Watch Lamborghini build a Countach Anniversary in this excellent video from 1988

Funny, we just assumed there’d be lots more swearing. Especially considering how its name came about. Time to take a few leaps back in time, friends, because the Lamborghini Countach turns 50 in 2024.

To celebrate, Lamborghini has not only brought the very first Countach LP400 back to the production line from whence it came, but it has also given TopGear.com this archive video filmed in 1988 showcasing how the final 'Anniversary' car was built.

It’s… strangely peaceful. And completely devoid of any profanities. Though we can’t confirm how many skinned knuckles Lamborghini mechanics suffered during the making of this video, because the Countach was, by and large, hand-built.

Hand-built for a full 16 years, too. First revealed at the Geneva Motor Show (remember that?) in March of 1971, it was almost immediately approved for production because of the response it received.

It was the first Lamborghini to have its bodywork built in-house; while the mechanicals were always done at Sant’Agata, previous Lamborghini bodies were outsourced to external carrozziere. So Lambo had to build a completely new assembly line for the Countach, which sort of still stands today.

Back in those days, it was done rather differently. The production line was small, straightforward and everything was done pretty much by hand. The body panels, for example, were beaten and then checked on a template made from wood. So even though each Countach looked the same, they were all in fact, slightly different.

Originally the Countach launched as the LP400 – the gorgeous green thing playing hide-and-seek in the factory below – built between 1974 and 1978. That car got an aluminium 4.0-litre V12 with 370bhp, a five-speed manual gearbox and independent suspension all round. Amazingly, this massive supercar weighed just 1,095kg – around the same as a pair of Merc’s EQXX battery packs. Just 152 of these cars were built.

Next came the Countach LP400 S, with swollen arches and more aero appendages, but a slight power drop to 348bhp and a weight increase to 1,200kg. 235 of these 400 S cars were built between 1978 and 1982. The Countach 5000 S arrived straight after, packing a bigger 4.8-litre V12 that restored power back to 370bhp. Unsurprisingly, more of these were built – 323 cars between 1982 and 1984.

Then came the Quattrovalvole which to nobody’s surprise, featured a (bigger, 5.2-litre) V12 with four valves per cylinder. As a result, power shot up to 450bhp, with Lamborghini churning out 631 cars between 1985 and 1988. Finally, the 25th Anniversary – to celebrate 25 years of Lamborghini – arrived in 1988, built for two years and to the tune of 658 cars, featuring the same V12 as the QV, but with a complete aerodynamic overhaul. Basically, it was the best version of the Countach.

During its 16-year run, Lambo ended up building 1,999 versions of the V12 Countach. The Diablo increased this production run to 2,903 cars over 11 years. The Murcielago even more – 4,000 over nine years. The Aventador? Smashed ‘em all, with a whopping 11,000 built over 11 years.

Too early to tell for the Revuelto, suffice to say it’s sold out for the next three years. Amazingly, the Rev’s built on the same line that once churned out the original Countach.

“During the years it was marketed, the Countach was the model that, as well as ending up on the walls of an entire generation and being used in dozens of films, enabled Lamborghini to be competitive by the mid-1970s until 1990 and to definitively become a legend,” said Lamborghini. A legend that started off as a swear word.