Go Mifune

Believe it or not, Countach AC is quite good if you simply put up the money to refresh it and make it right. My buddy's LP400 and my QV have excellent air con- which cost a few thou to make right, but it's not undoable. BTW Evans has a fabulous mod for the AC in Countach's and it works very well. Before I overhauled my AC, I just took the sweat in stride - no doubt it was hot as hell, but so is a race car !

Gulp.....ZOIKS - I love it !!! :heart: Emilio -When I get through Modena I am definately going to look you up so I can see that beauty in person !! That is a stunning early 400S.

This is not a photo of an LP400 !!! THis is an LP400S..... an early "lowbody" and it looks like the one that Joe Sackey recently bought from that guy that brought it to Monterey every year.

Couldn't agree with you more on that one my friend. I just love it when people come up to me at gas stations and such and tell me what my car can and can't do !

Uh oh.... here it goes..... Everyone relax..... Even after spending fortunes on these things they are still handbuilt cars and have wide performance variances. I once had two airplanes of identical make, manufacturer, and maintenance...... one was always 10-15 knots faster at the same power settings and fuel flows... this continues past engine overhauls, prop overhauls, everything. Never could explain it. I have seen that phenomena in lots of arenas. My experience with my friends' car leaves me no doubt it'll do 300 kph (I have it on video - verifed by several means, none of which were the speedometer, but the easiest quick reference were the mile markers flying by every 19 seconds). His car is stable as a rock at very high speed, but that's another thing that is effected in large ways by chassis setting (remember the Countach chassis is almost infinitely adjustable - every suspension arm on the car has threaded adjustments) and lots of other seemingly tiny variables. I totally believe that it will vary lots from car to car, as even with downdrafts I have driven they vary widely. BMW racer, hopefully our friend didn't mean any harm - just a little language barrier I suspect - I certainly think your comments are quite valid as it is firsthand experience and you're no lightweight. Sometimes friendly phrases don't translate in friendly ways to other languages. Ciao

Well, this one did have a pretty heavily built up engine (higher compression pistons, carillo rods, etc....... ) I have to admit it's the only LP400 I have direct experience with. But it was definately pumping out the power.... Oh - in fact I think it was just dyno'd - I'll try dig up the sheets and all from my buddy who had it, but it was mid 300's at the rear wheel. Definately not a lot of torque down low, but once it got rolling it was pretty strong.

The LP400, despite lower power, is no slouch at all performance wise. They are WAY lighter (I think as low as 2700 lbs). Lots of magnesium parts in there, also thinner chassis tubes and body work. Driving one is a surreal experience..... very much like my downdraft, but very, very different - very tossable and nimble. Very pure. The downdraft would outrun it, but I've been in that LP400 and beat many cars you'd have thought twice about. If I could ever get second Countach, it'd be an LP400.

An FI (non anniversary car) with euro engine guts just went for over 100k - close to $110. As John said, many ( if not most) downdraft transactions probably never see the light of day. Probably aren't more than 30 or so in the country, and even in Europe you just don't see them for sale in nearly the same numbers that you used to. I don't think $135k is too far off myself (which only pains me, as mine won't ever be sold anyway).

Ummm... *cough*.... Excuse me? No, no, no, no........ Whether you like the wing or not is irrelevant. Buy a car for its overall condition....a replacement wing is cheap compared to a mechanically ill Countach. Spend your money on the the important parts then trim it to fit your desires. When I was shopping for a downdraft, I would've bought one in pink with 3 wings if it was mechanically solid.... changing externals isn't nearly as expensive as catching up with a bad service history. Just MHO.

Terry - can you give us more info on that? That's a good price if they're good quality. Do you know which wing it is? (i.e. - older / bigger or later / smaller)... Also - what part of the UK are you and Lambochick in? I may be passing through a few times in the next month or two.

Unfortunately, finding an authentic Countach wind ain't too easy (especially the ....ahem....better looking earlier ones). The good news is from the kit-car guys, you can probably find a near exact copy. Better yet, I know of at least two sources from which you can buy carbon-fiber duplicates, which would be better in many ways. Expect to pay $3,500- $5,500. Good Luck.

My little $.02 here.......... Based on anecdotal evidence, the prices seems to be climbing. Like other markets I have seen (aircraft in particular), it is polarizing. Countach turds can be had for $55k, but watch out !! Gems are climbing to and above $100k. Obviously examples can be found that contradict this, but I have seen several transactions that suggests this. Also - Don't be surprised to find a $30k-$40k whole in a "turd", but once that's through it's a terrific car and quite reliable (and worth closer to $100k). Ciao!

Wow Gerry - You are apparently a real and honestly capable "Car Guy" unlike most poor saps who try to DIY a Countach and get hopelessly in trouble (no offense intended to the adventurous amateurs). It's a happy thing that your Countach landed in your hands - a good thing for all of us Countach fans. Dennis (Super-X on this board) is a software engineer by trade and can tell you a lot about the injection on his car, which although is a custom electro-motive system might have some useful crossover info as to what settings produce the best results, etc. He has done a lot of computer work on his system and has done a lot of dyno work to measure his results Thanks for keeping us up to date and please continue the updates!

Yes Andy - there is definately an "88 and a half". This was the final production batch before the anniversary cars, and they incorporate many of the wiring refinements that the anniversary cars did (a very good thing), as well as the auto climate control and the side skirts - (which have less universal agreement on the benefits of). Many people single this out as a very desirable Countach because it has many of the production quality improvements that Chrysler ws responsible for, yet stopped shy of the anniversary's cosmetic evolution that is not universally loved. All came with the hideous US bumpers, which when removed make the car beautiful again. Tell us more about your new Countach - what color, where'd ya get it, etc... Congratulations !! More and more Countach's on the East Coast all the time (I'm down in the DC area).

Let me say this about that........ Definately don't give up the thought. The Countach has really cool looking seats that absolutely suck. There is a ton more room in the cabin available if you change out the seats to something in a racing variety and bolt them to the floor. Several factors affect the lack of apparent room and why taller people may not have the problems you might think....... 1) The floor angles down such that the further back the seat goes the lower the "butt point". Taller people have sometimes had more headroom in my Countach than I have. 2) People range widely in the proportion of their upper half and bottom half. My legs are short relative to my overall height (5'8"). So I have to pull the seat close to get proper pedal positioning, but that smashed my head into the roof. My very tall friend, who slides the seat back, is perfectly comfortable because there's a lot more headroom at the back end of the seat travel. If you have long legs and a short torso, you're perfect for the car. Try it in all seat positions, and with a seat in and out. I am probably going to take my seats out and get something custom put in to better fit me. Besides, the lumbar and side support suck. Good Luck.

Mine did that as well at first, so I removed it. It is almost totally unecessary, as above 15 mph the rain pretty much beads up and rolls off overhead. One shop I had do a bunch of work actually put the wiper back on, but with the airfoil bent upside down !! Talk about lift. So, wiper came off again for some years. Recently, when George Evans' shop went through the car, they put the right airfoil on the wiper and put it back on, now it stays planted through 150 at least (haven't tested it above that since it's been back on). PFM as we say in the aviation world!