Ask anyone who grew up in the 80s what the most famous poster car was, and I bet they say one of two models: the Ferrari F40 or the Lamborghini Countach. Today’s find is an example of the latter, being a 5000 QV (Quattrovalvole, or “four valve”) variant from near the end of this supercar’s production run. This 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV is available for sale here on eBay located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA, and ten bidders have pushed the current bid to $150,100, with the reserve yet to be met, and any prospective buyers will need to cough up at least another half a million to get close to the Buy It Now price.
The Countach was the successor to the Miura, and was penned by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, who created this classic “wedge” design that would inspire other future Lamborghini models. This 1988 example is from the last year that these 5000 QV versions were made, as production on the 25th Anniversary Model (restyled by Horacio Pagani) started in September of 1988. Countach production would cease in 1990, after 16 years and multiple restyles and updates, to make room for the new Diablo.
The seller states this car displays only 18,638 kilometers on the odometer, equating to about 11,581 miles. One wonders if this might have been a Canadian market delivery, and only imported into the US later. Depending on where you were, fuel delivery to the V12 varied, with the US spec getting Bosch K-Jetronic Fuel Injection producing 420 horsepower at 7,000 rpm (versus the Euro spec getting Weber carburetors and 455 hp at the same rpm). Unfortunately, however, there are no photos of the engine shown in this listing, something that you’d think would be provided when asking nearly $800k for a vehicle.
Overall, the car looks very nice indeed. Though the photos seem a bit grainier than one expects nowadays, the exterior paint looks clean, as does the interior, minus what appears to be some cracking on the shifter knob. Valuation websites like classic.com have their benchmark value for this car listed just under $700,000, so the seller’s asking price may not be too far off. Especially given that “a substantial collection of invoices…providing more than two decades of maintenance and repair documentation” will come with the sale. So, unless you have this kind of cash sitting around, does anybody want to pool a few bucks and buy a lottery ticket before this auction ends?
This would be quite practical for my daily commute.
’73-’82 corvette front bumper haters – compare to the 1 above.