In terms of cinematic cars, this one merits a mention: the 1979 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S that appeared in Hal Needham’s The Cannonball Run, released on June 19, 1981.
Lamborghini has reunited that car with the actresses who were shown as its pilots, Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman, to commemorate both the car’s 45th birthday and the film’s anniversary.
The black Countach was first sent to Roma from Sant’ Agata, and then sold to the US, winding up in Florida. The owner knew Needham and it wound up in the film.
Automotive journalist Brock Yates, scripted the film. He had participated in the real Cannonball Run, a coast-to-coast race from New York to Los Angeles, and some of his and his teammates’ real-life experiences wound up in the film. Yates’s script had a Countach for the opening sequence, and it duly appeared in the film.
The Countach in the film was not stock, gaining an extra front wing and two full-beam headlights, a spoiler, three antennæ and 12 exhaust pipes in the back, and fake instrumentation on the passenger’s side. It kept its additions when it returned to its owner. In 2009, enthusiast Jeff Ippoliti bought the car, and recalls having been captivated by it as a boy.
The film is a cult classic, and starred Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, Farrah Fawcett, Jack Elam, Michael Hui, and Jackie Chan. Raymond Chow of Golden Harvest presented the film and Albert S. Ruddy produced. The car itself was deemed important enough to be registered at the US Library of Congress, when its documentation was added in 2021.
Both Barbeau and Buckman say they are still recognized for their roles in The Cannonball Run as Marcie Thatcher and Jill Rivers, and are asked to sign model Countachs. Neither actress returned for the inferior sequel, their roles taken by Catherine Bach and Susan Anton.
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