Lamborghini Countach, Diablo, Murciélago and Aventador: the wild bunch

The opening of chequebooks crystallised Lamborghini’s future.

A far cry from Ferruccio’s sober dreams of GT perfection, Sant’Agata would sell forward-looking drama.

But a fully production-ready Countach took until the 1973 Geneva show to arrive, with deliveries the following year.

NACA ducts had appeared behind the doors for engine cooling, the futuristic interior was simplified and the nose reprofiled, but the big upgrade promised by the show car’s ‘LP500’ badging was gone.

The Lamborghini Countach 5000S make use of the 4754cc V12 engine developed by Giotto Bizzarrini

That the same 3929cc V12 from the Miura was fitted, in 375bhp tune with six sidedraught Webers, spoke to the constricted resources at Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA. It also left that 300kph just out of reach.

Still, the order books were full; the problem was building enough, which was a challenge in ’70s Italy.

Lurching from mass strike action to mass unemployment, drowning in OPEC crisis-fuelled inflation and mired in political violence, the idea of increasing Countach production to 10 a month might have seemed fanciful.

Ferruccio himself sold off his remaining 49% stake in the car business in 1974, and a number of technical minds left in subsequent years.

The nose pushes wide at the limit, but the Countach feels nimble and planted at sane speeds

But there was a reason why Ferrari was selling cars by the thousands, and why many of those Lamborghini expats were still hovering close to the business.

The demand in America for supercars was hotter than ever, and soon even the choke-hold of twin catalytic converters, air pumps and thermal reactors wouldn’t stop customers knocking down the doors of the independent importers certifying Countachs for the US market one by one.

The 1978 Countach LP400S, inspired by Canadian enthusiast par extravagance Walter Wolf’s 5-litre, Pirelli P7-shod, wide-bodied and bewinged ‘LP500S’, hit upon gold.

The Lamborghini Countach’s low-set cabin is a match for the exterior’s drama

Even in the confusion of a slew of mixed corporate owners, Lamborghini didn’t miss the trick.

When the Mimran brothers brought along $3m and some relative stability in 1980, the freshly reformed Nuova Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini SpA took the baton and ran with it.

The determination against all odds and apparent misfortune makes sense when you see one of these cars in the wild.

A poster car leaping off the wall, ‘our’ 1984 5000S pulls at the childish heartstrings to own and drive it just as much as it did in period.

‘It fires with spirited smoothness, the six Webers offering only the slightest gargle as the revs grow into an oily howl’

Blindingly white, it grabs more attention than the rest of our group – and that’s before you see the blue interior.

The door lifts a neat, geometric chunk out of the body, producing a vast if awkward opening between sill and airborne door into the leather-lined, low-set cabin.

Seated millimetres from the floor, glass looms above you in an imposing greenhouse; even the dashboard is forced to rise up against the scuttle to meet the ’screen.

Yet it’s surprisingly comfortable, with supple seats and air-con that makes an honourable attempt to temper the huge influx of sunlight.

Vast 345/35 R15 rear tyres came with the LP400S and became a Lamborghini Countach signature

There is an inherent sense of balance in the quad-cam, 60° V12 that Giotto Bizzarrini had developed out of his 1.5-litre Ferrari Formula One engine project into, by ’82, the 4754cc unit in the 5000S.

It fires with spirited smoothness, the six Webers offering only the slightest gargle as the revs grow into an oily howl, and launches the Countach swiftly up to speed.

Warmed through on an open road it flows with an élan that defies the ready-made criticisms from around-the-block test drivers.

The Lamborghini Countach set the blueprint for the modern supercar

The shift quality, for which the forward-mounted gearbox and unusual through-sump driveshaft were arranged, is positive, although the competition clutch still discourages dawdling.

Most Countachs got the sports exhaust, but without it the mechanical sweetness of the V12 fitted north-south behind you is even more resonant, the harmony of carburettors and valves blending with the sounds from the quad tailpipes.

The 7500rpm redline feels almost conservative.

Into corners it is surprisingly nimble, with a touch of understeer over the front end, but ultimately planted – even if that vast rear spoiler is famously only for show.

The Lamborghini Countach’s rear spoiler is only for show

A new quattrovalvole engine was introduced in 1985, upping capacity to 5167cc along with its multi-valve head.

Fitted with K-Jetronic fuel injection and impact bumpers, Lamborghini finally had a US-friendly car, although Europe stayed with carburettors for a handy 455bhp.

The magic 200mph figure continued to elude the dreaming advertisers, but sales surged on, with two-thirds of Countach production in its last five years.

The Lamborghini Diablo (closest) has 206lb ft of torque from just 2000rpm

Routinely more expensive than its Ferrari rival, even the Anniversary model sold out its 30-car allocation in the UK, despite a price-tag that had swelled to £92,000 in 1988.

Capitalising on the worldwide supercar boom had been an extension of Lamborghini’s aims.

Developing its next car, however, was going to be more complex than Gandini simply conjuring up another Geneva show marvel.

‘Developing the next car was going to be more complicated than Gandini simply conjuring up another Geneva show marvel’

At first, thinking was led by an ‘L150’ reskin, mocked up by Italdesign, but when none of the proposals passed muster with the Mimran management, ex-Ferrari and Alfa F1 engineer Luigi Marmaroli took control of the project and immediately engaged Gandini.

Still on a tight budget, the brief was to stick to the old car’s steel spaceframe and basic powertrain layout, yet make something distinctly new and more spacious.

Following a redesign after the new car shaped up uncannily similar to another of Gandini’s projects – former Lambo employee Claudio Zampolli’s Cizeta V16T – the design settled as a softer-edged Countach of stretched proportions and a larger, lower glass area.

More suspension bushing gives the Lamborghini Diablo an extra layer of suppleness

When the Chrysler executives arrived in Italy to inspect their $30m purchase of Lamborghini in summer 1987, a prototype had just taken its first drive.

Lee Iacocca and his design heads compiled a list of revisions and invited Gandini to sketch the final drawings alongside others in Detroit.

While softer bumpers and a new rear spoiler traded Italian edginess for American homogeneity, the overall design was well resolved, with Gandini’s clever extension of the doors into the front wheelarches now flared into an aggressive rise of the rear wings.

The move from the Countach’s angular cabin to the curvy Diablo came with a step-change in build quality, too

The inevitable delays of retooling did at least afford Lamborghini time to redouble efforts on its 315kph (195.7mph) target.

It was still out of reach by summer ’87, so the decision was made – aided by American money – to boost the V12 to 5729cc and install its own fuel-injection system.

Development work on four-wheel drive was also pursued, along with carbonfibre research by future rival Horacio Pagani.

The latter helped reinforce a computer-designed steel spaceframe that weighed less than half the old car’s.

The Lamborghini Diablo received updated teledial-style wheels

Wind-tunnel work brought down its drag coefficient to 0.31 from the Countach’s 0.4Cd, and 200mph was finally achieved.

The name, Diablo, came via an internal vote, but began a tradition for Lamborghini models going forward: it was the title of the bull that had killed bullfighter ‘El Chicorro’ in 1869.

By the time the new car was unveiled in 1990, the collector-car rush was fading as the easy money of the ’80s was finding a newly cautious footing.

The Lamborghini Diablo uses a carbon/glassfibre blend for its panels

Worse still, the ABS, power steering and four-wheel drive planned for the Diablo’s release were two years away, the latter two arriving with the 1992 VT.

Sant’Agata had been cutting the price of its £150,000 Diablo since release, but the VT pushed it up to £160k.

Plans to sell 500 a year stumbled at around half that, despite myriad new models: a lightweight SE30 in ’93, a roadster and 510bhp SV in ’96, GT1 and GT2 models reflecting the firm’s racing efforts, and a facelift in 2000 funded by new owner VW.

The worldwide supercar boom that boosted Countach (left) sales faded by the time the Diablo arrived

If the intimidation factor of the early cars has been sealed by countless videos online of Diablos spinning out of control, it’s reaffirmed in the full-blooded intimidation of the reality, larger in every direction and 300kg heavier than the Countach.

An array of vents at the rear cut through the unique, fire-flecked red paint of ‘our’ original London motor show car, warning of the V12’s slightly unhinged fury.

The long-travel throttle begins to tear open the Diablo’s thin veneer of refinement, filling the cabin with a deep-throated, thumping roar that feels as if it could burst through the firewall behind.

The Lamborghini Murciélago’s (closest) chassis is 60% stiffer than the Diablo’s, while the Aventador was the first to switch to a monocoque

Its long gearing takes meaty strides into increasingly blurry scenery, but changes are heavy and fussy, not helped by a narrow pedalbox.

Yet you can’t help but persist, fuelled by the adrenalin from salvos of throttle with downshifts, and it begins to come together.

Heavy steering and slightly wooden brakes loosen up with speed and heat; so, too, the suspension, which becomes surprisingly pliant and the tyres happy to pour its 428lb ft of torque into the Tarmac.

‘Revs rise with a frenetic yet smooth wail that matches perfectly with the quick, uncorrupted responses at the steering wheel’

There’s even a neutral balance that shifts intimidation into the intoxication of carrying the momentum of that charging V12. Still, thin veneers are worth remembering…

Yet they were almost forgotten with the 2000 facelift.

Following the 1998 buyout, Ferdinand Piëch was fond enough of the Diablo to open Volkswagen’s coffers for new styling inside and out, variable valve timing, revised suspension and brakes, plus production improvements wrought by the installation of Audi execs at Sant’Agata.

The Lamborghini Murciélago’s traction-controlled four-wheel drive gives oodles of agility and grip

Simplified and revitalised, the final iteration was a promising sign of the future.

When the choreographed dust settled at the foot of a volcano in Sicily for the preview of Lamborghini’s new flagship in 2001, it was clear that the drama had been rescued along with the company.

The 1990s had been tumultuous.

Mostly drowning in the red, a 1994 buyout by Megatech (the Indonesian firm behind the Diablo-derived Vector M12) had floated just enough cash to begin work on a new junior Lamborghini, but mostly left designers’ hands tied into rounding off corners around old fixed points for the Diablo successor.

The manual gearshift changed from dog-leg to H-gate for the Lamborghini Murciélago

When VW took over in ’98, the existing ‘P147’ proposals were sent off for a hasty redesign to Gandini, IDEA, Stile Bertone, Hueliez and an internal designer called Luc Donckerwolke, who had graduated from Audis and Škodas to leading the Diablo refresh.

Against a deadline of barely 12 months, it was 34-year-old Luc’s simple sketch that got the green light in May ’99: a single arc from front to rear, in Countach and Diablo fashion, cut off sharply front and rear by huge air intakes.

It was a step-change that left previous designs, and rivals, looking soft, fussy and dated.

The Lamborghini Murciélago was a commercial success for the marque

The technical pièce de resistance was motorised rear intake scoops, which folded flat into the car’s neat lines when stationary, but opened when temperatures rose or at speeds above 130kph (80.8mph).

The name Murciélago pandered to enthusiasts invested in Lamborghini’s history: in honour of an animal that, in Córdoba in 1879, continued fighting after sustaining 24 sword strokes by legendary matador Rafael Molina Sánchez.

Ambitions for a comfortable cabin that had been approached in the Diablo era took as large a stride forward as the exterior.

The Lamborghini Murciélago’s adaptive intakes open by up to 70° at speed

Easier to access and more spacious, its fit and finish neared Ferrari standards – and with the addition of some Audi switchgear, it was even better.

Underneath remained the fundamentals inherited via the Diablo from the Countach: a steel spaceframe, wishbone suspension and the Bizzarrini V12 placed longitudinally at its heart.

Except, like many things at Sant’Agata, the German money and principles of technical enhancement were tangible.

Carbonfibre was now used in honeycomb elements to reinforce the chassis, as well as for the floorpan and all panels bar the steel roof and doors.

‘The drive-by-wire throttle lights up the V12 with a flare of revs that the old car’s injection simply couldn’t imagine’

A full suite of computer-controlled ABS and traction control backed up a V12 stroked to 6192cc, with variable intake and exhaust valve timing, and a new dry sump – reducing the centre of gravity by 50mm.

The figures were huge: 571bhp, 206mph, and a 60% stiffer chassis while weighing just 25kg more than a Diablo VT.

Yet it feels so much lighter on the road.

Aside from the power assistance, the drive-by-wire throttle lights up the V12 with a flare of revs that the old car’s injection simply couldn’t imagine, while the gated shift of its six-speed ’box is almost playfully stirrable.

This Lamborghini Murciélago has the glitzy tail-lights from the facelifted LP640-4

On closer-stacked gears, a flatter torque curve and the confidence of traction-controlled four-wheel drive, the Murciélago can be unleashed with a pace the Diablo would have to work up to.

Revs rise with a frenetic yet smooth wail that is slightly subdued in the cabin, but matches perfectly with the quick, uncorrupted responses at the wheel.

The structure feels strong and the chassis controlled, even meeting mid-corner bumps, with the stability-control telltale only flickering when you plant the throttle too abruptly.

The Lamborghini Murciélago was the last gasp for the classic Bizzarrini V12 engine

Despite having less sweaty-palmed feedback than its predecessors, the Murciélago responds to the same considered approach, rewarding with a remarkable balance of drivetrain clarity, agility and grip that makes
it feel the most like a sports car of the group.

Development of the engine that Lamborghini engineers had once thought was approaching its limits continued for increasingly extreme versions of the Murciélago.

In 2006 the revised LP640-4 arrived, also in the Roadster form introduced two years earlier, bringing the advertised 640PS (631bhp) along with a general facelift, from which ‘our’ early car borrows its glitzy tail-lights.

Luc Donckerwolke’s design for the Lamborghini Murciélago was an instant classic

In 2009, the SV name returned for the LP670-4, a hyper-aggressive flagship that, with bigger air intakes, extra carbonfibre trim and the popular option of a rear wing, marked the model’s ultimate ambition to be the Stealth bomber of collectors’ garages.

The Murciélago was a stunning success for Lamborghini.

Its starting price of £163,000 in 2002 wasn’t much more than a Ferrari 575M Maranello, and 424 were sold in its first full year of production.

The wild Lamborghini Aventador arrived in 2011

Demand didn’t let up: assisted by the junior Gallardo, Sant’Agata was now rolling out thousands of cars each year.

On a high of 2000s-era easy credit and emerging market wealth, Volkswagen had the money to develop an all-new successor for introduction just 10 years after the Murciélago’s launch.

Not only that, it also had a clear direction: essentially, to build the wildest, sharpest, most poster-worthy Lamborghini yet.

You can’t criticise the Lamborghini Aventador’s moody cabin for lacking drama

Donckerwolke’s successor, Filippo Perini, had sharpened his pencil on the limited-run 2007 Reventón and 2010 Sesto Elemento, both of which explored fighter-plane design themes to the extreme, and his proposal for 2011’s V12 flagship Aventador was chosen out of a set from Italdesign and various internal studios.

Serrated into violent hexagons, the body of the Aventador cuts in and out around the traditional Lamborghini razor-edged profile with outrageous aggression.

The brief for project LB834 had been to design a completely new car, partly because the mechanicals would be different, too.

The all-new engine for the Lamborghini Aventador was developed with Audi

A new carbon monocoque replaced the old spaceframe, while aluminium subframes carried forged alloy wishbones and pushrod coilovers, and a new V12 was completely re-engineered in the shadow of the old Bizzarrini unit.

Still banked at 60°, it was a more oversquare design despite the same 6498cc, with a 95mm bore and 76.4mm stroke against the previous 88 x 89mm, so that, with other fresh internals, it could muster 690bhp on its way to the heady 8500rpm limiter.

An automated-manual gearbox had been planned for the 1990 Diablo, but only arrived in 2004 for the Murciélago.

‘Our’ Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV is a roadgoing missile

For the Aventador it was the sole option and, as the rest of the market opted for double-clutch automatics, Lamborghini’s decision to go all-in on its pre-selecting single-clutch transmission would become a rare point of criticism.

Priced at £242,000, with options taking it much further, Lamborghini clearly had eyes on the money it should have been making in its less stable past.

Sales took off. Despite having keenly prepared for mass production, premiums and waiting lists grew to such an extent that Sant’Agata was able to package two Gallardos with each Aventador that dealers were desperate to have delivered.

The Lamborghini Aventador’s bucket seats aren’t built for comfort

From 2013, more than 1000 V12 monsters were being sold each year. The showroom appeal was powerful.

Beyond Perini’s wow shape, and doors that took on an outward angle as they rose up, was an interior made in jet-fighter dreams.

The extravagant gloss of performance is even greater in the Alcantara- and carbonfibre-trimmed SV that bookends our set.

The Aventador SV’s sizable rear wing is much more effective than the earlier attempts

The standard bucket seats are as unforgiving as the aerodynamic addenda outside are to anyone unlucky enough to get in the way of this roadgoing missile.

Lifting the red cover to the centre-console-mounted starter button might seem a bit silly for those not rightly intimidated by the tones of 740bhp building behind you.

The electrically assisted steering is quick and easy, but you can feel the huge front tyres twisting awkwardly over slow Tarmac and the ’box slurs clumsily on small throttle openings.

The SV sheds 50kg compared to the standard Lamborghini Aventador

Confirming that this is a considerably more serious car than a standard Aventador, or the lighter Murciélago, is the hollow road noise and crackle of stone-chips that resound through the carbon tub.

Lean on the accelerator and it fires forward with startling immediacy, revs screaming with equal ferocity and the dash lighting up with warnings to slot in the next gear.

Pull the paddle and it pummels your backside with the change then resumes acceleration that would leave the others standing.

The dramatic scissor doors are a key feature of these V12-powered Lamborghini flagships

Brakes, steering and the SV’s magnetic dampers are all intensely occupied with translating your next thought into action, abandoning some of the delicacy of its earlier brethren.

Yet there is a familiar sweetness to the way it hooks up under power, particularly out of its preferred long-radius corners.

As if the SV wasn’t enough of a monster, a 769bhp SVJ LP770-4 followed a facelifted Aventador in 2018, with even more aggressive aerodynamics, before the final LP780-4 Ultimae in 2021.

While Ferruccio’s original philosophy has resulted in more accessible, usable cars, their buyers’ fascination with performance thrills has pushed the company into producing utterly absorbing, ready-made danger.

With scissor doors and a huge wing, it is the distillation of drama.

Images: Max Edleston

Factfiles

Lamborghini Countach 5000S

• Sold/number built 1974-’90/1983 (all)
• Construction steel spaceframe chassis, aluminium body panels
• Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank, 24v 4754cc 60° V12, six Weber carburettors
• Max power 375bhp @ 7000rpm
• Max torque 302lb ft @ 4500rpm
• Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
• Suspension independent, at front by double wishbones rear lower wishbones, upper links, radius arms; coil springs, Koni adjustable dampers, anti-roll bar f/r
• Steering rack and pinion
• Brakes discs, with servo
• Length 13ft 7in (4140mm)
• Width 6ft 6¾in (2000mm)
• Height 3ft 6⅛in (1070mm)
• Wheelbase 8ft ½in (2450mm)
• Weight 2913lb (1321kg)
• 0-60mph 5.6 secs
• Top speed 164mph
• Mpg 14.6
• Price new £54,000 (1983)
• Price now £3-600,000*

Lamborghini Diablo

• Sold/number built 1990-’01/2884 (all)
• Construction steel spaceframe chassis with carbonfibre reinforcement, steel and carbon/glassfibre panels
• Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank, 48v 5707cc 60° V12, Weber-Marelli sequential multi-point fuel injection
• Max power 492bhp @ 7000rpm
• Max torque 428lb ft @ 5200rpm
• Transmission five-speed manual, RWD
• Suspension independent, by double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers (twin at rear), anti-roll bar f/r
• Steering rack and pinion (power-assisted from 1992)
• Brakes discs, with servo (and anti-lock from 1999)
• Length 14ft 9¼in (4503mm)
• Width 6ft 9in (2059mm)
• Height 3ft 8in (1115mm)
• Wheelbase 8ft 8¼in (2650mm)
• Weight 3620lb (1642kg)
• 0-60mph 5.1 secs
• Top speed 202mph
• Mpg 12.8
• Price new £152,614 (1990)
• Price now £150-250,000*

Lamborghini Murciélago

• Sold/number built 2001-’10/4099 (all)
• Construction aluminium-alloy spaceframe with carbonfibre reinforcement, carbonfibre and aluminium body panels
• Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank, 48v 6192cc 60° V12, sequential fuel injection
• Max power 571bhp @ 7500rpm
• Max torque 479lb ft @ 5400rpm
• Transmission six-speed manual, 4WD
• Suspension independent, by double wishbones, adjustable telescopic dampers, electro-hydraulic ride-height adjustment, anti-roll bar f/r
• Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
• Brakes discs, with servo and anti-lock
• Length 15ft ⅜in (4580mm)
• Width 6ft 8½in (2045mm)
• Height 3ft 8¾in (1135mm)
• Wheelbase 8ft 8⅞in (2665mm)
• Weight 3637lb (1650kg)
• 0-60mph 4 secs
• Top speed 206mph
• Mpg 12
• Price new £163,000 (2002)
• Price now £150-250,000*

Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV

• Sold/number built 2011-’22/11,465 (all)
• Construction carbonfibre monocoque
• Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank, 48v 6498cc 60° V12, fuel injection
• Max power 740bhp @ 8400rpm
• Max torque 509lb ft @ 5500rpm
• Transmission seven-speed automated manual, 4WD
• Suspension independent, by double wishbones, horizontal coil springs and telescopic dampers, pushrods, anti-roll bar f/r
• Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
• Brakes carbon-ceramic discs, with servo and anti-lock
• Length 15ft 10⅜in (4835mm)
• Width 6ft 8½in (2030mm)
• Height 3ft 8¾in (1136mm)
• Wheelbase 8ft 8⅞in (2700mm)
• Weight 3637lb (1525kg)
• 0-60mph 2.9 secs
• Top speed 217mph
• Mpg 16.4
• Price new £321,743 (2015)
• Price now £300,000*

_{*Prices correct at date of original publication}

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Aaron McKay

Aaron is Classic & Sports Car’s Deputy Editor

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