1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV

If any single car could summarize the entire decade of the 1980s, it’s perhaps the Lamborghini Countach. The name Countach comes from the amazed exclamation of styling studio owner Nuccio Bertone on getting a look at the original concept his designer Marcello Gandini had come up with (“countach” is similar to “wow!” in a dialect of Italian), but imagine what he would have said upon catching a glimpse of the much more extreme LP5000 QV. Low, massively wide, and covered in scoops, strakes, and wings, this Countach certainly looks like the most extreme variant of the ultimate 1980s car around. And it’s no poseur, either, as anyone who’s heard the growl of the 5.2-liter V12 can attest to. The “QV” in the name comes from quattrovalvole, referring to the new 4-valve-per-cylinder head that increased output to 455 horsepower, an incredible number for the late ‘80s. So while performance was understandably phenomenal, it’s also the best of the breed. If a quick spin doesn’t instantly convince you of this, perhaps the opinion of long-time Lamborghini official test driver Valentino Balboni will: he considers it to be the ultimate Countach, with the perfect amount of brute force to match the stunning lines of the original hypercar.