Watch this barn-find Countach 5000S go from grimy to glistening
When it comes to vehicle neglect, it’s hard to imagine that a supercar as lauded as the Lamborghini Countach 5000s would ever endure a dusty downfall, but that’s exactly what happened to this rare example. After arriving in the states more than 20 years ago, it eventually became stabled in a Connecticut barn, hardly ever seeing the blacktop. The original owner, Tony, purchased the car in 1988 and drove it straight from Ohio to his home in Connecticut. Then, a familiar story: Life got in the way as he grew older, and his plans to rebuild the raging bull using a trove of original Lamborghini spare parts fell by the wayside. The parts, that iconic rear wing, and the car itself sat for years on end, gathering dust—and some furry occupants.
When Tony’s gem was discovered, popular detailing pro Larry Kosilla of Ammo NYC was enlisted to bring the Countach back to its original jaw-dropping glory. Under Kosilla’s lights, you get a really stark sense of what this Countach has been through. Grease, grime, dirt, seeds, nuts, and mouse droppings had piled up over the years.
After a proper bath, Kosilla breaks out a paint thickness meter that reveals how the fluctuations in thickness actually lend themselves to verifying the originality of the vehicle, as these were hand-painted machines back in the day. Neat for provenance, but those variances make for a more laborious detail. You come to appreciate preservation efforts of this magnitude, as each individual panel requires its own unique touch to properly recover the paint.
The glove box harbors a host of unusual treasures that you’ll have to see to believe. The wildest one by far has to be a pair of suspiciously short jorts stuffed in the back, soaked in mouse urine. No further explanation necessary—it was the 80s.
After Kosilla’s TLC, this Countach is headed down to Miami-based supercar dealer We Are Curated, where it will receive some serious mechanical sympathy before being put up for sale. Thanks to Kosilla’s efforts, this Lambo is no longer doomed to life as a toilet for rodents. That’s the kind of comeback story we love to see.
