Few names elicit a frisson of excitement in the world of design like Marcello Gandini’s. So Mitja Borkert had a big job when it came to recreating one of the legendary figure’s most famous designs: the Lamborghini Countach.
In a new video produced by Lamborghini, the two sit down for a quick chat about everything that made the original car so special and how the new car attempted to capture some of its wild spirit.
And indeed, it remains a tall task to this day because, as Gandini puts it, it’s a design that has stood the test of time.
Read Also: Marcello Gandini Talks About His Most Famous Creation: The Lamborghini Countach
“Usually, many years later, you no longer like a car you liked then, or you like it much less,” he says. “For better or worse, the Countach is still pleasing to the eye even 50 years later.”
But for Mitja Borkert, he was less afraid than he was jubilant. The excitement of creating an homage to, what is in many ways, the original supercar, could not be contained.
“I could not wait for the year 2021 because it was clear it would be the 50th birthday of the Countach,” he says. “A couple of years ago we were starting dreaming for the year ’21 and I said ‘Hey, let’s realize how the Countach could potentially look like in 2021.’ So I created for myself the side views and I was studying all the lines that for me are so important.”
Borkert points to the single centerline and the NACA air intakes that feature prominently on the new Countach. The thin lights were an important design cue, too, but he didn’t have to work very hard to make the silhouette work because all Lamborghinis are still influenced by the Countach today.
Whether you care for the new car or not, it certainly is a testament to the quality of Marcello Gandini’s design that even 50 years later, it still looks futuristic and still fascinates the designers of today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6nQe8b9Wq0