You might recall that a few years ago we reported on the Cannonball Run Countach making it onto the National Historic Vehicle Register in the States. Obviously Lamborghini was very happy about it, but at the time it made no mention of the characters in the film who actually drove the car and undeniably added to the impression it made while on screen.
Well, kudos to Sant'Agata Bolognese, because this week it makes up for that fact. To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Countach LP 400 S that starred in the movie, it has reunited Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman with the car and had a lovely long chat about filming a movie that left an indelible mark on a generation of moviegoers (and PHers).
As is often the case with working actors, Barbeau and Buckman had not met again in person since the movie was released on June 19th 1981, but the experience - and, of course, the car - had obviously changed their lives. “Everyone knows it. And everyone knows this Lamborghini,” said Barbeau. “Not only that. Everyone also knows the two girls in the Lamborghini. We are inextricably tied to that role,” Buckman remarked.
She added: “It’s impossible for me, too, to remember how many times I signed a photo or a model car of the Countach!” With regard to the car, Lamborghini lists its ‘stage make-up’ as a wing and two full-beam headlights on the nose, a spoiler, three antennas and 12 exhaust pipes out back, along with two supplementary fake instruments in front of the passenger’s seat - none of which was removed by its owner when the car was returned to him after shooting. It has been with its current owner, Jeff Ippoliti, since 2009.
“I had always been crazy about cars,” Ippoliti recalled, “but the opening of the movie was the first time I got to see and hear the Countach in motion, and I was captivated! I didn’t see it in person for the first time until twenty-six years later, and it took me another eighteen months of negotiations before I managed to take it home.”
It’s a shame that in its short film about the experience of its all-female team - which, let’s not forget, actually won the race - Lamborghini hasn’t got permission to show some clips of the movie. But everyone remembers their favourite scene anyway: “The one where Tara gets out of the car and sprays an X on the road sign,” said Barbeau. For Tara Buckman, possibly like the rest of us, it was, “the opening scene, with the police car chasing the Countach. There are lots of movies with great opening scenes, but this is definitely one of the best ever.”
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