The Cannonball Run Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S Is Entered Into The Library Of Congress

What’s got two spoilers, twelve exhausts and an entry in the Library of Congress? The Cannonball Run Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S of course.

The 1979 car made famous, or should that be infamous, in the film, was driven by both Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman making a mockery of the blanket 55 mph speed limit that inspired the cross country race which in turn inspired the film.

Exactly 40 years after the release of the film the Lamborghini was entered into the United States Library of Congress in Washington D.C on the National Historic Vehicle Register. The Hagerty foundation manage the list and include cars considered to be of national importance for the Unites States. A shortlist of just 30 cars have been drawn up to date, number 30 is the Countach, and it is as much of a motoring icon as it is in popular culture.

To celebrate the historic moment the actual car is on display in a glass case outside the on the National Mall, which is also home to the Lincoln Memorial, the President not the car…

From now on all of the information about the car, its history, a complete 3D scan of it and copies of all the documentation are to be preserved in the Library itself. The oldest cultural library in the United States and an official body of the United States Congress and America’s national library.

The film plot was loosely based on the actual races that were taking places across the country between the East and West coasts with the aim of doing it the fastest time and breaking the 55 mph speed limit. The challenge to the system and the rather strict enforcement of the law was a great attraction. The race started from downtown Manhattan in New York and finished at a marina on the Pacific Ocean at Redondo Beach in California.

This race caught the attention of filmmakers and Hollywood stepped in and put together a star studded cast with Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior, Farrah Fawcett and Dom DeLouise.

The Countach was the other star of the film with the 3 minute long intro East of Vegas desert sequence dedicated to the car, it was the embodiment of speed at the time. Twelve cylinders, six carburetors made the Countach performance icon, and the noise was used to great effect as the soundtrack.

The LP 400 S, black with a mustard yellow interio, was originally delivered new to Lamborghini’s distributer in Rome at the time, SEA Auto, and was immediately exported to the Unites States and was sold in Florida. In 1980 the owner, who was a friend of the film’s director Hal Needham, lent him the car for filming. There were a few modifications done to the Countach, the additional front spoiler, three antennas and twelve exhaust pipes.

Ron Tice, founder of the Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen brand, saw it on the set, fell in love with it and bought it. He kept it until 2004 when he sold it to Lamborghini afficionado Jeff Ippoliti of Florida who still owns it.

Hagerty Drivers Foundation – – helps to shape the future of car culture by celebrating our automotive history. We provide programs and financial support in three focus areas: Car Culture, Education, Innovation. Every September, we celebrate automotive culture with our event where we showcase historically significant automobiles on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Since 2009, 29 vehicles have been added to the National Historic Vehicle Register, a program created in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior and Library of Congress. We are now very proud to announce that our car no. 30 is the 1979 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 that starred in the 1981 movie “The Cannonball Run.