lambodiecast

When you visit the Museo Ferruccio Lamborghini located in Casette di Funo, Italy, you’ll notice there is a Lamborghini Countach on display, a beautiful red Quattrovalvole, a stunning car in the classic Rosso we see a lot on the Countach and later on the Diablo, but what if I told you that Ferruccio’s personal car was in fact a white 1980 Countach S, which isn’t on display in the family owned museum.

Let’s go back to 1980, Ferruccio Lamborghini already sold his interest in Automobili Lamborghini SpA by that time (51% in 1972, the remaining 49% in 1974), but he visited the factory grounds regularly,  and for years, sales director Ubaldo Sgarzi had been trying to convince Ferruccio to buy a Countach, a car Ferruccio worked on intensively during its development, but which he never bought for himself ... until 1980.

The year 1980 was a pivotal one, as the company had gone bankrupt in 1978 and was subsequently placed under receivership in 1980. More importantly, the order for a red-on-black Lamborghini Countach S was cancelled by the original client, a ‘low body’ LP400 S chassis, 112.1164, which Sgarzi finally managed to sell to Ferruccio, after it was repainted white.

The car would be used on a regular basis by Ferruccio Lamborghini himself, parked next to his Miura SV at his property in Panicarola, where his winery was located, La Fiorita, we even got a fragment in ‘60 minutes’ on US TV where Ferruccio drove this white Countach in 1987, sadly Ferruccio passed away on February 20, 1993, and both the vineyard and this unique Countach were inherited by his daughter Patrizia, to car got sold to a collector who had it completely restored ... the car would be shown to the Italian public in 2013, when Automobili Lamborghini SpA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In 2020, Ferruccio's own Lamborghini Countach S was sold to another collector, rumor has it for a record-setting amount of money for a Countach S, but as usual, these private trades never get headlines with prices mentioned, at the time of writing a good condition Countach S is valued around $400,000, but expect this Ferruccio owned and driven one to be easily double or tripple that amount, just imagine being in the driver seat, holding the steering wheel that was once held by none other than Ferruccio Lamborghini himself.

So why do I ramble on about a single, albeit very special 1980 Lamborghini Countach S in this 1/18 scale car review? As it happens, this Kyosho-made Countach S, a brand new release, is an almost identical replica of chassis 112.1164, Ferruccio’s Countach; hence, from the moment I saw this one being announced by Kyosho, I had it on pre-order ... it took a very long time to finally arrive in Europe, but the wait was worth it, I absolutely love this model.

This is what is known as a ‘low-body’ Lamborghini Countach S, if memory serves me well that are actually three series of Countach S, the Series 1 are low body cars, 50 units built between 1978 and 1979, chassis 112.1102 to 112.1100, but they come with the Bravo style wheels, just as we’ve seen on the Walter Wolf cars, an LP400 S Series 2 car is built between 1980 and 1981, 105 units, chassis 112.1102 to 112.1310, after 1982 we get the third iteration of the LP400 S, also referred to as Series 3 cars, 82 units made, chassis 112.1312 to 112.1470, and they have a higher ride height and different floor pan to roof measurement, the later cars are actually 2 inches taller than the earlier, low body Countach S.

So how does this new Kyosho release hold up on a 1/18 scale? At first glance, it looks amazing, you just can’t go wrong with an early Lamborghini Countach S, and let’s not forget, it’s the first 1/18 scale, all-opening diecast model of an LP400 S that’s available, and it looks almost identical to Ferruccio’s car, so it’s a must-have in my opinion, no doubt about that.

The Countach S still utilizes the Tipo L406, 4-liter V12 engine from the original LP400, with six sidedraught Weber 45 DCOE carburettors, resulting in a power output of 375bhp at 8000rpm and 269lb-ft at 5000rpm. This engine featured dual distributors, a distinguishing feature that sets it apart from the later LP500S, which switched to a single distributor for all 12 cylinders. Kyosho has incorporated this detail into this model, demonstrating nice attention to detail.

Another giveaway for the Countach LP400 S can be seen in the interior, we no longer have the eight older Stewart Warner dials on the dashboard from the LP400 (27 units of the LP400 S Series 1 came with these small gauges too), instead we get the bigger Jeager gauges now, but the central console still has the knobs for the air conditioning system, on the LP500 S there were sliders fitted, small details, but Kyosho managed to capture them all.

But there is one strange thing about this specific Lamborghini Countach LP400 S Series 2 model, Kyosho did go for a rear wing without end plates on it, which is how Ferruccio’s car looked, and that’s odd because normally the Series 2 Countach S came with a new rear wing design, with end plates, so did Ferruccio order it without them? It could be, still, Kyosho got this detail correct.

However, they messed up the struts for the rear wing, Kyosho used the same struts on this white Countach S as seen on their Walter Wolf cars, wider at the bottom compared to the top, and that is incorrect, Ferruccio’s Countach had the ‘normal’ struts from the Countach S, angled down onto the luggage cover, so Kyosho did miss this detail, unfortunately.

In the end I’m really happy with this model, for me it’s a must-have in my collection, almost looking identical to Ferruccio’s very own Countach S he’d been driving for years, and I love that fact, even the Lamborghini decal on the door was there on Ferruccio’s car, the missed rear wing supports are unfortunate, but that’s fine, it’s not perfect ... one more detail, on mine the passenger door doesn’t seem to close completely, I could try to look into that, but I’ll just display it with the doors open, problem solved.

Originally released in September 2025.

our RATING

Exterior		9/10
Interior		8/10
Engine		8/10
Accuracy		7/10
Overall rating		8/10

Original price on October 3, 2025 : € 210