From Italy With Love - Story Of The Supercar: ’60s & ’70s – Countach Vs Miura (Part 4)

Driving a Countach is every bit as physical an experience as it looks like it should be. Like the Miura, it’s a challenge to drive well. Treat it like you would a modern Huracan and you’ll hate every minute wrestling with the heavy controls. It needs patience, stamina and concentration, and it’s massively rewarding when you get it right. You can see why the supercar had to evolve as a breed though, which is exactly what it did. But it evolved from Lamborghini’s blueprints, based on Lamborghini’s tenets: style, pace and swagger. No racing required.

The Countach is not the fastest supercar that’s ever been, or even the best to drive. Neither of these cars is. But they changed the course of history, and then changed it all over again. And for that, every Koneigsegg, every Veyron, McLaren, and yes, even Ferrari, owes them a debt.

And then Lamborghini screwed up - The M1 farce, and other supercar disasters

BMW M1

Assembly line ‘Number Three’ at Lamborghini’s Sant’ Agata factory is where BMW’s fi rst ever supercar should have taken shape.

BMW M1

Back in the mid-’70s BMW wanted to go racing but FIA rules meant it needed to homologate 400 road cars to compete. Without any experience of making powerful mid-engined supercars it asked Lamborghini, who had just launched the Countach, for help.

The unlikely collaboration got off to a bright start with Giugiaro designing the M1’s dramatic lines and Lamborghini engineers beginning high-speed testing with six prototypes at Nardo running BMW’s 277bhp 3.5-litre straight six. Then it all went very wrong when cash-strapped Lamborghini ran out of money.

With a strict ‘no loans to Lambo’ order from the BMW’s board, the project was left high and dry, and the M1 was reluctantly taken in-house. The M1 had to be completely reengineered by BMW and built by coachbuilders Baur in Stuttgart.

This unfortunately didn’t stop the M1 experiment from being a disaster. Not only did BMW not make enough in time to satisfy strict homologation rules, it had to create its own race series for the original Pro Car race cars to compete in, which it cancelled after only a year racing. In the end, 453 cars were made.

Panther 6 (1977)

Inspired by the 1992 Tyrrell F1 car, the six-wheel Panther 6 claimed its enormous 8.2-litre V8 turbo hung over the rear axle produced 600bhp and could top 200mph, due to its low weight. Only one was ever built.

Panther 6 (1977)

Cizeta V16T (1989)

Designed by Gandini, and engineered by ex-Lambo engineers, the 540bhp Cizeta had a unique 6.0-litre V16 engine. Could do 204mph, but at $600,000 couldn’t survive a world recession.

Cizeta V16T (1989)

Vector W8 (1990)

An affordable American supercar was the idea, but it took nine years and was priced at $400,000. Claimed to reach 230mph from a 650bhp blown Chevy V8 channelled through a three-speed slush box.

Vector W8 (1990)

Yamaha OX99-11 (1992)

Many car makers claim their car has F1 tech, but this one really did. The 217mph OX99 had a real F1 chassis and was powered by a detuned 3.5-litre V12 F1 engine. Price: $1m. Three were made.

Yamaha OX99-11 (1992)