Year: 1988
Manufacturer: Lamborghini
Model: Countach
Model Variant: 5000QV “Downdraft”
Exterior Color: Blu Acapulco
Interior Color: Cream
Current Mileage: 9,537 miles
Chassis #ZA9C005A0JLA12287
Engine #L507V4/80:

Engine Capacity/Power: 5.2 liter, 4-valve, V12/420BHP
Top Speed: 183MPH
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Designer: Paolo Stanzani for Bertone
Limited Series: 1 of 544
Production Order: NA
Parent Company: Patrick Mimran & Jean-Claude Mimran
Public Debut: 1985 Geneva Auto Show
Predecessor: Countach LP5000 S
Successor: Countach 25th Anniversary

Years Produced: 1985-1988
Examples Produced in This Color: 17
Examples Produced in This Interior Package: NA
Examples Produced for U.S.:0
Total Production: 610
CarFAX: Yes

Etc. Long term ownership. Ultra-rare 5000QV “Downdraft”, 1 of 17 in Blu Acapulco. Delivered new to Switzerland in March of 1986. Prod. #1150 to Joe Nastasi, NY, USA on 10/12/87 and later restored.

Won merit for Best in Class for 80s Supercars at 2022 Amelia Island Concours.

History.

The Lamborghini Countach. Perhaps the most storied car in the history of the automotive world. Wild, angular, loud, hot and Italian as any car may be, the shape of dreams and a study in design which may never be duplicated.

A masterpiece of automotive design by Marcello Gandini for Bertone, the Countach evolved from its stripped down roots, the LP400 Periscopio, to future model variants such as the LP400 S and LP5000 S which grew in size featuring flared wheel arches, running boards, front air splitters and huge rear wings.

The Downdraft.

We hear the term Downdraft a lot around here but what is it really? In 1985, Lamborghini gave the Countach a revised engine layout with four valves per cylinder (also known as Motore Tipo L 507 V4) which was how the term Quattrovalvole (QV) came about. Likewise, the European engines were bored and stroked to 5.2 liters and the Weber carburetors were moved from the sides of the engine to the top of the motor to allow for better cooling.

The alteration of the carburetors to the top of the engine created a distinctive ventilated hump atop the engine bonnet, the exterior visual cue which identifies the cars as “Downdraft” but also limiting rearward vision as a result. The six vertical twin-barrel carburetors sit on top of the motor thus allowing the fuel to flow more directly into the combustion chambers, creating a more powerful motor.

The Downdraft motor was designed by Guilio Alfieri and engineered by Luigi Marmiroli, power was increased to 449BHP at 7,000RPM and allowing the car a top speed of 183MPH. 610 Downdraft examples were produced with another 66 being done with a new fuel injection system.

Today, the Countach LP 5000S QV “Downdraft” with its deep, throaty, growling engines are highly sought after by Lamborghini collectors with values consistently rising in the market place.

Lamborghini Countach LP 5000S QV Homologation.

Automobili F. Lamborghini S.p.A. submitted the Lamborghini Countach LP 5000S Quattrovalvole to the the FIA and FISA for homologation as a Group B entrant in sports car racing. The Commission Sportive Automobilitica Italiana, arm of Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), had initially accepted the application of the model for presentation in the Group A and (namely) Group B categories.

Since Lamborghini S.p.A. as a company chose not to involve itself in racing (at the behest of Ferruccio Lamborghini) as a rule at the time, an independent sportsman, David Joliffe, took up the cause of racing the Countach. In the mid-80s, Joliffe was an official agent for Lamborghini in the U.K. and made the Countach LP5000 S Group B project his personal mission.

However, the application was later rescinded by the FIA and FISA as Lamborghini had not produced enough examples to qualify the Countach LP 5000 S QV for racing homologation (rules set forth by the FIA mandating manufactures must build a certain amount of production cars in order to qualify for GT racing).

Had the project carried forward, the plan would have allowed the Countach LP 5000S QV Downdraft to race alongside other market segment competitors such as the Porsche 959 and Ferrari 288 GTO in the new production Grand Touring category.

Sadly for Joliffe, the Countach Group B project was still-born nearly from inception as Lamborghini had not built enough 5000S QVs to qualify for homologation in Group B. And, since the production based series had failed to catch on as a sports car formula, the category turned into the blueprint for the WRC and Jolffe changed his focus to the prototype Group C category instead.

The Jolffe project grew into the Lamborghini Countach QVX Group C prototype and he selected Luigi Marmiroli who had experience in converting Lamborghini V12 engines to race winning marine engines as the project’s chief engineer.

The engine was installed in a lovely black Tiga GC85 chassis. Tiga had been a successful and competitive chassis builder with many different engines in Group C, Group C2 as well as IMSA GTP and Camel Lights in the U.S. Thus, we saw Tiga chassis running with different V6 and V8 power plants such as Ford Cosworth, Ferrari, Chevrolet and Buick at the world’s most important sports car races.

A Lamborghini Countach 5,7 liter, 48 valve V12 5000 QV “Downdraft” engine was mated with a Hewland VG-C transmission and installed in the Tiga GC85 chassis. The car was called the Countach QVX and appeared in striking black with red and blue livery of title sponsor Unipart (Britain’s largest spare parts factory) and entered as the Portman Lamborghini SL8501 Countach QVX and run by CC Racing Developments of Yorkshire, England under team manager Brian Gillibrand.

The Countach QVX competed in the 1986 500KM of Kyalami with no less than long time sports car drivers Tiff Needell and Mauro Baldi sharing driving duties qualifying seventh and finishing in fifth place overall However, after the South African event, the car never appeared again even though it was entered in series blue ribband event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, for Needell and Baldi. Likewise, it was entered but was classified DNA at Monza, Silverstone, Norisring and Brands Hatch before being scratched from the entry lists for the balance of the season.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough budget for the Portman Lamborghini SL8501/Tiga team to continue and the potential of the 700BHP Countach V12 racing engine was never realized and all but disappeared. The car surfaced on a YouTube video apparently from an event in Japan. Beyond that, not much is known regarding the car's whereabouts.

David Jolliffe went on to author books about the Lamborghini brand, notably “Lamborghini Forty Years” published in 2004.

This Countach 5000 QV Downdraft.

This Lamborghini Countach 5000QV Downdraft (#2287) comes in beautiful Blu Acapulco (dark blue metallic) over tan leather interior, 1 of only 17 in this color combination. Documentation indicates the car was delivered to a Swiss collector when new but within a year, was sold to Lamborghini distributor Joe Nastasi in New York.
The car is in pristine condition showing only 9,537 miles. Curated Restorations will be installing correct Pirelli P7 tires, ANSA OEM racing exhaust and perform a complete routine full service.

“At Curated, we do not acquire cars simply for inventory but rather based on what the car is. We love interesting provenance, very low production, very low mileage, very special and often weird cars.”

John Temerian, Jr.
Curated co-founder