Lamborghini dares to reinterpret the Countach legend. The brute power of the mild hybrid super athlete is convincing, even if it does not reach the ruthless radicalism of the role model.
The Lamborghini Countach is an icon of the 1970s and 1980s. A boy’s dream that made the hearts of male visitors with the first down on their chins beat faster in films like “All Hell Breaks loose on the Highway”. A trump card that outperformed all other vehicles in every car quartet. At least in the relevant categories like top speed and acceleration. You don’t touch a car like that. Never. Or is it? Lamborghini has dared the unthinkable and put a modern version of the rolling legend on wheels. Limited to 112 pieces at a price of 2.39 million euros. Allegedly all copies are already sold out.
With good reason: all around the Lamborghini company headquarters, a sports car won’t lure a dog out from behind the stove. The bull racers are part of the street scene and only a few kilometers away Ferrari and Pagani reign supreme. But when you come around corners with the white Neo-Countach, the young ladies in the region don’t care about their smartphones and crane their necks. This is not due to the brute sound of the 6.5 liter engine (compared to the original Countach, the modern twelve-wheeler sounds almost civil), but to the presence of the super sports car. Everyone knows the ancestors, everyone knows that the new edition is also an extraordinary car.
It all starts with the powertrain. A conventional plug-in hybrid would be too ordinary for this Lambo. So the Italian technicians combine the 574 kW / 780 hp V12 unit (cylinder bank angle: 60 degrees) with a 48-volt electric motor, which contributes a further 25 kW / 34 hp to the drum roll. The bottom line is that this results in a system output of 599 kW / 814 hp and a maximum torque of 720 Nm. The highlight that distinguishes the Italo electrification from a normal MHEV are the super capacitors, which can deliver and absorb power extremely quickly. This MHEV concept is familiar to connoisseurs. Right. The powertrain comes from the Lamborghini Sian.
But enough of the preamble. Now it’s down to business, talk behind the wheel. The jetfighter cockpit could just as easily have come from the movie Top Gun. Typical Lambo. But still casual. The start button behind the fold-up bar has something. After a short push, the twelve-cylinder beast behind the pilot comes to life, hissing. Ready to fire towards the horizon with all your might at the slightest movement of the gas foot. OK, OK, we admit it. Ultimately, the technology of the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ is also under the handsome cover. However, the body of the Neo-Countach whizzes one centimeter lower over the asphalt. Which is why we raise the front axle by five centimeters when there are speed bumps. But we are happy to accept this mandatory task with such a rare piece.
Nevertheless, the fun is not neglected. The melange of new supercapacitors and old classic V12 suckers works so well that we literally have a big grin on our faces. Because the horsepower and the 35 Newton meters of the electric motor not only give the 12-wheeler that extra kick, but also plug shift gaps. The extra kick in the back is noticeable. Columns indicate the flow of energy. When you let the Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 fly, the bars grow and shrink in a matter of seconds. Depending on how much the electric motor is required.
We approach the dynamic climate from below. Let’s go in Strada mode. Lo and behold. The Neo-Countach can also do GT. The variable dampers switch to softening mode (of course, that’s relative with a Lamborghini) and you can also cover longer distances without a mouth guard. But the calm is deceptive: As soon as you give the command to attack with a sweeping kick of your right foot, the hurricane breaks out in the stern of the white flounder. Not overly rowdy, but full-bodied slurping, without hyper-nervous boost pressure whistling. The fine software changes to the chassis compared to the Aventador SVJ are already noticeable in this driving program and the Countach does not lose its composure even in fast corners. The sport mode is something for the everyday dynamics. The electrified vacuum cleaner reacts much more attentively to the movements of the accelerator pedal and the automated seven-speed manual transmission changes gears noticeably faster. The chassis tightens, the characteristics of the hydraulic power steering switch to a more direct mode and the restoring forces increase. Sport is definitely the most balanced driving program. The electronics of the Haldex all-wheel drive let the rear a little more off the leash, which, in combination with the rear-axle steering, has a positive effect even on slower corners. The Neo-Countach will never be as agile as a Huracan, but with courage, a sensitive foot on the accelerator and the right steering angle, it can be maneuvered magnificently around every bend in the asphalt.
If you want to get the most out of the 1,595-kilogram super sports car, you can switch to Corsa (race track) mode. Then the acceleration orgy of the two drives breaks out like the latest speed court over the driver. The super-capacitors do their job in a flash and the Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 mutates completely into a hurry, heaves itself from a standstill to country road speed in just 2.8 seconds and continues to run at up to 355 km/h. Insanity. Brutally. The adaptive chassis no longer makes any compromises in terms of comfort, we push the mouthguard back into our mouths and click the gears ourselves with the paddle shifters. The Furiosa Orchestra with its twelve trombones provides the right soundtrack for this spaghetti asphalt western. Only the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone is missing, but the twelve trombones sound all the better for that.
