This is one of two examples of the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition that were used in the 2013 Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street, this is the one that wasn’t crashed/destroyed during filming.
It remains in excellent condition throughout and it’s now being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s. The other car from the film, the one that was crashed, was featured on Silodrome last month. The decision by Scorsese to destroy a real Countach for the scene has been controversial, the director later explained that he felt a prop car would not sustain authentic-looking damage.
Fast Facts – The Countach 25th Anniversary Edition
- In 1988, to celebrate Automobili Lamborghini’s 25th anniversary and as a stop-gap until the Diablo’s launch, Lamborghini introduced the 25th Anniversary Edition, with its design upgraded by Horacio Pagani – the man who would later found his own namesake supercar marque.
- Pagani’s redesign included a US-style front bumper, deeper apron, and straked ducts, along with modifications to the wheelarch extensions and a redesigned rear bumper. The car also had a reconfigured suspension geometry to accommodate wider OZ wheels.
- It’s believed that this version of the Countach was the fastest, with a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph. Power was provided by an upgraded 5.2 liter Lamborghini V12 which was mated to a 5-speed manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels.
- 25th Anniversary Edition Countach became a globally recognized sensation after its memorable appearance in the 2013 Martin Scorsese film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The scene featured Leonardo DiCaprio, playing Jordan Belfort, driving the car home under the influence of Lemmons 714, the holy grail of Quaaludes, and wrecking it in the process. Two cars were used during the film, the car in this article is the one that (thankfully) wasn’t destroyed.
Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition
As Lamborghini approached its 25th anniversary, its team, under Chrysler’s ownership, was in the throes of developing the Diablo. However, the Diablo’s arrival was delayed, creating a window for something special – the final iteration of the Countach. The 25th Anniversary Edition was thus born out of a unique confluence of circumstances, a bridge between the past glory of the Countach and the future promise of the Diablo.
Above Video: This is the famous scene featuring the car, as you can see one of the two almost identical examples gets a little dinged up.
The man tasked with creating this revised Countach was Horacio Pagani, a name that will likely be immediately familiar as he would found Pagani Automobili, his own namesake supercar marque, a few years later in 1992.
Pagani’s job was to re-style the existing Countach Quattrovalvole, creating an Anniversary Edition with a distinctive design that would distinguish it from the Quattrovalvole, also known as the 5000 QV.
He introduced a series of changes to the body including a US-style front bumper, a deeper apron, rear “air-box” intake-ducts, and revised wheelarch extensions. The car also had revised suspension geometry to accommodate wider OZ wheels which it inherited from earlier models, and it was powered by a version of the 5.2 liter V12 used on the outgoing LP5000 Quattrovalvole model.
This version of the Countach is generally believed to be the fastest production variant, with a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph. Power was sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission with a gated shifter.
In total, Lamborghini would make 657 examples of the 25th Anniversary Edition Countach over the course of its brief 1988 to 1990 production run. Just 12 would be US-specification cars finished in Bianco Polo over a Bianco leather interior, and two of these cars would later become globally famous for their prominent inclusion in the 2013 Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street.
The 25th Anniversary Edition was the last production version of the Countach that was made before the release of the Lamborghini Diablo.
The Wolf of Wall Street Countach Shown Here
The film The Wolf of Wall Street was based on the autobiographical book by Jordan Belfort of the same name. In the book, and in the later script, there is a story about Belfort attempting to drive under the influence of Lemmons 714, the holy grail of Quaaludes.
As a result of his inebriation, he crashes left and right like a pinball, severely damaging the car as well as many other parked cars on the way home. In reality he had been driving a Mercedes, however in the film it was decided to use a Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition in Bianco Polo – a four-wheeled testament to the height of 80s excesses.
Two 25th Anniversary Edition Countachs were used in the production of the film. As noted further up one of these cars was written off during filming as Scorsese felt it would be the only way to get authentic-looking damage. It was a controversial decision, but it did lead to what was arguably the most memorable scene in the film. The wrecked car recently failed to sell at auction, though bidding did reach a lofty $1.35 million USD.
Fortunately, the other car remained entirely unharmed. At the time of the production of the movie, this car’s owner lived in Maryland, and interestingly it was driven by him from the Baltimore area to New York for filming.
This car is one of two that were used during filming, the other was wrecked and is now undriveable.
In the years since the film was released the car was bought by a new owner, who proceeded to return it back to factory-original condition – including the fitment of a correct United States-specification front bumper and the large rear wing.
It’s now due to roll across the auction block with RM Sotheby’s on the 8th of December with a price guide of $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 USD. Given the car’s rarity and the fact that it played a major part in such a memorable film it’s been attracting plenty of attention in the lead up to the sale. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images: Jeremy Cliff ©2023 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
