An extremely rare 1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400 'Periscopio' by Bertone, first owned by rock legend Rod Steward will be auctioned off by RM Sotheby's at its event in Villa Erba, Italy later this month.

The car was restored last year by Lamborghini Polo Storico and is in pristine condition. This early production-spec Countach LP400 has the closest design to Marcello Gandini's Countach LP500 concept supercar that was first shown at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Rarely do production vehicles bear this much resemblance to the original concept. Just 157 LP400s were built.

Chassis number 1120262 left the Sant'Agata factory floor in June 1977. Stewart bought this right-hand drive example new in the summer of 1977 while on tour in Australia, and he later had it shipped to his home in Los Angeles.

Painted in Rosso (red) with a gorgeous Tobacco trim, Stewart almost immediately began making some interesting modifications. He hired Albert Madikian Engineering to give the Lambo a complete wide-body kit and, perhaps more controversially, an open-top targa roof.

A decade later, Stewart shipped the car to the UK, where it would remain for the next quarter century before selling it in 2002.

The next owner didn't change the rocker's mods, but they gave the V12 engine a complete overhaul and a left-hand drive conversion. The car was sold again in 2013, and this owner went about restoring it to its original factory condition. Aside from the left-hand drive change, all previous modifications, including the Targa roof, were reversed.

Last year, Polo Storico, Lamborghini's in-house specialty restoration shop, completed additional restoration work.

As a successor to the extremely rare Miura, the vehicle where the term 'supercar' was first applied, the Countach had big shoes to fill. It did so splendidly. Originally packing a 3.9-liter V12, it remained in production for 25 years from 1974 until 1990. The Countach underwent many upgrades throughout its lifetime, such as receiving a bigger and more powerful engine and radical exterior styling changes. It was replaced by the also-legendary Diablo in 1990.

The auction house estimates this special Countach LP400 will sell for between $1,050,000 and $1,150,000, but we wouldn't be surprised if the hammer landed on an even higher price.