This is the front end of a real Lamborghini Countach LP400 that’s now been converted into a free-standing leather-lined display case, intended to be used as a somewhat unusual liquor cabinet.
Of course, a liquor cabinet like this would be ideal for the sort of person who has a garage containing a Lamborghini or two (or three), at least one of which would be a Countach, though perhaps that one wouldn’t have a frunk full of plonk.
This is the front end of a real Lamborghini Countach LP400 that’s now been converted into a free-standing leather-lined display case, intended to be used as a somewhat unusual liquor cabinet.
History Speedrun: The Lamborghini Countach LP400
The Countach started out as a prototype called the LP500, unveiled on the Bertone stand at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Marcello Gandini styled it, and Paolo Stanzani (then Lamborghini’s technical director) engineered it with test driver Bob Wallace and assistant engineer Massimo Parenti.
The Countach was intended as the successor to the wildly successful Miura. Unlike its forebear it was a sharp wedge, with flat panels, scissor doors, cockpit pushed forward. Orders flooded in immediately, but the production car took three more years to arrive.
That production car was named the LP400, it was shown at Geneva in March of 1974 with deliveries beginning in April the same year. Stanzani had abandoned the prototype’s semi-monocoque chassis for a full tubular spaceframe, hand-welded at Marchesi.
Bodywork was unstressed aluminum, thickened to 1.5 mm. The V12 was developed from the original Bizzarrini design that had powered the Miura, but it was now mounted longitudinally rather than transversely.
To keep weight forward, the gearbox sat between the seats and the driveshaft ran back through the engine’s oil sump. Displacement was 3,929cc. Power was 370 bhp at 8,000 rpm, a heady figure for the time.
The LP400 kept most of Gandini’s original shape, the fender flares, wings, and chin spoiler were still in the distant future. Cooling used modest NACA-style vents along the flanks, and a single recessed channel, an angled mirror, and a carefully placed window in the roof worked as a periscope-like rear vision mirror – giving the the model its nickname “Periscopio.”
That production car was named the LP400, it was shown at Geneva in March of 1974 with deliveries beginning in April the same year. Stanzani had abandoned the prototype’s semi-monocoque chassis for a full tubular spaceframe, hand-welded at Marchesi. Image courtesy of Lamborghini.
150 LP400s were built between 1974 and 1978 (some say up to 157), of which 22 were factory right-hand drive. They remain the most collectible Countach variant, because Gandini’s shape is at its cleanest.
Everything after 1978 got wider – the LP400 S, introduced at that year’s Geneva show, ran on wide Pirelli P7 tires, requiring large fiberglass arches. It also picked up a chin spoiler and an optional V-shaped rear wing. The 3.9 liter V12 was carried over. In 1982 the LP500 S, also called the 5000 S, arrived with a 4.8 liter version of the V12.
The 1985 LP5000 Quattrovalvole was the biggest mechanical step up. The V12 was bored and stroked to 5,167cc and given four valves per cylinder, hence the name. Six Weber 44 DCNF downdraft carburetors replaced the sidedraught 45 DCOEs and moved to the top of the engine, forcing a raised hump in the engine cover.
The European carburetted-version produced 449 bhp and 369 lb ft, a Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injected version for North America was rated at 420 bhp on the same torque figure. The final variant, the 25th Anniversary Edition of 1988, kept the QV drivetrain but was extensively restyled by a young Horacio Pagani, then Lamborghini’s composites specialist. It became the best-selling Countach at 657 examples before production ended in 1990.
The Countach LP400 Liquor Cabinet Shown Here
This free-standing display is built around front bodywork said to be sourced from a Lamborghini Countach LP400. The nose section was modified and refurbished by Franco Bacchelli, it’s finished in blue, with a black front bumper, amber side markers, yellow-lens light assemblies, and covered turn signals.
This free-standing display is built around front bodywork said to be sourced from a Lamborghini Countach LP400. The nose section was modified and refurbished by Franco Bacchelli, it’s finished in blue, with a black front bumper, amber side markers, yellow-lens light assemblies, and covered turn signals.
The front compartment opens on a pair of supports to reveal a red leather-lined storage space intended to be used as a bar cabinet. Three black-finished legs hold it off the ground, and the rear is closed off with black panels with “Countach” lettering in blue.
It’s now being offered at no reserve in Napa, California on Bring a Trailer and you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer + Lamborghini
Articles that Ben Branch 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.
