't the car simply the standard Bleu Acapulco PPG 2.463.924? If so, it isn't the only Countach in Bleu Acapulco with a dark blue leather interior, and I've seen dark red used dark red leather and carpeting used on other RHD Downdrafts FWIW.

Your logic makes sense, but period Countach livery combinations never surprise me, remember the RHD Downdraft in Bianco Perlato with a peppermint green interior, or the RHD 25th in Viola with a red interior? Do you have factory documentary proof that the car's original interior was carpeted and piped in Viola? I must confess I don't I (although I could get it if it really matters), but at least we know the interior in the image that you posted is not original.