Rod Stewart’s 1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400

Tony’s Take: Anyone remember the Lamborghini Countach SS Mardikian? Talk about rare. Search YouTube for “Targa Countach,” see how many videos come up. None!

The drop-top Countach was the brainchild of Al Mardikian. Mr. Mardikian had a lot of bad ideas – he did time for fraud and ignoring EPA regs on 2k European imports. But his targa-top Countach remains my second favorite model. This isn’t that. Actually, it is.

The car up for bids is the 1977 red/tan Periscopio LP400 modified in 1984 by Giacabone’s Executive Coachcraft (operations suspended) for exotic car collector and singer Rod Stewart.

“The factory officially stated removing the only steel panel on the tube chassis (the roof) wasn’t a good idea,” lambocars.com reports, “but Mardikian persisted.” 

Design

When Mr. Stewart bought the Lambo, it was a right-hand-drive narrow body LP400 (above). All of Mardikian’s mods have been reversed, save the left-to-right conversion. The car has been returned to factory specification.

Make that returning. “At the time of sending the catalogue to print, the Countach was undergoing restoration work with Lamborghini Polo Storico — please contact an RM Sotheby’s Car Specialist to find out more about this expenditure.”

Engine:

Mr. Mardikian made some outrageous statements about the engine mods made. “He claimed to have pulled out the original 4-Liter engine and completely rebuilt it,” lambocars.com reports, “and increased the displacement to 4.4 Liters by reworking the top end with genuine Lamborghini parts, boosting horsepower to 510 Bhp at 8000 rpm and torque to 325 ft. lbs.”

None of that was ever confirmed. Lamborghini said they never made parts to increase their engine’s displacement. According to RM Sotheby’s, the Lambo’s second owner “overhauled” the powerplant, presumably returning it – restoring it? – to standard parts and performance.

Performance:

Comparables:

Mr. Mardikian never revealed how many Countach targas he created. There was at least one other, built for Alpine Electronics to showcase their systems. Regardless, the Scottish singer’s former motor is now considered original.

The highest previous recorded sale for a 1977 narrow body Countach went down in 2021. It was this car. Yes, chassis 1120262 racked-up all the money after all she’s been through. That tells us a lot about Countach prices going forwards.

Price Prediction

With Boomers getting thinner and thinner on/in the ground, X Gen’s are driving the prices of Countach lowbody cars close to those of Periscopio cars. Where does that leave the Periscopios if X Gens favor the latter?

In this case, given the car’s [ongoing] factory restoration and celebrity provenance, I say it will pull down $1.2m – $1.4m. I’d prefer a scissor-door targa widebody Countach, but that’s me. And Rod Stewart! Well, it was . . .