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1971 Lamborghini Countach LP prototype 500 lives again

On March 11, 1971, Lamborghini unveiled the Countach LP 500 prototype at the Geneva Motor Show on the Carrozzeria Bertone stand. Lamborghini had also brought the reworked Miura P400 SV to the show, and believing it would be the star, had placed the Miura at its own stand and dispatched the Countach to the design house stand. Admittedly, Lamborghini had done the same thing in 1966 when the Miura debuted in Geneva. The Countach ruled the 1971 show and was soon on magazine covers around the world. The Italian house spent three years developing the prototype for production, putting the Countach LP 400 on sale in 1974. The prototype sacrificed its life during crash testing for the production model. Now the prototype is back, or the best facsimile thereof. Lamborghini says "an important collector" approached the firm in 2017 asking if they could recreate the yellow shock that started the 50-year craze for V12 engines and scissor doors. That customer might have got his idea from the 1971 Miura P400 SV prototype that Lamborghini restored in 2017 using archival documents. So the automaker's classics division, Polo Storico, went back to the archives for drawings, documents, meeting notes and pictures; interviewed people who were there at the time; and contacted suppliers like Pirelli for an updated version of the Cinturato CN12 and paint maker PPG for the Giallo Fly Yellow Speciale color. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. It took 2,000 hours for the design house, Lamborghini Centro Stile, to reproduce the bodywork, all of it hand-beaten as it was in 1971. It took more than 25,000 hours to recreate the entire coupe with parts that were either original, restored, or fabricated from scratch ranging from the platform frame (instead of the tubular frame in the production car) to the partially electronic instrumentation. Lamborghini didn't mention the engine, though. The prototype contained a 5.0-liter V12; the production model downsized that for a more reliable 4.0-liter unit. We'll guess a collector committed enough to pay for 25,000 hours of Lamborghini work wouldn't compromise on the heart of the matter. Whatever's back there, it sounds righteous in the video.  The result is now on display in the concept class at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este.

Lamborghini caps 2020 production at 8,000 to preserve cachet, resale values

Lamborghini chairman and CEO Stefano Domenicali told Car Advice that the Sant'Agata Bolognese automaker will cap production at 8,000 cars in 2020. Even though the cap doesn't take effect for a year, it has caught us by surprise — we didn't realize just how well Lamborghini is doing. In 2010, Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide, while its rival in Modena sold 6,461 units. Last year, Lamborghini broke all of its records on the way to a 51 percent sales increase and 5,750 cars delivered. The cap maintains two post-sale hallmarks required to fuel Lamborghini's new-car sales: exclusivity and resale values. Ferrari has led the way with public declarations of voluntary caps to maintain brand cachet, and Lamborghini's happy to shadow that leader. Domenicali, an ex-Ferrari man, didn't miss an opportunity to put the running bull's nose ahead of the prancing horse's in his comments, though. He told the Australian publication, "I can also say that for us, Ferrari has always been a reference ... as well as others in the super sports car segment, but we have already achieved higher residual values for our cars, especially with some of our older models." The boss marked out half the 2020 allotment for the Urus, two-thirds of the remainder for the Huracan, and the rest for the Aventador. We expect any 2020 cap to apply only to 2020, though. If Lamborghini can hustle a 40 percent increase in deliveries this year — 2,300 more units, and that's not outside the realm of possibility since this is the first full year of Urus sales — then in 2019 the carmaker will exceed the 2020 cap by 50 units. In such case, shrinking supply next year would help sustain the lather of acolytes, as well as copy another page from Ferrari's handbook. In 2013, then-Ferrari CEO Luca Montezemolo held production to under 7,000 units, after building 7,318 cars in 2012. In 2014, then-Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne said he'd stick to the "willful and intended" 7,000-unit cap. But when Ferrari announces its 2018 results soon, we expect uncapped shipments to exceed 9,000 units. Other upward pressures on Lamborghini's sales would be the success of the Huracan GT3 EVO, which won the GTD class in the weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona, a year after the Huracan GT3 won in 2018. Lamborghini Squadra Corse has built more than 200 customer racers, and no one would rule out a few more orders phoned in on Monday.

Lamborghini Miura and Countach driven back to back in bid to make Autoblog staff jealous

For the Autoblog staff, we're in the honeymoon phase following the Monterey car week and Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. In terms of big, huge, labor-intensive events on the horizon, we're free until the beginning of October, when we'll ship off to Paris for its annual motor show. That means we're free to look back on the beautiful metal out in California, which included more than a few classic Lamborghinis, including the Miura and Countach.
Unfortunately, we never had a hope of getting behind the wheel (believe it or not, asking exceptionally wealthy car collectors to borrow their meticulously maintained, extraordinarily rare vehicles doesn't elicit immediate cooperation). Considering this grave injustice, we're left taking solace in the latest video from Car, which sees the British outlet taking spins in both the Miura and Countach. The pair of vehicles served as forbearers to the modern supercar, with the former's early mid-engine layout and the latter's aggressive, wedge-shaped styling.
Take a look at the latest video from the lucky bastards team at Car.