Anyone know where the D. Anderson S1 Countach went to ?

This was the blue and white 1979 LP400S1, that sat in Jacksonville, Fl. - Do not confuse this, with the Anderson car in Colorado.

 

 

 

The car was sold. It needed (everything) but shocks and some suspension components. It had the early S/W dash.

 

 

 

Where is the car today ? Just curious, if someone is going to actually try and restore it.

He and I just emailed yesterday. Met him recently through ebay. This a part of what he wrote:

 

"Yes, I know David R. Anderson in CO, he has 1121094, and I have sold a

few parts to him through the years. I had 1121054, which was the 27th

Countach S built (probably in April 1979). It was a low-body car with

Bravo wheels, 45mm Webers, no EPA smog or ugly DOT equipment on it. It

was in a minor accident in about 1995 and I bought it in 2002. I put a

lot of time and money into my car, completely rebuilding the suspension

and brakes, fabricating a distributor-less ignition system for it, and

basically buying EVERY single (correct) part needed to finish the car

to perfection. However, I ended up selling it in 2004 to a custom

motorcycle builder in California. I don't know what progress he's made

since, but I do miss the car."

I heard, and maybe someone will chime in because its one of those "rumors", that a restraunt owner bought it and was going to pretty it up for display only purposes. Don't recall name of restraunt.

Nevermind. the rumor I heard was obviously false. Came from Lambo-list

Completly rebuilding the suspension and brakes, fabricating a distributor-less ignition system for it, and basically buying EVERY single (correct) part needed to finish the car to perfection.

 

 

The major parts of the restoration were never addressed. In addition, considerable expense was spent, to buy all kinds of NOS parts, that really only belong on the very best cars. You need to spend over six figures, to finish that car. It would be amazing to think, how far you could actually go, with 100K. - I doubt you could finish that car, for even that amount.

 

Imagine what the bill would be, if someone "dropped it" at Bob Smith Coachworks

 

It needed almost everything, and then some.

Nevermind. the rumor I heard was obviously false. Came from Lambo-list

 

 

On the other L site, waaaaaaaay back, their was a Diablo owner who owned a club, who had interest in putting the car on his club floor.

 

 

I think he was on the East Coast ? Was his name Joe ? ...Just a guess.

 

He said he would back out of the bidding process, if someone wanted to properly restore the car.

This car is (VERY) close to the end of the transition cars. - The new S1 body, with the old LP 400 S/W gauges and dash.

 

 

 

I almost purchased this car over the telephone. I sent a friend with the funds to JAX, to look at the car. I basically told him to transfer the papers. He called me on the weekend, and described the actual condition of the car :mrgreen: . He said are you sure you want to buy this ? :partyman:

 

 

 

Just for FUN, I really would love to know, how much $$$$$, you need, to win the Best of Show Lamborghini category, at the Concorso.

Just so you know, he is Davis Anderson FLA not Davis R Anderson in CO.

Apparently he did alot before he unloaded it.

Peter

 

You should have seen the pics !!!!!

 

 

Think along the lines of a barn find, that also needs serious body work. Major Aluminum bodywork, is a bad thing to even contemplate.

Imagine what the bill would be, if someone "dropped it" at Bob Smith Coachworks  

 

I can't wait until people are standing in line to drop Countaches off at Bob Smiths shop. Or Gary Bobileff or Wil deGroot. One of these days people are going to start realizing the car deserves some respect, and when that happens, the cars will begin to be restored properly. Just like what is happening to the Miura market. In fairly short order, all the guys who lusted after the Countach in high school in the mid 80's (like me) are going to be rolling in dough. Just like the baby boomers have been of late. When that happens, we will look back fondly on the times when a decent Countach could be bought for less than 100K. :mrgreen:

DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT CAR!!!!!!!!!

I didn't put 2 and 2 together.

Where did the white countach go that was sitting in a field with no motor?

Thanks to Peter K. for alerting me to this list, I wondered what happened to all the guys I remembered from the old list, and now I see a lot of them are here. Those guys can probably vouch for the amount of work I put into 1121054. I also believe all the research I did before and after buying the car made me a pretty fair authority on the different variations of the Countach S.

 

For the record, I was the one who owned the "Beater Countach" as it was not-so-affectionately called on the lambo-list before I bought it in January 2002. It was stored under a tarp in the backyard of an old church converted to a Chech's house in SW Florida.

 

When I sold it 2+ years later, it was nowhere near as bad as some in this thread seem to be making it out to be. To clarify, I did get a lot of calls about the car, but I would not have questioned anyone's sanity for buying the car. I didn't want to sell it and I wish I still had it.

 

I did a lot of the hard work on the restoration, and spent all the money needed for the parts. Everything, with the exception of maybe two or three minor parts went with the car. Most of the parts were NOS and correct. For example, I bought THE LAST 5 hides of the proper white Connolly leather available from Hirsch, possibly the last roll of the proper Navy blue Wilton Wool carpet, the exact faux suede in the original colors for the dash and headliner. I tracked down the right parts from dealers all over the country, some things from Eurospares, some from ebay sellers all over the world. Along the way, I met many people in small Lambo world.

 

The only real work needed was the aluminum bodywork, paint and reupholster. It wasn't going to be that hard at all, and if done right the car was going to be MINT. I believe the person who bought it most certainly had the skills to do the work himself, given his profession. The car's front bodywork was damaged further by the transport company that did not properly secure the car in the enclosed semi. I haven't been in touch with the buyer in a year and a half, so I don't know how much he did to finish the car. But assuming he does the cosmetics right, what a car it will be.

 

For you historians (and I consider myself one also) My car would have been the 27th Countach S (given the even chassis numbering) . Although it's almost futile to try to classify the 1980 cars as Series 1 vs. Series 2 since perhaps the factory was handmaking these things with whatever parts were left, my car was definitely a S1. It was originally Acapulco Blue with White Leather and dark blue suede dash and carpet. It is a low-body car with magnesium Bravo wheels, larger 45mm webers, Stewart Warner Stage III gauges, no emissions equipment, it had the loud 4-muffler Ansa sport exhaust, never had U.S. side marker lights front or rear, never had U.S. spec rear bumper, no DOT steel beams in the doors. It truly was a Euro model.

 

I got to know the owner of 1121056, the next car off the line after mine. He's on Long Island and his car is red/black. Other than colors, his car was identical to mine except his had the newer larger Jaeger gauges compared to my SW gauges and he had U.S. side marker lights. His also had an interesting custom roof mounted Panasonic stereo system like the early 80s Lotus Esprit Turbo.

 

One of the previous owners was Mark Alton Balthrop in Grand Prairie, TX. He might have been the one to crash it in 1995. Before him was a guy in Chicago who had 2 Countach's and a Jalpa. Jim Kaminski told me he saw the car in Chicago once.

 

Anyway, I could go on for hours about the car. Hopefully, I get another one soon.

 

David J. Anderson

Imagine what the bill would be, if someone "dropped it" at Bob Smith Coachworks  

 

I can't wait until people are standing in line to drop Countaches off at Bob Smiths shop. Or Gary Bobileff or Wil deGroot. One of these days people are going to start realizing the car deserves some respect, and when that happens, the cars will begin to be restored properly. Just like what is happening to the Miura market. In fairly short order, all the guys who lusted after the Countach in high school in the mid 80's (like me) are going to be rolling in dough. Just like the baby boomers have been of late. When that happens, we will look back fondly on the times when a decent Countach could be bought for less than 100K. :mrgreen:

 

I hope so, However my car is not for sale until its value exceeds my home.

 

I love driving my Countach :twisted:

 

I agree someday people will be amazed you could buy a CT for under 100k

Welecome to the board David.

 

Do you have any pics of the car just before you sold it? Or pics of the parts you sourced?

When I sold it 2+ years later, it was nowhere near as bad as some in this thread seem to be making it out to be.  

 

 

This car needs well over $100K, to be completed correctly.

 

____

 

Paint (partially) stripped off of the car - not completed

Aluminum repair of accident was not properly finished. - Aluminum repair work was shoddy at best.

Many different components were rusted.

screws holding doors etc..., were rusted, with rust and paint mixed about.

Dash gauge cluster was on the floor, with wires strewn about. - Good Luck !

No Bravo wheels or Pirelli rubber

No idea about electric work required for the entire car

Condition of transmission ?

Engine did not run

Carbs were not on the car

Condition of the carbs ?

Condition of the clutch ?

Condition of the engine ?

Interior needed to be completly restored

The unknown etc... ?

Missing parts ?

 

_______

 

 

So you are at approx 25k+, for JUST the paint job and Bravo wheels. The paint job, does NOT include the significant aluminum repair work required. - This will cost THOUSANDS more. 15K, is for a typical Countach paint job. Given the condition of the surface of the car, it will most likely cost more. 10K for the original wheels.

 

Look at the list above this paragraph !

David, thanks for coming aboard!

Raplh seem to think the car was still pretty rough when you sold it., sounding a little harsh :)

But did it run? Didi you have the bravos?

So, from what I understand, the car was in Texas, crashed, made it's way to Florida with big dreams of "fixin it up", parked behind a converted church and sat there for x amount of years?

So two questions

1) can you contact the guy you sold it to and find out where and what's up with it.

2) And the most important

CAN WE TALK YOU INTO BUYING IT BACK?

If no, stay on this board, you'll change your mind :)

And I think we all agree that buying an S1 in any shape, but almost all there, is worth it. That being said, for a "reasonable" amount of money.

Because 20-30 or even 40 for the car plus 50 70-100 is probably what an S1 fully restored is worth nowadays or near future.

Anyone want to agure the point? :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:

:finga: :finga: :finga:

:butthead: :butthead: :butthead:

hey, i wish I could have bought that car 2 years ago. Cars take so much room dammit. It was a great DIYer project

 

 

:heart: COUNTACH :heart: :partyman:

David,

 

Why did you sell it? Any chance we could get you to tell us what you sold it for? I also was || this close to making you an offer.

 

Greg Idler

Imagine what the bill would be, if someone "dropped it" at Bob Smith Coachworks  

 

I can't wait until people are standing in line to drop Countaches off at Bob Smiths shop. Or Gary Bobileff or Wil deGroot. One of these days people are going to start realizing the car deserves some respect, and when that happens, the cars will begin to be restored properly. Just like what is happening to the Miura market. In fairly short order, all the guys who lusted after the Countach in high school in the mid 80's (like me) are going to be rolling in dough. Just like the baby boomers have been of late. When that happens, we will look back fondly on the times when a decent Countach could be bought for less than 100K. :mrgreen:

 

Its already starting to happen. More and more work that I do is restoration related.

Frankly, I don't know why Ralph is so seemingly passionate about describing the "horrendous" condition of the car. If I recall (admittedly it has been almost 2 years), based on his commitment over the telephone to buy the car and at his request, I ended the ebay auction early. Then after spending all morning literally covering my entire driveway with all the new parts that were included in the sale, two young guys show up with a digital camera, but seemingly no intention to buy. Then they tell me, "Oh, he'll call you to talk about the car." What a waste.

 

Look, I have never been a combatant on these lists and honestly I didn't even remember this aspect of the sale or that Ralph was that person until I saw his post describing his "almost" buying the car and sending "a friend with the funds." Normally, I wouldn't care since I no longer have any financial interest in the car, but I think the portrayal of the car is unfair, not to me but to the car. I did have a strong attachment to the car, so let me set the record straight.

 

Ralph, this is no slight on you. Maybe you do think it would require more money to restore than is worth it, and you're entitled to voice that opinion. You just were inaccurate on some details.

 

"This car needs well over $100K, to be completed correctly." - I don't see it. Since all of the parts were included (except the Bravo wheels), the only other expense would be for labor. I would not disagree that someone could spend $15k for the paint and body but then you would have an immaculate car. This was clearly THE major expense and was open and obvious to anyone who looked at the car.

 

As for the wheels, when I bought the car it had the incorrect newer OZ wheels. I found a set of Bravos and bought them for $4200 then refinished them. I sold the OZs for $3000 I think. Before I sold the car, I decided to sell the Bravos separately (for economic reasons). The car was left sitting on plain-jane wheels with new Pirelli P7s on the front and worn P7Rs on the back. I think at the time I had 4 brand new 205/50VR15 P7 front tires and 6 brand new 345/35VR15 P7 rears and I would have sold along with the car for the concours perfectionist. If someone HAD to have the Bravos (I am probably one of them) they can be found if you're willing to pay for them. I sold mine on ebay with brand new Yokohama sticker tires for $8900. Otherwise, you could get the later Campagnolo or OZ or even aftermarket wheels (ugh!).

 

Paint (partially) stripped off of the car - not completed - That's true, I hadn't finished removing all the paint. But it's not like it's that hard to do. One more stripping session and it would have been complete. I just ran out of time. What I did see though was the body was pretty straight except for the accident damaged areas in the front left and right rear.

 

Aluminum repair of accident was not properly finished. - Aluminum repair work was shoddy at best. - I agree, the P.O. did an ugly job welding filler metal on the damaged areas. It was ugly because it had not been ground down smooth yet.

 

Many different components were rusted. - I don't know which components are referenced here. There were some surface rust spots on the bodywork mounting frames that needed to be blasted and repainted.

 

Dash gauge cluster was on the floor, with wires strewn about. - Good Luck! - Actually, the dash gauge was completely intact. There were a couple of wiring harness connectors on the dash and matching ones on the gauge panel. I connected them in order to turn the engine over and the gauges and lights worked. fine. Luck not needed here.

 

No Bravo wheels or Pirelli rubber - Half true, see above.

 

No idea about electric work required for the entire car - Electrics were intact. The car was running and driving when crashed, and none of the electrical equipment was removed, so there was no reason to doubt it. The car turned on and cranked fine, plugs fired, etc.

 

Condition of transmission ? Again, car running when wrecked. Not touched in the accident or afterwards. Oil was full and clean in the gearbox etc.

 

Engine did not run - Engine cranked fine with good spark from the OEM distributors and had good compression. Early on before I had reinstalled the gas tanks, I decided to replace the OEM ignition with an Electromotive distributorless system (on Chad's advice - He can tell you about the custom brackets and pulley trigger wheel I fabricated. I was even going to patent it!). I just didn't finish the Electromotive install before I sold the car. Although the tanks were in when I sold it, I hadn't put in the coil packs yet and didn't want to put gas in the tanks until it was ready to start.

 

Carbs were not on the car - Not accurate. The carbs were never removed after the accident. They probably needed rebuilding from being dry so long, but they were there and that's not too expensive to do anyway.

 

Condition of the clutch ? Can't know either way. When in gear and cranking the engine briefly it would jump (accidental). Again, car was driving at time of crash, so you can assume what you want. What's an engine-out clutch job cost nowadays - $8k? Every Countach will need this expense, not just 1121054. Plus, if you pulled the motor, you're going to do all the rest, and you'd have a mechanically perfect drivetrain to go with the immaculate exterior.

 

Interior needed to be completly restored - True, but again all of the original pieces were included. Plus, I included about 5 huge Connolly hides in the correct bright white (the last ones Hirsch had available), about 9-10 yards of the correct navy blue Wilton wool carpet, all the dash and headliner suede, etc, brand new factory gauge panels for both the binnacle and the center console a/c panel, new a/c switches, new factory correct a/c switch knobs, etc. Maybe $3000 for reupholstery to perfection? Heck most of the panels are flat with no stiching. I was going to do those myself. Only the seats, dash and center console would require a modicum of skill.

 

The unknown etc... ? Any used car is an unknown. For me nothing was unknown since I had gone completely through the whole car in order to obtain everything needed to finish the car.

 

Missing parts ? Only thing I can remember was the emergency brake caliper cable. But I just saw George Evans had one on ebay for $98.

 

_______

 

 

There you have it. I suppose someone COULD spend $100,000 on it, but they would be throwing money away. I remember Chad always telling people, "Hey these cars are not rocket science!" He's right, the early cars are not that complex.

 

I had planned on paying others for the finish work on the body, and for the paint and upholstery work. Then I was going to wait and see how well the engine ran and drove. If I found it needed it, I would pull the motor at a later date. If I got lucky with the engine (I believe I would have), I'd be driving a mechanically sound, very rare, early "S" with Bravo wheels and perfect paint and interior for well under $50k. Enjoying every minute of it!

 

Sorry for the long post. I do miss the car and I hope the new owner does a great job with it.

 

David

Greg, I only sold it because my wife and I bought some oceanfront property and wanted to build a second house on it. Financially, it would have been too much of a burden. I won't say what he paid, but since he is a renowned custom painter, he can do the bodywork and paint himself saving the $15k-25k others project. He can probably have a beautiful finished car for less than $50k (even after buying some Bravos - although he said he was going to machine some custom wheels for it).

 

Peter, it would not take much (other than money) to convince me to buy it back, if it was available, or even another Countach. I do like the early S better than all the rest, even if it's not as powerful as the later cars. I grew up pretty close to where Hawaiin Tropic is located (i.e., Ron Rice - although I don't think he still owns it contrary to what the registry says). Anyway, in the mid-to-late 80s, I acutally sat in the "Cannonball Run" Countach when I was about 15 or 16. It was at a local gas station getting an oil change. A couple of years later, a dark blue early Countach S (might even have been David R. Anderson's car before it was painted black) pulled up to my friends and I asking for directions. Those memories are still vivid in my mind. That's the impact of these cars!

 

Yes, I'll have another when the time is right. I'll probably have to pay big $ for it, but what's more pleasurable - a stack of cash or a gleaming Countach wrapped around you?

 

David

David

 

 

I (believe) I still have quite a few photos of the car, from the two guys who looked at it ? They came with certified funds, to purchase the car. They called me from your house, and asked for instructions, after the condition of the car was described in detail.

 

 

- It comes down to one's opinion, on what is and what is not required for that car.

 

 

I will see if I can post some pics of the car. - I will try.

Ralph,

Believe me, I hesitated about posting any reply about the car or you almost buying it. I don't have any hard feelings about us not completing the transaction and I hope I wasn't offensive in my post. I myself have been in situations where the deal suddenly starts looking worse than what I expected, and I know sometimes you just have to back out. I don't blame you for it at all. I wish I had been able to post more pictures of the entire car so that a misunderstanding wouldn't happen. But you can only upload so much on an ebay auction. Anyway, there is no respect lost, and I ultimately ended up selling the car for more, so it was no big deal.

 

David

 

p.s. I just looked at an awesome black LP400S on another thread that's hinted as being yours. You certainly do have good taste in cars!