I have no affiliation to this book. I have just received my copy of a new Lamborghini book called LAMBO, which is BRILLIANT. Clearly my interest in Lamborghinis is UK cars, so this is right up my street. Apparently only 100 books will be printed - it has about 150 high quality colour photos taken of Lamborghinis during the 1970s and 1980s in the UK - Countach, Miura, Espada etc etc Have a look at stradabiz.com, who make the book. Picture below. Ask me if you have any questions, as I have my copy right here. Robert Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you for the info, Robert. How many photos of the silver and the blue Countach LP400 are in the book? I like what I see on the stradabiz.com website and I am considering to buy the book.
Hi Blimey...there are 150 photos. I think just the one on the cover of the silver LP400 - rare sight as it went to Australia early in its life. Blue LP400 - which one? Robert
A blue LHD LP400 is mentioned on the website of the publisher (there is a list of featured cars). Thus, I assume that you'll find a photo of it in the book. The silver LP400 - which one is it? Is it 1120074? I can see on the cover photo that it's one of the earlier LP400. Christian
Hi Yes it is in the book. The list is of the cars featured. No idea which LP400 it is in silver, it isn't identified. i'd guess it is the silver RHD one featured in one of the car magazines at he time, which then went to Australia soon after. Robert
Then it's not the 1120074 which had a red interior. BTW, you can see the silver/red RHD 1120074 in the background of one of the photos in the LP400 brochure. Meanwhile, I ordered the book.
I was shown a draft of this book before it went into publication, and I must say John Leaman did great work photographing the cars back in the day.
Robert, I must correct myself. Today I recognized that the silver RHD LP400 that is featured in Car magazine, issue of January 1976, had a red interior. It is not easy to see, but you can see it on the cover photo (see attachment). Moreover, only one silver LP400 in RHD configuration was built. Thus, the LP400 featured in Car magazine, issue of January 1976, is 1120074. I assume that the same car, 1120074, is the car on the cover of the new "Lambo!" book. Best regards Christian Image Unavailable, Please Login
Christian, Yes, I agree. I was contacted by someone i think, or I saw it on the web....the car is now in Australia and has been there for many years. When it appeared in Car magazine, it was owned by dealer William Loughran, who I spoke to and he had no idea who he sold it to soon after (it was over 35 years ago!). It would make sense if it was sold in the 1970s to Australia, as I have not seen sight or sound of it since then. LOTS of RHD Countachs are in Australia and hidden away..... As well as two red one in garages in Cardiff it seems from Joe's recent comments. I certainly know of two more red ones in Australia that have literally never seen the light of day since the 1980s, but there are many more. Robert
Interesting as the Car magazine article (Jan 1976) states 'all black interior' for the countach in the article. The interior shots in Car are b/w so not definitive. looking at the front cover, the red hue extends across the black mousehair dash - so may not be definitive either. Would Car make this mistake in the text? I believe the factory production record denotes a red interior for 1120074, but can anyone confirm the car was produced with this colour? I have seen previously posted that 1120074 appears in the Countach brochure, but on my brochure only the exterior of a silver car can be seen. I understand that the photo of car on the front cover of John's book was taken in 1978 at the UK importers premises in Whyteleafe. Was 1120074 exported to Australia after 1978?
Last picture is #1120074 too, modified to LP400 S specs (+ Lolita wheels) in australia during the 80´s. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The last photo appeared in Ferrarichat some years ago. Are you sure that this is 1120074? I think so, but I am not sure. Photos 2 and 3 were made by Franco Zagari on 25th March 1975. They show 1120074.
Yes, the Car magazine article states 'all black interior'. That's why I always thought that the featured car is not 1120074, but I was wrong. By looking exactly at the b/w photo of the interior in that article, you can see that the seats were not black. Yes, the steering wheel, the rubber around the doors, the black part fitted to the sill, all that was black. The leather parts (seats, sills, centre console etc.) are too bright to be black. Moreover there is only one silver RHD built, the 1120074. Franco Zagari made some very nice photos of 1120074 on 25th March 1974, see post 13 and 14/15 of this thread. On one of the photos by Mr. Zagari, you can see that the interior of 1120074 was not black. Yes, there is a silver car in the brochure. You also see a red "dot", probably part of the carpet (not easy to see). This car is 1120074, the brochure photos were made on 7th of April, 1975 while 1120074 still was at the factory. I don't know why Car Magazine made an error stating that the interior of the featured LP400 is all black. Don't trust journalists...
Just received my copy. Great book indeed. Very different from the standard books that are around. Those vintage pictures are an amazing insight of this long gone era.
I completely agree. I received my copy last Friday, definitely one of the most enjoyable Lamborghini books Ive. To see a used Espada parked on the road with a Daf 55 driving in the background or a brand new Vauxhall Cavalier or Lancia Beta standing next to a Countach 5000S in a showroom made me feel as I was in a time capsule.
They made an error because they are humans. In the same way, the Lamborghini factory in that era made many errors in their record-keeping. Mistakes happen, nothing to get upset over or brand a particular group of people. Mistakes are expected, that's why accomplished historians attempt to corroborate everything from multiple sources.
I saw the prototype of this book months ago and now John has kindly sent me a production copy. I think the reason this book is so different is John was probably the first ever Lamborghini car-spotter capturing the cars in the period environment, so the book has a different feel. Also, he used a great camera and is a good photographer, preserving his work on color-slides which reproduce beautifully.
I received my copy today. Super book! Absolutely phantastic, if you like old photos. Of course you can also have a lot of fun with nice old photos that you find in the web (see the QV thread with some very nice photos recently posted there), but to have them in a book still is much more special.
Robert, or anyone else who has the book: How much Espada content is there? How much non-Countach content --is it primarily a Countach book? Thanks, Luis