I’ll never forget the first time I saw a 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole. It was at a boutique exotic car dealership in Brookfield, Wisconsin called Reina International Auto. “Yes, this is it!” I remember thinking. I thought it was the most beautiful car I’d ever seen. It was white just like the one advertised this week at Gateway Classic Cars in St Louis, Missouri.
The white 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole you see here is the quintessential exotic car which some consider to be Lamborghini’s finest effort. It is currently being offered for sale by Gateway Classic Cars at their St Louis headquarters. (Click here to view more photos.)
This 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 was special ordered from the factory in Italy. They say it is the only white left-hand-drive Countach ordered for the U.S. with red leather interior. This amazing piece of art and machinery has been with its second owner for the last twenty years. The actual mileage is 14,125, while the odometer shows 22,848 kilometers (Euro spec). The car has never been restored and is still wearing the original paint and Pirelli P7R tires. Those rear tires measure 335/35R15 and were specially made for the Countach. This one is a 5000 Quattrovalvole and produces 420 horsepower, revving up to 7,500 rpm!
You want to here that beautiful sound of the 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole? Click the video window and feast your ears:
Lamborghini originally made tractors and was very successful. Ferruccio Lamborghini, an entrepreneur and excellent mechanic liked to own Ferraris. Once he went to the Ferrari plant and requested some changes be made to a clutch, a common fix current to Ferraris of the day. Enzo Ferrari quickly declined, angering Ferrucio enough that he started his own exotic car company. They have been at each other’s throats ever since. During the Countach era, Ferrari did their best to compete. First with the 365 Berlinetta powered by a flat 12 Boxer engine, then the Testarossa, and finally the 288 GTO with twin turbochargers. The Lamborghini was able to stay ahead and remain the better performer. Of all the Lamborghinis produced since 1963, the Countach remains the most recognizable and is without question a collector item.
Only 676 Quattrovalvoles were produced. By 1989, the Bosch Jetronic Fuel Injection units were becoming standard on Lamborghinis. The 0 to 60 mph time on the QV’s was 4.9 seconds. That was almost an entire second faster than the previous LP500 S model.
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