The Poster Car Returns

Of course it's bigger, faster and quicker and has way more power than the original, but does it make you say "Countach"?

- Mike Duff

HISTORY IS A powerful commodity for an automaker, but also a dangerous one. The line between reverential and pastiche is fuzzy, and the list of retro-themed products that fell on the wrong side of it is long and ignominious. Who can recall Volkswagen’s front-wheel drive New Beetle without wincing?

The risks for a supercar maker are greater still, and never more so than when dealing with a car as utterly famous as Lamborghini’s Countach. The original was a sensation when it debuted in 1974, Marcello Gandini’s wedge-shaped design impressing every bit as much as the performance of the hand-built V12 engine mounted behind the passenger compartment, a combination that has inspired every mid-engined Lamborghini since. Yet none got to share its name – until now.