The Lamborghini Countach Wasn't the First Wedge

The Lamborghini Countach wasn't the first wedge. Its designer, Marcello Gandini, drew the same flat nose and upward doors three years earlier, on an Alfa Romeo show car called the Carabo, and Alfa never built it. So why does the Countach look the way it does? Line by line from the record: Stanzani's backwards V12, the one straight line from nose to roof, the scissor doors, the scoops it needed after its first engine blew, the wing nobody at the factory officially fitted, and who really followed the wedge. In this video 0:00 Geneva, 11 March 1971 0:54 The car it had to replace 2:29 The backwards engine 3:38 Where the wedge came from 5:09 The shape, line by line 6:34 The doors 7:20 The show car meets the road 9:17 The wing 10:50 Did every supercar copy it? 12:13 The heirs and the revival Sources Lamborghini, 2021: https://web.archive.org/web/202111300... Classic and Sports Car: https://www.classicandsportscar.com/f... Wouter Melissen, Revs Institute: https://automedia.revsinstitute.org/l... Gandini to Top Gear, 2021: https://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-... Hagerty, 2025: https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/ho... Petersen Automotive Museum, 2025: https://www.petersen.org/wedge-exhibit Photos and credits kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=106459281 Charles from Port Chester, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=131571381, 131571587, 131571592, 131906950, 132057815, 132361110, 143558578, 179062383, 179062512, 179062573, 179100490, 179100680, 179125951 Valder137, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=35674356, 35674361, 35674366, 35674375 edvvc, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=7214126 Matthias v.d. Elbe, CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=95124842, 95125154 ilikewaffles11, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=43621659 Michael Gil, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=37165421, 37166401 Sailko, CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=63601051 pelican-actor, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=117431274, 117431276, 117431286, 117431288, 146902244 Norbert Aepli, Switzerland (User:Noebu), CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=14436028 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=158595013, 158595672, 82847884 Chris Phutully, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=30820355 Countachinfo.de, CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=12703315, 12703388, 12703576 Jeremy from Sydney, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=37780780, 37780781, 37780782, 37780785, 37780786, 37780787 Thomas's Pics (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=50665142 nakhon100, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=37767769, 37767774, 37767777, 37767830 35mmMan, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=127577582 Thomas Vogt, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=125001201, 139787113 URSchmidt, CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=5094742 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=4399037, 4399069, 7267906 nakhon100 (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=37767769, 37767830 Sailko (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=63601051 David Merrett, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=76844984 edvvc (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=7214126 Countachinfo.de (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 3.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=12703576 FaceMePLS from The Hague, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=62774498 zombieite, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=132115896 Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=69233133 Guywelch2000, CC BY 4.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=199584476 Ben Sutherland from Crystal Palace, London, UK, CC BY 2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Archive photos and engravings: Wikimedia Commons (public domain) Maps: Natural Earth (public domain) Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=109200230 Arnaud Caillot, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=64051048 Neil, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=107938961 Damian Morys, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=49162978, 49164763 Marco 56, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=38615521, 38615522 Marco 56 (cut out by Signature Line), CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=38615522 Riley from Christchurch, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=70438316 Sicnag, CC BY 2.0: commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=40644568 #LamborghiniCountach #CarDesign #SignatureLine