NEWS

COUNTACH: “THE ICON REBORN” WITH DESIGN GURU STEPHEN BAYLEY

The celebrations dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Lamborghini Countach wound up on 7 December in Sant’Agata Bolognese with an exclusive event whose participants included Stephen Bayley, the famous writer, editor, critic, design expert and founder of the Design Museum London. The event featured the presentation of the LPI 800-4 model, which pays homage to the legacy of the iconic Countach LP 500 of 1971, which for the occasion was entirely rebuilt by Polo Storico. It then continued with a talk between Bayley and some of the most influential figures of the company, such as Federico Foschini, Maurizio Reggiani and Mitja Borkert.

Following the presentation of Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and CEO of Lamborghini, Bayley opened up the discussion by explaining the concept of classic. “It is something final and universal, where by final we mean a concept that goes beyond the flow of time and universal means that everyone likes it.” Then he added, “If we can recognize a city by the buildings outlining its skyline, for example Paris with its Eiffel Tower and the Montmartre Basilica, […] then it means that the design of those single works is so extraordinary and extremely powerful that it makes those buildings different from all the others. […] This is what I think about when I look at the two Lamborghini Countach next to each other: the LP 500 of 1971 and the very latest Countach LPI 800-4. Fifty years of history under comparison and icons of their times, which with an unmistakable style and outstanding performance have earned their place in the automotive Olympics.”

When speaking of the work necessary to rebuild the original model, Federico Foschini, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer of Lamborghini also said, “The attention and success we achieved when we presented this reconstruction was a clear and additional sign of how this car today represents a legend. What is even more striking is the fact that, without distinction, it attracted different generations, which are usually distant from each other in terms of tastes and the definition of beauty.”

According to Maurizio Reggiani, Chief Technical Officer and member of the Polo Storico Experts Committee, the new Countach LPI 800-4 as well has all the characteristics necessary to enter the collective imagination, because “it adds modern technology made of composite materials, improved aerodynamic research, a hybrid 12-cylinder engine equipped with the supercapacitor and four-wheel drive. They are all elements that have not altered the extraordinary spirit of the original Countach.”

“There are works of art that always remain relevant, and the shape of the Countach is one of them,” said Mitja Borkert, Head of Design. “It is the sum of the Design elements of Lamborghini’s DNA, the tradition of stylistic language from the origins up to present-day.”

The units of the Countach LPI 800-4 produced will total 112, and they were all sold even before the official presentation to the public. They will be delivered to those enthusiasts who were unable to resist the temptation to configure their new Countach with the same colors of the historic model in 2022.