Prototype Countach 5000S

If your are talking about Trefor Thomas as managing director, you are way behind the times. Trefor died several years ago.

Chadbourn Bolles

 

 

 

apse some years ago, and does not have the usual resources for dealingwith such matters; So it entrusted Jas Rarewala-formerly with ACI, a firm converting European cars to legal American specifications-with this job as well as the distribution of its cars here. Rarewala, the president, now devotes full time to Lamborghini of North America and Thomas is its managing director.

 

Jeff Leblond says he was part of the team that worked for Jas R. and did the F.I. conversion for this car. He also says he has all

the original parts!!! First one or not I wouldn't care. I would get in touch with Jeff and buy all the original parts off of him and put the intake and carbs back on, ditch the bumpers and put it back to perfect. Silver is probably the best color on these cars.

Jeff Leblond says he was part of the team that worked for Jas R. and did the F.I. conversion for this car. He also says he has all

the original parts!!! First one or not I wouldn't care. I would get in touch with Jeff and buy all the original parts off of him and put the intake and carbs back on, ditch the bumpers and put it back to perfect. Silver is probably the best color on these cars.

 

Arent there some interesting stories about Jeff Lebblond also..

Arent there some interesting stories about Jeff Lebblond also..

 

 

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I would like to ditch the front bumpers too but they changed the trunk lid as well! If you get rid of the bumpers there will be holes in the trunk.

What i meant by the dog picture is that i don't know any other stories about Jeff L. is all. I see that the front hoods have had

the notches cut out. I would think a good craftsman could rebuild it and add those missing parts back in. Same as if the front end had suffered minor damage from a hit. Is it worth it? I don't know... maybe if the car already had plans to get repainted. Do they look bad? NO, much much better option than the official US crash/rubber bumpers that came along later. Another odd period of time where there seemed to be no certain plan on how to handle changing regulations. Do you also have the same sloped rear facia piece? Is the original euro taillight assembly underneath? I would change that first over the front and it would be a lot easier and cheaper I would guess.

they changed the trunk lid as well! If you get rid of the bumpers there will be holes in the trunk.

That is not cool...How stupid...

I would like to ditch the front bumpers too but they changed the trunk lid as well! If you get rid of the bumpers there will be holes in the trunk.

That front bumper does not look bad. The "other" ones look terrible.

After looking throu some books, it might to a point be correct to call it a prototype. Jas did ask Lamborghini to help him making it US-legal in 1982. What actuall work they did or he did I can't find in any books, but this grey car was the first Jas did. But it is not a official Lamborghini conversion/prototype since Lamborghini Cars of North America did the conversions until Lamborghini started to make federaliced cars in 1985.

 

The rear bumper/surround I have only seen on two cars. This grey one, and this black that was sold by Bobileff 5-6 years ago.

Grey car should too originally be wingless (as the photos in the book (Lamborghini, Supercar Supreme) shows)like the black car, and the rear bumper looks much better without the wing on, and shows better that it flows better with the lines of the car. BUT the black car has a euro-front, but I do not think it predates the grey one. Only the grey one is written about.

After looking throu some books, it might to a point be correct to call it a prototype. Jas did ask Lamborghini to help him making it US-legal in 1982. What actuall work they did or he did I can't find in any books, but this grey car was the first Jas did. But it is not a official Lamborghini conversion/prototype since Lamborghini Cars of North America did the conversions until Lamborghini started to make federaliced cars in 1985.

 

The rear bumper/surround I have only seen on two cars. This grey one, and this black that was sold by Bobileff 5-6 years ago.

Grey car should too originally be wingless (as the photos in the book (Lamborghini, Supercar Supreme) shows)like the black car, and the rear bumper looks much better without the wing on, and shows better that it flows better with the lines of the car. BUT the black car has a euro-front, but I do not think it predates the grey one. Only the grey one is written about.

 

 

That's Udo's old car which ended up burning years after he sold it.

i believe the black one you posted here belonged to a board member and unfortunately was destroyed in

a fire! The silver one you speak of from said book....

99% positive that a handful TRUE USA FI (maybe 12 cars) were made by the factory. They were given US spec VIN numbers different from the converted euro cars.

 

ELA.... instead of FLA... and produced in late 1984-1985.

 

 

 

 

The rear bumper/surround I have only seen on two cars. This grey one, and this black that was sold by Bobileff 5-6 years ago.

There is also a dark blue one which is located in Germany since many years, it was spotted at the Murci intro event in Italy in 2001.

And it's also claimed being THE Proto... (well I don't care)

lambocars LP5000s

Hello All,

 

I am the current owner of the Silver Countach in this thread. It is certainly an interesting and historically unique Lamborghini that I am enjoying bringing back to life as it has almost never seen the light of day in the last 20 years from sitting in the private collections of two different gentlemen.

 

Certainly there are a lot of opinions and mis/information about the car. I am enjoying putting the history together currently and will be speaking with the gentleman who did much of the work on the prototype injection system on this car in the near future. Another friend of mine that is highly involved in racing in Europe has checked out the car through a friend of his, Mr Balboni.

 

Here is a link to my car already on the internet: http://www.lambocars.com/archive/countach/lp500sus.htm

 

Indeed, it is appropriate to call the car a prototype as it is the first of its kind and was used by Lamborghini as a show car to display what was to come.

 

Here is a link to pictures of a random Countach I found that has one of the few injection systems based upon my prototype. You can most easily discern it as the plenum of the production car is finned and has the logo on it unlike mine that is plain. http://www.motorbase.com/picture/by-id/668821422

 

Also, there were some Countachs that followed mine that have exactly the same front and rear facias. Even as a die hard Euro bumper lover, I rather enjoy these. They are interesting without being unsightly.

 

Another point, while if the original carbs and intake manifolds for my car exist (and may be good to have on hand), it would be foolish to convert this car back to carbs and its original body configuration as you would be destroying some very worthwhile history. It does seem though that the car did not have its rear wing during the show circuit with Lamborghini. If that is the case, I would not be against removing the spoiler.

 

As for my ownership of the car. I acquired the car privately a few months ago from the last collector. While the car was started and trailered to shows on occasion, it was almost never driven. IE, had about 14,000km when I bought it. I am currently going over it and it is becoming much happier for that. Initially, I went through everything so that it would be well enough to drive so that I was able to make a few showings with our local exotic car club (Columbus Cars and Coffee). After 20+ years of little driving, the injectors were rather dirty, and there were some drips from a seeping cam cover. Other wise the car was coming back to life nicely. Certainly though, fine tuning and some light restorative work was in order.

 

The car is happily covered here at my racing shop and I will be going over everything shortly (braking system, valve adjustments, seals, and gaskets, etc, etc.) Elsewise, the car is in fantastic shape. The original blue interior, is perfect! No shrinkage of the leather. The paint is also very good as is the glass, rubber, etc etc. On a separate note, it bugs me that people are restoring Ferraris and Lambos with new leathers that do not have the same look as the original. The original leather had a bit of a sheen to it rather than the ultra supple, flat textured leathers people seem to use now. So glad my car is such a fine original.

 

On a last note, I dearly love the Countach and this car. With my background in racing, history, fine arts and design, and being a car builder I really appreciate these cars in about every way one can. This particular car is a historically important Countach and a very nice original example with very low miles. By historically important, we must realize that statement is relative in the car world. I won't go so far as to put its history and story above that of a Pre-War Blower Bentely that won LeMans or Jim Clark's '65 Indy winning Lotus 38, but it is indeed an important facet of the Lamborghini lineage. We must realize that without the adventures from the past such as this car, we might never have had the opportunity to see Lamborghini as a company make it to the present and be giving us the pleasure of such exciting cars as the new Aventador.

 

I appreciate everyone's interest in this car and I welcome any new information and or pictures that you might find of it. Thanks guys!

 

Casey Putsch

www.putschracing.com

 

I've attached a few pictures. The blue Countach was the Prince of Saudi Arabia's 1978 4-litre car. No cracks about the Delorean guys! That car belongs to a very cool car enthusiast and is an 80's icon as well. Enjoy.

Jeff Leblond says he was part of the team that worked for Jas R. and did the F.I. conversion for this car. He also says he has all

the original parts!!! First one or not I wouldn't care. I would get in touch with Jeff and buy all the original parts off of him and put the intake and carbs back on, ditch the bumpers and put it back to perfect. Silver is probably the best color on these cars.

exactly what I would do. Ditch the bosch cis and put some carbs on it!! way more power and coolness

 

exactly what I would do. Ditch the bosch cis and put some carbs on it!! way more power and coolness

 

I think it will be great if we could reconstruct the history of these FI cars! I just took a picture of the rear bumper as it came, I took it off and yes, the Euro tail lights are underneath. they were actually covered in black filler, really messy. I had to get them off and clean them. There are two holes for the internal frame of the bumper, and were cut horribly, just to make room for two metal bars. It is incredible that they would price the car so high when the internal work was so sloppy.

 

Mine has also a flat plenum.. I wonder if that means it is another prototype?

First of all.. Thanks to the owners for both chiming in. Great to hear their views. Even though I would look into changing

some things IF i could (big IF) i certainly understand the opinion not to as these cars are very few and bridged the gap between

carbs and the full fledged plan of dealing with regs and emissions. Plus, if it was good enough for Walter.... then

How many of these are there anyway??? (of course there will be no official Factory number)

 

exactly what I would do. Ditch the bosch cis and put some carbs on it!! way more power and coolness

 

I certainly love carb'd cars. I'm fitting Webbers to my Cheetah to race this year. In this case however, that would be a bad idea. Kinda like putting a 4 barrel holley on an all original and perfect, numbers matching '63 Split-window Corvette with Rochester fuel injection. Know what I mean? I'd be all for modding the heck out of any Lambo newer than a Countach. Actually, I detest the Aniversary cars and would be all for modding one of those too.

First of all.. Thanks to the owners for both chiming in. Great to hear their views. Even though I would look into changing

some things IF i could (big IF) i certainly understand the opinion not to as these cars are very few and bridged the gap between

carbs and the full fledged plan of dealing with regs and emissions. Plus, if it was good enough for Walter.... then

 

I think Mr. Payton enjoyed the pomp and circumstance, but I rather doubt the phrase "toe-heel downshift" or "double clutch" was in his vocabulary I dig the photos. Thanks for sharing!

Hello All,

 

I am the current owner of the Silver Countach in this thread. It is certainly an interesting and historically unique Lamborghini that I am enjoying bringing back to life as it has almost never seen the light of day in the last 20 years from sitting in the private collections of two different gentlemen.

 

Certainly there are a lot of opinions and mis/information about the car. I am enjoying putting the history together currently and will be speaking with the gentleman who did much of the work on the prototype injection system on this car in the near future. Another friend of mine that is highly involved in racing in Europe has checked out the car through a friend of his, Mr Balboni.

 

Here is a link to my car already on the internet: http://www.lambocars.com/archive/countach/lp500sus.htm

 

Indeed, it is appropriate to call the car a prototype as it is the first of its kind and was used by Lamborghini as a show car to display what was to come.

 

Here is a link to pictures of a random Countach I found that has one of the few injection systems based upon my prototype. You can most easily discern it as the plenum of the production car is finned and has the logo on it unlike mine that is plain. http://www.motorbase.com/picture/by-id/668821422

 

Also, there were some Countachs that followed mine that have exactly the same front and rear facias. Even as a die hard Euro bumper lover, I rather enjoy these. They are interesting without being unsightly.

 

Another point, while if the original carbs and intake manifolds for my car exist (and may be good to have on hand), it would be foolish to convert this car back to carbs and its original body configuration as you would be destroying some very worthwhile history. It does seem though that the car did not have its rear wing during the show circuit with Lamborghini. If that is the case, I would not be against removing the spoiler.

 

As for my ownership of the car. I acquired the car privately a few months ago from the last collector. While the car was started and trailered to shows on occasion, it was almost never driven. IE, had about 14,000km when I bought it. I am currently going over it and it is becoming much happier for that. Initially, I went through everything so that it would be well enough to drive so that I was able to make a few showings with our local exotic car club (Columbus Cars and Coffee). After 20+ years of little driving, the injectors were rather dirty, and there were some drips from a seeping cam cover. Other wise the car was coming back to life nicely. Certainly though, fine tuning and some light restorative work was in order.

 

The car is happily covered here at my racing shop and I will be going over everything shortly (braking system, valve adjustments, seals, and gaskets, etc, etc.) Elsewise, the car is in fantastic shape. The original blue interior, is perfect! No shrinkage of the leather. The paint is also very good as is the glass, rubber, etc etc. On a separate note, it bugs me that people are restoring Ferraris and Lambos with new leathers that do not have the same look as the original. The original leather had a bit of a sheen to it rather than the ultra supple, flat textured leathers people seem to use now. So glad my car is such a fine original.

 

On a last note, I dearly love the Countach and this car. With my background in racing, history, fine arts and design, and being a car builder I really appreciate these cars in about every way one can. This particular car is a historically important Countach and a very nice original example with very low miles. By historically important, we must realize that statement is relative in the car world. I won't go so far as to put its history and story above that of a Pre-War Blower Bentely that won LeMans or Jim Clark's '65 Indy winning Lotus 38, but it is indeed an important facet of the Lamborghini lineage. We must realize that without the adventures from the past such as this car, we might never have had the opportunity to see Lamborghini as a company make it to the present and be giving us the pleasure of such exciting cars as the new Aventador.

 

I appreciate everyone's interest in this car and I welcome any new information and or pictures that you might find of it. Thanks guys!

 

Casey Putsch

www.putschracing.com

 

I've attached a few pictures. The blue Countach was the Prince of Saudi Arabia's 1978 4-litre car. No cracks about the Delorean guys! That car belongs to a very cool car enthusiast and is an 80's icon as well. Enjoy.

Welcome aboard.

 

 

Casey Putsch

www.putschracing.com

 

I've attached a few pictures. The blue Countach was the Prince of Saudi Arabia's 1978 4-litre car. No cracks about the Delorean guys! That car belongs to a very cool car enthusiast and is an 80's icon as well. Enjoy.

...and here I thought for years that I had the blue Saudi car until..........

I've attached a few pictures. The blue Countach was the Prince of Saudi Arabia's 1978 4-litre car. No cracks about the Delorean guys! That car belongs to a very cool car enthusiast and is an 80's icon as well. Enjoy.

 

Hah...thats me walking in the background infront of Scotty's green gallardo in your second pic.....