Lamborghini Won't Do Another Retro Supercar After The New Countach

Aug. 25, 2021 5:24 PM ET by Sebastian Cenizo Supercars / 8 Comments

Or will it?

If you were to look at the recently unveiled Lamborghini Countach and guess where the Italian automaker's focus lies, you'd likely think that the company wants to A) keep the V12 engine alive, B) minimize the effect of electrification on the way a car drives, and C) reference its most iconic models for future creations. True, Lamborghini is still committed to the V12, and true, the implementation of the Sian's tech in the Countach suggests that the company dislikes electrification. But will Lamborghini continue to look to the past? Will we see a modern-day Miura at some point? It seems that the answer is no, but there are obvious exceptions.

Sure, there was a modernized Miura concept back in 2006, but company CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Autocar that looking to the past is not what he wants. "I'm not in favor of redoing cars. I look at the Miura [concept] and think it's great, but I think we really need to be focused on the future and we want to look back and say we were the ones who made new icons, not just copied old ones."

Winkelmann surely sees the financial benefit of limited-edition retro-inspired supercars, but if you were to describe Italian automakers' design philosophy to someone unfamilair with cars, Ferrari would be the traditionalist and Lamborghini the rule-breaker.

Ferrari continually references past successes in many of its new models, but Lamborghini typically finds new and ever more imaginative ways of shocking the world. Sure, this year is the Countach's 50th anniversary year, and sure, the Countach influenced the design of every Lambo since, but this was Lamborghini's most iconic model. Nothing else is as instantly recognizable nor as special to the brand, and now that the modern-day tribute has been done, it's time for Lamborghini to create future classics that shock and wow just as much as that car did.

Lamborghini wants to be on your great-grandchild's holographic poster wall with something that the kid will still love and yearn for when they turn 50, and that's exactly what the company has always been - a brand of fantasies. The past may influence the future, but it will never define it. Not for Lamborghini.