SCISSOR SISTERS

LAMBORGHINI'S SIGNATURE SUPERCAR REAPPEARS IN MODERN FORM. HOW FAITHFUL IS THE HOMAGE?

- MIKE DUFF

WIDE, WEDGY, AND OUTRAGEOUS, the Countach wasn't the first Lamborghini, but Marcello Gandini's jaw-dropping design created the archetype the company has followed ever since. No new Countach could ever match the original in terms of the awestruck reaction that greeted the vehicle, named for a Piedmontese expletive uttered at the concept car. Which is why

Lamborghini's decision to produce a new Countach, the LPI 800-4, seemed dangerously close to heresy. The question is: Can the LPI 800-4 compare as an experience? To answer it, we drove the LPI 800-4 alongside a historic Countach from Lamborghini's own collection. This 1990 25th Anniversary Edition is the final original Countach built, and it's normally exhibited in the factory museum. With just 6000 miles, it's practically box fresh. As the last version of the first Countach, it's the most appropriate example to match with the new car.

Park them next to each other, and the differences are at least as obvious as the similarities. The LPI 800-4 Countach sits on the Aventador's platform and shares its carbon-fiber tub. Years of evolution make it bigger in every plane [see "Even the NACA Duct Grew," page 64]. Yet there is also a visual kinship across the decades, with the LPI 800-4 clearly an homage rather than an attempted replica.

Mitja Borkert, Lamborghini's design director, was able to riff on themes from throughout the Countach's long life. There's an LP5000S-like front end (despite the absence of pop-up headlights), hexagonal wheel arches, and raised air intakes reminiscent of the mid-'80s Quattrovalvole.

According to the principles of modern car design, the new Countach features better proportions and more harmonious details than the clad-and-straked 25th Anniversary. But the older car is the one you can't stop looking at.