The Lamborghini Countach, part 7

In 1975, Walter Wolf, a wealthy Canadian businessman and owner of the Wolf F1 Racing team in the 1970s, purchased an LP400; however, he was not satisfied with the LP400's engine and asked Dallara, the chief engineer of Lamborghini at that time and the founder of the Italian F1 racing team Scuderia Italia in the early 1990s, to create a special high-power version of Countach. It was the "code NO 1120148" Walter Wolf special with the original "5" engine from the Countach prototype which produced 447 hp / 7900 rpm and reached a supposed maximum speed of 315 km/h (195.7 mph). This model also featured the upgraded wheels, Pirelli P7 tires, large fender flares, and front and rear spoilers of the LP400S model. It was painted in red, with black fender flares, and was designated "LP500S" like the standard Countach model from the 1980s, and was the stepping stone that led to this later production model. This first Walter Wolf car is currently located in Japan. Two other Wolf Countaches were produced, one painted blue, NO 1120202 (currently in Germany) and one navy blue, NO 1121210. (This machine was owned by Mr. Wolf for a long time, but was eventually sold.)

In 1984 Rod Ladret of Ladret Design Studio located in Alberta Canada began producing and marketing a replica of the Countach. The form for the kit was sculpted from plaster and then a fiberglass mold was made of the form. The kits and cars Ladret design Studio built included a tube frame chassis with an American V8 power plant. Ladret Design Studio built 141 of these replicas and the industrial clients who purchased his fiberglass forms have built several thousand over the past two decades. As of 2007 there are still several companies building kits based on Ladret's forms built in 1984. In 1993 Ladret ceased manufacturing the Countach replica and moved on to other projects.

From around 1985 until the late 1990s several companies replicated the Countach to various degrees of success. In 1985, Gary Thompson and Pete Jackson hired a real Countach from an up-market Manchester car hire company and took a glass fiber mold of it. This mold resulted in a number of UK-based manufacturers producing their own Countach replicas. A few were able to produce remarkably good replicas, including Paul Lawrenson of Prova Cars, Sienna Cars, Phil Cheetham of Mirage replicas, and Brightwheel replicas. Ultimately, none of these companies survived.



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The Lamborghini Countach, part 6

Named to honor the company's 25 year anniversary in 1988, the 25th Anniversary Countach was mechanically very similar to the 5000QV but sported much changed styling. The rear 'air boxes' were restyled and enlarged, while the vents behind them were changed so that they ran front to back instead of side to side. In addition, a new air dam and side skirting, both with air intakes, were fitted, and the taillights were restyled to be narrower, with body-colored panels replacing the upper and lower parts of the previous large taillights. The styling changes were unpopular with many, particularly since the intakes had strakes in them that appeared to mimic those on the Ferrari Testarossa, but they improved the engine's cooling, a problem the Countach had always struggled with. It also featured 345/35R15 tires; the widest tires available on a production car at the time. The Anniversary was produced through 1990 when it was replaced by the Lamborghini Diablo.


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The Lamborghini Countach, part 5

In 1985 the Countach's engine was improved again, bored and stroked to 5.2 liters and given four valves per cylinder (quattrovalvole in Italian). The carburetors were moved from the sides to the top of the engine for better breathing - unfortunately this created a hump on the engine deck, reducing the already poor rear visibility to almost nothing. Some body panels were also replaced by Kevlar. In later versions of the engine, the carburetors were replaced with fuel-injection.

For the first time, a US specification model was produced by the factory, with styling changes to allow bumpers to meet US federal standards (large, bulky bumpers were used that, to many people, ruined the smooth lines of the car). Although this change was the most notable on the exterior, the most prominent change under the hood was the use of Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, rather than the six Weber carburetors used in the Euro-spec model.



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The Lamborghini Countach, part 4

In 1978, a new LP400S model was introduced. Though the engine was slightly upgraded from the LP400 model, the most radical changes were in the exterior, where the tires were replaced with much wider Pirelli P7 units, and fiberglass wheel arch extensions were added, giving the car the fundamental look it kept until the end of its production run. An optional V-shaped spoiler was available over the rear deck, which, while improving high-speed stability, reduced the top speed by at least 10 MPH. Most owners ordered the wing. Dynamically, the LP400S was a better car, the wider tires making it more stable in cornering. Aesthetically, some prefer the slick lines of the original while others prefer the more aggressive lines of the later vehicles, beginning with the LP400S. The standard emblems ("Lamborghini" and "Countach") were kept at the rear, but an angular "S" emblem was added after the "Countach" on the right side.

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The Lamborghini Countach, part 3

The rear wheels of the Countach were driven by a traditional Lamborghini V12 engine mounted longitudinally with a mid-engined configuration. For better weight distribution, the engine is pointed 'backwards'; the output shaft is at the front, and the gearbox is in front of the engine, the driveshaft running back through the engine's sump to a differential at the rear. Although originally planned as a 5 liter powerplant, the first production cars used the Lamborghini Miura's 4 liter engine. Later advances increased the displacement to 5 liters and then (in the "Quattrovalvole" model) 5.2 L with four valves per cylinder.

All Lamborghini Countaches were equipped with six Weber carburetors until the arrival of the 5000QV model, at which time the car became available in America, and used Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection. The European models, however, continued to use the carburetors until the arrival of the Lamborghini Diablo, which replaced the legendary Countach.

The Countach used a skin of aircraft-grade aluminum over a tubular space frame, as in a racing car. This is expensive to build but is immensely strong and very light (in spite of its size, the car weighs approximately 1500 kg (3300 lb)). The underbody tray was fiberglass.

A single prototype was built, the LP500 (the 500 standing for the 5 L displacement of the engine which was intended to be used). Painted bright sunflower yellow, the car was a stunner at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971. Sporting Gandini's original design concepts, the car's design needed extensive modification for production. In particular, the small air intake ducts on the car's rear shoulders proved insufficient to cool the engine, and large 'air box' scoops were added in that position. Large NACA ducts were added on the sides to give additional air. The experimental car was also constructed of aluminum honeycomb sheeting among other things, which was dropped for production.

The car did not survive; it was sacrificed in a crash test to gain European type approval, even though its construction method was utterly unlike production vehicles.

The first 4.0-liter production Countach was delivered to an Australian in 1974. The first recorded person to own the LP400 was D. Milne, who was a member of the Australian Defence Force Transport Corps.[citation needed] Externally, little had altered from the final form of the prototype except at the rear, where conventional lights replaced the futuristic light clusters of the prototype. The styling had become rather more aggressive than Gandini's original conception, with the required large air scoops and vents to keep the car from overheating, but the overall shape was still very sleek. The original LP400 rode on the quite narrow tires of the time, but their narrowness and the slick styling meant that this version had the lowest drag coefficient of any Countach model and possibly the highest top speed. Many people like the looks of this clean, fresh original model the most of all the Countach variants, and indeed it is simple, with smooth lines and few decorations. Even the emblems at the rear simply read "lamborghini" and "Countach", with no engine displacement or valve arrangement clutter as is found on more modern cars.

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The Lamborghini 400GT

The Lamborghini 400GT 2+2 was a 2+2-seated sports car from the Italian manufacturer Lamborghini, successor to the 350GT. First presented at the 1966 Geneva Auto Show.

Compared to its predecessor the engine was enlarged to 3929 cc (240 c.i.), increasing the power to 320 bhp (239 kW). The 400GT 2+2 was actually a different body from the 350GT, with a longer wheelbase, different roofline, and some sheetmetal changes throughout the car. The larger body shape enabled the +2 seating to be installed in the rear, where the 350GT only had room for luggage or +1 seating. The bodywork was designed by Carrozzeria Touring. The 400GT 2+2 also had a Lamborghini designed gearbox, with Porsche style synchromesh on all gears, which greatly improved the drivetrain.

There was a variant of the 350GT with the 4L V12 fitted to it, which was called the 400GT. Only 23 of these smaller coupes were built, three of which had desirable aluminium bodywork.

A total of 247 units were built from 1966 to 1968, when it was replaced with the Islero.


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The Lamborghini 350GT

By sabrebIade
The Lamborghini 350GT was the first production car by Lamborghini, first shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1963.

The car featured a 3.5 litre quad-cam V-12 engine (hence its designation), independent rear suspension (while Ferrari still used live rear axles) and a controversial 2+1 semi-fastback body by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan.

The 350GT generally drew high praises at the time for its flexible and high-revving engine, its stable cornering, even on rough surfaces, and its high level of finish. 120 copies were built from 1963 to 1966.

It has a top speed of 149mph and can accelerate to 60mph in 6.8 seconds.


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The Lamborghini 350 GTV

The Lamborghini 350 GTV was the prototype and forerunner of the later 350 GT (Lamborghini´s first production model).

It featured a controversial semi-fastback body design by Franco Scaglione, which was modified for series production by Carrozzeria Touring, and Lamborghini's own 3.5 liter V-12 engine. The car was presented to the public on the 1963 Turin Auto Show.


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The Porsche 959

The Porsche 959 is a supercar manufactured by Porsche AG from 1986 to 1989, first as a Group B rally car and later as a road going vehicle designed to satisfy FIA homologation regulations requiring that a minimum number of street legal units be built. It is widely regarded as Porsche's first true supercar.

During its production run, it was hailed as being the most technologically advanced road-going sports car ever built and the harbinger of the future of sports cars; it was the world's first high-performance vehicle to use an all-wheel-drive system, it provided the basis for Porsche's first all-wheel-drive Carrera 4 model and convinced Porsche executives of the system's viability so well that they chose to make all-wheel-drive standard on all versions of the 911 Turbo starting with the 993 variant. During its lifetime, the vehicle had only one other street legal peer with comparable performance, the Ferrari F40.

The 959's short production run — 268 road legal versions were built - and astonishing performance have always kept values high. In 2003, Canepa Design corporation, famed for their high-quality SUV conversions, began using new hardware and modification techniques to modify 959s, making them more powerful as well as bringing their emissions levels into acceptable standards so that they could become street legal under recent U.S. legislation, bolstering the vehicle's status as a collectible among American buyers who were wary of spending vast sums of money on a vehicle that previously they would not have been allowed to drive in the U.S.

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