But the supercar great that widened eyes and hastened heartbeats of children and wealthy businessmen throughout the 1980s is back, and not in a restored or restomodded way. The all-new Countach LPI 800-4 debuts at The Quail as a Countach reimagined for 2021, with modernized styling and a supercapacitor-driven V12 hybrid four-wheel drive. The coolest car of 1985 becomes the coolest car of 2021.

Lamborghini could have just done an anniversary-edition cosmetic package for the Aventador to recognize the 50 years that have passed since the Countach prototype debuted at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. But it decided that celebrating a car so iconic and timeless demanded a little more fanfare. In the process, it reaffirms that the Countach's unmistakable ultra-low, wedge-shaped lines still look great today.

"The first Countach has been present in our Centro Stile as a model for some years now," explains Mitja Borkert, head of Centro Stile, Lamborghini's design center. "This is an unnegotiable part of our DNA, the essence if you so will. The first Countach shaped the Lamborghini design DNA like no other car; the new Countach translates that unconventional and edgy character into the future."

Centro Stile worked not from a single Countach but from all five major models that wore the nameplate between 1971 and 1990. The clean, uncluttered body shape most closely relates to the LP 500 prototype and LP 400 production car, while the face descends from the Quattrovalvole. The large hexagonal intakes, meanwhile, bridge the gap with modern Lambo styling.

Lamborghini further contemporizes the design with the single fixed headlamps (no flip-ups behind them) and broadened and deepened NACA side intakes. The glasshouse loses the straight lines at the A-pillars and side windows in favor of a modern curvature and window surrounds that absorb the gills of the haunch-top air scoops. The car's profile edges aren't quite as sharply drawn as in the past but certainly more so than on many a modern supercar.