1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000QV by Mirage Registration Num...

Hammer

£23,000

1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000QV by Mirage

Registration Number: YLX 702X 
Chassis Number: TBA
Recorded Mileage: TBA

- Early build to Koenig Turbo Countach look

Few would deny that Lamborghini's Countach is the quintessential supercar of its era. It was built by a talented and passionate team of designers and engineers with the purpose of being the most extrovert and outrageous of cars available for the street. As a replacement for the fabulous Miura this was a tall order, but there can be no doubt that it succeeded and even today, though there are more modern cars and faster cars, the Countach which will draw people's attention like nothing else. The stunning styling was by Bertone's Marcello Gandini and when the first prototype was revealed as project 112, one of the factory workers exclaimed Countach, a local Piemontese expletive, politely translated as Wow! The name stuck.

Many kit car manufacturers have been inspired over the years to produce their own replicas of the legendary Countach, using other volume production donor cars as their basis. Mirage in particular are well regarded, famously borrowing a car from a leading London Lamborghini showroom in period for a long weekend to take the original moulds.

This early well built ‘Mirage’ Countach 5000QV has been styled as per the ‘Koenig Turbo Countach’, as such featuring Koenig side skirts, colour-coded telephone dial split-rim alloy wheels, and the delta rear wing. The chassis, a re-creation of the original Countach item, was reputedly designed by Lee Noble on a a full tubular steel space frame, with authentic double wishbone front and rear suspension, twin rear trailing arms, rose joints throughout, and Spax adjustable coil-over dampers all round (with twin dampers to the rear). The hubs, handbrake mechanisms, vented brake discs and Brembo four-pot calipers are all early Porsche 911 items, clearly a well thought out build. The underneath of the car is fully flat floored to the underside for improved aerodynamics. The Countach sits on 15 inch, 3 piece alloy split rim items by Image Wheels (England), with highly polished rims. The interior has recently been retrimmed in white with contrasting navy blue trim, designed for a finish as close as possible to the original car. The dials are correct Lamborghini items. 

The Countach is powered by a 5.8 litre Chevrolet small block V8, rebuilt in 2010 with receipts for a crank regrind, overbore and larger pistons, and with a nominal c.2,000 miles since completion. The V8 engine is fitted with a Holley four barrel double pumper carburettor, electric choke, sports inlet manifold, Mallory 123 ignition, tubular exhaust headers and correct ANSA four-tip tail pipes, giving 350+ bhp to the rear wheels. Power is transmitted via a manual five-speed Porsche (986) gearbox.

Finished in a striking shade of Bianco White, with contrasting black details and pin striping, and offered complete with a comprehensive history file and age-related registration document (dated 1975), this is an authentic and highly usable homage to one of the true icons of the 1980s