1985 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV
Build Sheet
| Year | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Body | 2-door mid-engine coupe (LP5000 S Quattrovalvole, scissor doors) |
| Engine | 5.2 L (5,167 cc) quad-cam V12, 4 valves per cylinder |
| Horsepower | 455 PS (449 hp) Euro carbureted; 420 hp US (Bosch K-Jetronic) @ 7,000 rpm |
| 0–60 mph | approx. 4.8 seconds |
| Production | 631 (5000 QV, 1985-1988) |
| Original MSRP | approx. $99,500 (US, mid-1980s) |
| Current value | approx. $600,000 market average; top sales near $650,000-980,000 (2026) |
The Story
If a single car defined the bedroom-wall fantasy of 1980s supercars, it was the Lamborghini Countach, and the 5000 Quattrovalvole was its wildest, most extreme evolution. By 1985 the original early-1970s shape had been festooned with vents, scoops, box flares, and an optional rear wing so dramatic it became the car's signature even though it actually slowed the top speed.
Quattrovalvole meant four valves per cylinder, and the upgrade pushed the mid-mounted V12 to 5.2 litres. European cars breathing through six Weber carburetors made a thunderous 455 horsepower, while US-market versions, fitted with Bosch fuel injection to meet emissions rules, delivered around 420. Either way the noise was apocalyptic and the acceleration savage, with 60 mph arriving in under five seconds.
The Countach was never about comfort or sense. Visibility was famously dreadful, the clutch was brutal, and drivers reversed by sitting on the sill with the scissor door flung open. None of that mattered. The car was pure theatre, an outrageous spaceship-on-wheels that made every onlooker stop and stare, the very definition of exotic excess.
Just 631 examples of the 5000 QV were built, and the model has become one of the most valuable Countach variants of all. Auction prices now reach well into the high six figures and beyond, cementing this angular Italian wedge as a genuine icon, the poster car that defined an entire generation's idea of automotive dreams.
