“Hide the women and the kids…There’s a Lamborghini Countach 5000S on the loose, looking for heads to turn”.

Car and Driver , 1983.

Although the original LP400 Countach had been striking with its combination of angular lines and wedge-shaped bodywork, it was an automotive introvert when compared to the LP400 ‘S’ that appeared in 1978, subsequently becoming the LP500 S in 1982.

Sporting extravagant flaring to the wheel arches to accommodate the widest rear wheels ever fitted to a road car and an optional arrow shaped rear wing, it took the Countach from a design language disrupter to the pin-up of choice for an entire generation of car-mad teenagers.

The biggest change for the ‘5000S’ was underneath the rear engine cover where the V-12 was enlarged from 3,929 cc to 4,754 cc and fed by six dual throat 45 DCOE side-draught Weber carburetors.

Although power remained the same at 375 bhp, it arrived 1,000 rpm earlier at 7,000 rpm and peak torque grew from 266 lb-ft at 5,500 rpm to 302 lb...