This is a 1983 Lamborghini Countach 5000S. This particular car carries VIN ZA900500DLA12610 and was extensively restored at Robison Service over the 2014-2017 time frame. Afterward, on its first outing to a major show, this car won 1stplace in Modern Classics at the Concours of America.
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| With owner Joe Lopez, after the car was chosen by the judges |
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| On the field at Concours of America in the Inn at St Johns, 2017 |
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| Driving to the judges stand, as the winners line up |
According to the serial number this is the 610th Countach made. The 5000S cars had a more powerful engine than previous models while still retaining the Weber carburetors. 321 of these cars were built between 1982-1984. None of those cars were officially imported to the USA but “grey market” importers brought quite a few in. According to the plate on the driver jamb Exotic Leasing imported this car in July of 1983.
The first recorded mileage reading is 13.000 (presumably km) from October 1992. That reading was from Minnesota, where the car remained at least through 1995.
The present owner purchased this Countach in November of 2002 from Midwestern Auto Group, a Lamborghini dealer in Dublin, Ohio. At that time the car had 21,996 kilometers showing on the European odometer. The car was titled with an equivalent mile reading of 13,912.
The present owner transferred the title from his business to himself in 2007. The car’s odometer currently shows 34,550 km, or 21,468 miles. The car has covered just 7,500 miles in the past 16 years.
The engine and engine bay were overhauled and restored in 2015-16. The engine was rebuilt with the factory’s last remaining stock of original pistons and liners, and standard bearings. Everything is built and blueprinted to new specs. Thanks to advances in machine tools the engine is actually better machined and balanced than when new.
The engine bay has been restored, and the undercarriage is near-spotless. The engine is finished as original and runs very strong. It is stock with the exception of sport exhaust. The engine is exceptionally dry.
The body and interior are largely original. There is no sign of any accident damage and the car still has much of its original paint. As best we can tell the interior and front trunk area are original too. The interior is very clean and free of wear.
All the controls work as do all accessories and heat and air conditioning. The car is riding on new, correct Pirelli tires. Brakes are newly serviced. The clutch is new. The car has period-correct H4 halogen headlamps.
Earlier LP400 cars with topnotch restoration have fetched high prices. A 1975 car brought $1,210,000 at Bonhams Greenwich in June 2014, and another 75 fetched $1,624,000 Goodwood in June 2014. Later 5000S QV cars are more common in the market. 676 were made from the mid to late 1980s. They currently sell in the $250-350 range.
Overhaul of the motor is shown on the Robison Service blog, here:
(c) 2018 John Elder Robison
John Elder Robison is the general manager of J E Robison Service Company, celebrating 30 years of independent collector car restoration and repair in Springfield, Massachusetts. John is a longtime technical consultant to many car clubs, and he’s owned and restored many fine Italian, American, British and German motorcars. Find him online at www.robisonservice.com or in the real world at 413-785-1665
Reading this article will make you smarter, especially when it comes to car stuff. So it's good for you. But don't take that too far - printing and eating it will probably make you sick.
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