Designer Marcello Gandini issues a press release to distance himself from the new Countach
Legendary car designer Marcello Gandini is eager to let you know that he had nothing to do with the new Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4. In a special press statement, Gandini, now 83, seems to have had enough of the questions about the car. The new Countach pays tribute to the groundbreaking 1971 original, which Gandini drew while working for design house Bertone.
Not only that, he also claims to have been completely unaware of Lamborghini’s plans, despite participating in an interview with the company’s design director, Mitja Borkert, in June of this year. Although he was shown a scale model of the new car, he is far from full of praise for the finished product.
Rumination is not his thing
“I built my identity as a designer, especially when I was working on supercars for Lamborghini, with a unique concept: each new model I would work on would be an innovation, a breakthrough, something very different from the last one,” the designer said. .
“Courage, the ability to create a separation without clinging to the success of the previous car, and the confidence not to want to give in to habits were the essence of my work. It is clear that the markets and marketing have changed a lot since then. But as far as I’m concerned, repeating a model from the past represents, in my view, neglecting the fundamentals of my DNA,” he adds.
It must be said that Lamborghini often talks about Gandini’s influence on the design process, something the man himself often grumbled about. Nevertheless, he always remained friends with the people of Sant’Agata. The arrival of the ‘so-called new Countach’ – his words, not ours – is apparently the last straw.
Lamborghinic’s response
Lamborghini says: ‘The company has never assigned Marcello Gandini a role in the realization of the Countach LPI 800-4. Instead, Automobili Lamborghini invited Mr Gandini to participate in an interview that took place in June 2021. This was a conversation with the designer and head of Centro Stile Lamborghini about the comparison between the old model and the new.”
“As the video interview shows, the company informed Marcello Gandini about the presentation of the new Countach LPI 800-4 in Pebble Beach 2021. A scale model and sketches of the new car were shown to him,” adds Lambo. Furthermore, they do not comment on Gandini’s opinion.
