Incredibly rare Lamborghini hidden away in a garage for decades is finally discovered – and now it’s sold for a fortune
A STUNNING Lamborghini that was gathering dust in a millionaire’s château has sold for a fortune.
Considered to be the ‘first modern supercar’, the 1975 Countach LP400 ‘Perisopio’ is one of only 150 built.
Purchased by a millionaire in 1983, the car was sequestered in a millionaire’s luxury château on a French island just off La Rochelle.
The vehicle was discovered in a garage where it had been idle for around a decade.
The flashy motor had its original engine intact and had a relatively low mileage count of 60,500 miles.
Boasting a top speed of 184mph, the 1975 Lamborghini was preserved in near-mint condition.
It went under the hammer at the Artcurial auction house in Paris, where it sold for a hammer price of £715,000.
Ancillary fees bumped up the selling price to £853,000.
Pierre Novikoff, a motoring specialist at Artcurial, said: “In our business, there are always amazing surprises in store for us when we’re preparing a sale.
“It was incredibly exciting to discover one of the very first Countach Periscopes built, parked in the garage of a Château situated on a French island in the Atlantic.
“Especially so, since the car had not been seen for four decades and the only photo of this car known by specialists dates from 1976 when it was brown.
“The exceptional barn find is one of the very first models produced in 1974, being production number nine.
“It was the first Countach delivered new in France by Etablissements Thépenier.
“It is in an exceptionally well-conserved condition, the original interior is superb, and it has matching numbers.”
It comes after a 1965 Jaguar E-Type which was found rotting away in a barn was projected to sell for over £150,000 following its restoration.
The most expensive new car sold at auction was a Bugatti Chiron Profilée, which went under the hammer for a staggering £8.7 million.