Lamborghini Reventón meets Countach Turbo S extreme super sports car

Murciélago was already good. So good that torero Rafael Molino pardoned him on an autumn day in 1879 after pressure from the public after a great fight. Ferruccio L amborghini loved Murciélago. All front hoods of his sports car creations were decorated with the coat of arms with the image of this bull. Since 2001 a sports car has also been bearing the name of the legendary bull, who was still on his feet after being stabbed with a sword.

Murciélago is not extreme enough

But neither the name nor the appearance were extreme enough for the Lamborghini management - so the variant Reventón became born. The company founder would certainly have liked that too. Reventón wasn't good, Reventón was a killer who fatally injured young bullfighter Felix Guzmán on a May day in Mexico City in 1943.

Reventon exudes malevolence

The smooth Lamborghini Murciélago body has grown sharp edges, which are even better thanks to the matt gray color Come into play. The snout like that of a greedy shark, the rims like rotating blades that chop up everything that comes too close, the overall appearance that of a stealth bomber. Never has a car exuded so much evil as this variant of the Murciélago.

The 6.5-liter V12 in the Reventón develops 650 hp

The analogy to the fighter plane is intentional. Nobody would be surprised if the flames of a twin-jet jet engine beat through the air outlets at the rear. If the 6.5-liter V12 needs more breathing air, two flaps open on the flanks behind the cockpit. Inside, the instruments can be switched to look like an airplane. There is no longer a pointer in the rev counter; instead, two bars rise like the wings of a pterosaur when the twelve-cylinder raises its voice. Space frame, carbon fiber body, 650 hp, top speed 340 kilometers per hour.

Lamborghini has never built anything wild - one might think. There was once an experiment with a Lamborghini Countach. This wedge provided the basis for the appearance of all subsequent Lambos in the 1970s. It looked so flat that when the viewer looked in the rear-view mirror it never occurred to them to clear the left lane - the monster should just bedrive under him. The only thing he couldn't get rid of was the stigma of a lack of potency. Lots of air, little pump, they whispered behind closed doors, even if it brought it to 490 hp in the last expansion stage. Perhaps there was a lack of animality. Countach was the only Lamborghini that didn't named after a bull.

Lamborghini Countach Turbo S is unique

Most of the Countach variants do not have a model. The company founder commissioned exactly two of these in 1984. The prototype is lost, but the second is alive. As a stranger in the middle of a Ferrari collection, he eked out his existence in Denmark. With 9,000 kilometers on the clock, it was bought by the trained plasterer Dietmar Götz, who cares for it.

A lambo-crazy accordion teacher found the unique piece. That fits, because this Countach is a bellows. The mighty 4.8-liter twelve-cylinder is flanked by two massive turbochargers. The engineers had to take the compression back, install modified pistons, accommodate two intercoolers and install exhaust cooling so that the rocket does not flare up. The boost pressure scale begins at 0.7 bar. There is a hand crank under the steering wheel, so fat that it can probably also be used to blow nuclear submarines. If you crank up to the stop, you press up to 1.5 bar into the combustion chambers. The synchronization of the twelve-cylinder with the six Weber twin carburetors and the two superchargers must have been a nightmare.

At 333 km /h it was the fastest road car in the world

The result, at least on paper, makes the anthracite-colored Reventón pale to medium gray. The black bullet delivers 748 hp and 876 Newton meters. With a top speed of 333 km /h, it was the fastest road car in the world. Seen in this way, it is a bit sad irony that two of the rarest sports cars of all time meet in Switzerland of all places.

If you turn off the Reventón in first gear, you have already reached the motorway speed limit of 120 km /h. Then you meet on a closed slope. Racetrack would be a big word, but next to the lovingly restored complex of a former tank farm in Romanshorn, the 'Autobau', there is a temple of speed - including a driveway with curbs and gravel beds.

Countach means something like thunderstorm, and the name says it all for Turbo. If the Reventón still loosens the muscles at 4,000 revolutions, the classic snorts hard. After a short turbo lag, the 345 millimeter thick rear wheel rollers rush off, and the Countach kicks its handlebars hard in the back even with low boost pressure. The roar is dark and hoarse. There are also said to be chain smokers among bodybuilders. The speedometer goes up to425 km /h, but the braking point is reached after just two seconds in second gear. Now it's time to take the bull by the horns. The blow-off valves hiss. The brakes respond rather slowly and demand confident pedaling, the steering has no servo support - a car for whole men.

Climbing into the Reventón afterwards is a journey through time. Spacious bucket seats, gray suede, rocker switch. After the ride on the wild turbo animal, it all seems almost disappointingly civilized. Instead of feeling the pressure point of a tight sintered metal clutch, the left foot pauses when starting off. The semi-automatic six-speed gearbox does the rest. Steering, brakes - everything smoothly and finely adjustable.

Purchase price: one million euros plus taxes

'Other manufacturers are building a prototype, Lamborghini will build 20 and sell them,' says René Hirsch enthusiastically. The Swiss Lamborghini dealer is one of the few who own such a rarity. He would split up - for a million euros plus tax. The voice of the new one is clearly louder, but the thrust is weaker. However, the duel on this short track is unfair. The Reventón needs more speed with its naturally aspirated engine. He only really starts marching at 6,000 tours, when the Countach rider has to shift.

On paper, the young Reventón has a very thin nose. Accelerating from standstill to 100 km /h in 3.4 seconds, it takes 28 hundredths of a second off the Countach Turbo. But all theory is gray. You'd have to let them compete properly, but etiquette forbids that. Fighting bulls fight armed men, not one another.