For gearheads in a certain age bracket (say, born between 1970 and 1985), the Lamborghini Countach was the supercar. Oh sure, the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959 were more athletic and felt more finished, but the Lambo had those two beat in three areas: First, it was the first to be introduced, nearly 15 years before the Ferrari and the Porsche. Second, that outrageous, angular shape (created by Bertone-employed prodigy Marcello Gandini, who had also designed the Countach’s predecessor, the Miura) looked like nothing else on the road. And third, there were the doors. Oh, those vertically-opening doors that have been fitted to every Lamborghini flagship (not to mention hundreds of Civics, Cavaliers and other front-drive tin cans) since.

Consequently, you can forgive us for geeking out at this video of longtime Lamborghini chief test driver Valentino Balboni exercising an early Countach LP400. The ease with which the retired-since-2008 Balboni hustles the Countach (which has a reputation for being clumsy and uncomfortable) down the road is a sight to behold. And his story about an encounter with a local farmer drives the point about the radical styling home quite nicely.

Source: Vimeo

 

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