Rod Stewart’s 1977 Lamborghini Countach LP400 ‘Periscopio’

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In 1977, Rod Stewart toured Australia, performed signature hits like “Maggie May” and “Sailing,” then took a little detour to the local Lambo concessionaire to pick up a brand new Lamborghini Countach LP400 Periscopio. Maybe that’s a crazy souvenir for the average joe, but considering Rod the Mod’s affinity for cars in general and Lamborghinis in particular (he’d already owned three by that point), it was an in-character move.  

Once he wrapped up his tour and recorded an album Down Under, the car was shipped off to the singer’s home in Los Angeles where it underwent a laundry list of modifications, including a targa top conversion and full body-width rear wing. Not seeing those mods in the pic up there? That’s because by the time the scissor-doored beast reached its current owner in 2013, it had undergone many more modifications — from making it left hand drive to engine overhauls to wheels refinished in gold — and then it all got undone.

Seeing the original beauty beneath all the changes, the penultimate owner had the car painstakingly and nearly forensically restored to the condition it would have been in when it rolled out of that Australian dealership so many years ago (though they kept the left hand drive). 

Now a true representative of the model, with 375 hp screaming from its V-12 engine, this particular Periscopio was snapped up for just over $930k during RM Sotheby’s live-streamed 2021 Paris Auction. Here’s hoping the new owner thinks the car is indeed sexy and knows to leave well enough alone. 

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