This is the First-Ever Lamborghini Countach to Sell for Over $1 Million

The Lamborghini Countach is such a radical and recognizable shape, it’s amazing the early ones don’t already cost in the millions… However, things are headed in that direction, as proved by this stunning (Tahiti) blue example, built in 1976.

It just sold at a Bonhams auction for $1.21 / €0.89 million, making it the most expensive of its kind ever.

One of the first 150 examples that came with unique periscope-style side mirrors that earned them the nickname “Periscopa,” this car has additional reasons to have fetched the price that it did.

The odometer reads 16,500 original kilometers, which is just over 10,000 miles. The car was part of the current owner’s collection since 1978 (it was originally sold to a Swiss gentleman) and is, by all accounts, in perfect shape. It does show signs of wear, but with the recently repainted body, it now looks as good as it did new.

Still, it’s an old car from Italy in the 1970, and for that reason alone, “the speedometer and odometer on this Countach are not currently operational.”

Rare Early Lamborghini Countach Sells For Record $1.2 Million

Lamborghini may have made headlines with the highly exclusive, $4.5-million Veneno and the even more expensive Veneno Roadster that followed, but when it comes to classics sold at auction, their prices seldom approach the kind of figures attained by rare classics made by arch-rival Ferrari. Early 350 GTs and rare Miuras (like the SV prototype Gooding sold a few years ago for a record $1.7 million) have been known to breach the seven-figure mark, but now the Countach is making its way into the big leagues as well.

Pictured here is a rather exceptional early example sold by Bonhams in Connecticut last week. This 1975 Lamborghini Countach LP400 "Periscopica" – so dubbed for the unique rearview mirror fitted to the first 150 examples made – has just over 10,000 miles on the odometer. With flawlessly retouched Blu Tahiti (read: French racing blue) paint and an immaculate deep tan leather interior, the Periscopica was the subject of feverish bidding before selling for $1.2 million to a buyer present at the auction, beating out a dozen or so telephone bidders.

The record price for a Countach trumps the previous record, also set by Bonhams at the Quail Lodge last August, where another '75 Periscopica sold for $836,000. The rising prices surely reflect the coming of age for the Countach, now nearly 40 years since its introduction – particularly for the generation that grew up idolizing it as the prototypical supercar. Scope it out in the artful gallery of 76 high-resolution images above and the details of the auction below.