Foreign. Welcome to Hoopies Garage! The dumbest Automotive channel in all of YouTube and this is the flagship of my fleet. It is a 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th, Anniversary Edition and not only is it the flagship, it's also one of the Elder Statesmen I Haven't kept cars very long around here one to two years usually, but this one is going on three. So it's the third oldest car in Sea north I think in the garage or maybe the fourth.

it's very close the SLS AMG my grandmother's SL that she gave me when I was in high school so my first car. so I'm obviously going to keep that maybe the Jurassic Park Jeep and then this. This is one of the Elder cars as far as I've owned it going on three years and I absolutely do love the car. But one thing that's been good and bad in the three years that I've owned this car is it's rapid appreciation.

When I bought it, it was basically a little over six figures. It was all the money I had at the time to buy these two Lamborghinis from an eccentric doctor that lived a few miles away from me, but nowadays they have exploded in value. This thing's probably knocking on the door of five hundred thousand dollars in value, which is great to own something for ones that appreciates in value that I buy a car and not lose a massive amount of money on it's out of character for me when it comes to Hoovey's garage, but uh yeah, it's so expensive now it's basically a house. What this thing is worth and I'm scared to drive.

it doesn't get used all that much, but when I do drive it which admittedly is getting less and less recently I did have to change the battery on it because it's been sitting so much I do have a lot of fun other than I don't really fit in the thing I'm going to give you a three year ownership update on this car. It has been surprisingly reliable. so amazing to own, which you wouldn't think for a vintage. Lamborghini But I do have some things that I'm facing at some point down the road that will be, uh, very expensive.

Not there yet. But when I do drive it, it does get a lot of attention. The two most common questions are what is it which Lamborghini Countach obviously. but if they do know what it is, they ask me if it's real and the reason for that is there are so many replica countages out there.

This was the wildest and craziest looking thing on the road in the 80s and especially this 25th anniversary edition. It just looks so ridiculous. it's hard to believe when you see one in person that it's real. And that's because there's also a lot of replica kits out there basically.

Horatio Pagani pinned this final year final few year design of the countage to sort of get it to match the craziness of the Testarossa So you got the side streaks down here. You have a big wing all the time and more craziness up here. Just the most ridiculous, crazy version, but believe it or not, this is the most common version. The last two years, they sold over 500 of the 25th anniversary edition compared to I think around 2 000 countages total.

So a big chunk of them are these. but there's probably even more way more than 500 replicas out there. probably thousands of them, mostly based on Pontiac Fieros, but some are their own bespoke, you know, tubular chassis or something else. I've seen some that are Pontiac Trans Ams and my friend video Bob in Las Vegas has sort of turned into the expert of replica countages.

he now owns two of them I believe and he's given me a standing invitation to come out and drive them. He says they are pretty darn fun. so I'm going to compare them firsthand how my countage, which is now so valuable I'm kind of scared to drive it for that and the massive maintenance bills. could I have the same or a good percentage amount of the fun with a fake one? and I'm going to go into this with an open mind and see well how good they are I mean obviously the lamborghuntage itself is sort of a home-built kind of hodgepodge car, not built with the same quality we would expect in modern cars, especially with Lamborghini recently getting acquired by Volkswagen.

Well, it's been 20 years now or 25 years back then. They were pretty bespoke sort of hand-built cars where the quality is a little well hit and miss. So I'm going to give you a tour of that today. Why? The countage in person will sometimes look kind of fake and then take it for a drive.

Talk about what it's been like to own this and then we'll go to Vegas and see the fake Josh Yeah, but before we get into it today, I'd like to thank Bird Dogs for sponsoring today's video. This is a rare moment for me to wear shorts on camera, even though I do wear them all the time otherwise. but I try to avoid showing off my chicken legs on YouTube But somehow Bird Dogs even look. My pipe cleaners look good and that's because they're designed to fit Slimmer through the thigh and leg to make your legs look, well, more sculpted if you have any sculpt at all.

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Oh so like I said, a lot of people think when they see a Countach that it's a fake and even I when I would see one before I own one I would I wonder if it wasn't get really close to it and I couldn't tell. but uh, there's a lot of things like this. Totally looks like it belongs on a fake Countach but that's how they put in these windows here. just a very rough Edge and then these reflectors around the car.

they're required. but uh, looks like it's just tacked on something you would get at Home Depot or something. same with the tail lights I think they're shared with another generic car. More weird reflectors everywhere and everything just looks sort of tacked together.

exposed screws. you know it's just not uh, elegant when you get close to it. This car only has just I have 20 000 kilometers on it so that explains why it's held up so well. but you know the fiberglass.

definitely not of the quality of say a C4 Corvette I mean the mirrors? You know it's uh yeah, it's just not put together all that well. when you look at the details in this car is very, very original. It's never been repainted, never had any kind of cosmetic work as far as I know, but you can see just uh Little Things little imperfections in the paint throughout. That's just how these things left the factory.

so when you see a real one, it's understandable why you would do a double take. But the Driving Experience well it's not even on the same Planet as far as I know and that's because of the wonderful drivetrain here. Take a look in the back that is quite a V12 and quite a mess of things. You can see the fuel injection system, the mechanical fuel injection, and all the other mess going around into it.

Now the only thing that's been replaced on this as far as not being original is the magneti Morelli ignition box that started acting up on mine. Not to the point where it left me stranded, but it was misfiring very badly so that's been replaced. But that's the closest I've ever come to being stranded in this car. Otherwise, it's just been normal maintenance and everything has more or less worked on this.

The only thing that is really broken is the CD player inside of the car. the Alpine Stereo it ain't my Top Gun soundtrack and that's other than The ignition box. The only serious issue I've had in almost three years, which is crazy I mean there's been a few little electronic Gremlins and things all easily solvable, but uh, overall, the car has ran very well and I've put well almost 2 000 miles on it at this point in in almost three years. So I haven't driven it that much like I said.

but we'll take it on a quick little drive here just to refresh you all and refresh me before. I Go Drive! Uh, the the fake McCoy reversing in a Countach Always an experience with no rear visibility. You have to get out and look over the wing here, but of course once you're in and it is a tight squeeze I'm six foot two and change and uh, my head's hitting the ceiling so I do have to squat. if I was one inch taller, I would absolutely not fit in this car.

but uh, once you're in and hearing that V12 I seriously doubt the fake ones uh, can even come close to this experience. The shifting is actually pretty wonderful compared to Ferraris of the RSA a test roaster or something. or they have to warm up and they feel really crunchy. this one it works well instantly and it feels really good.

That's one of the best parts of this car if you like it's the shifting with the V12 nice gearbox and then you get on the road and thank you. Sounds amazing and just feels so special. I Seriously doubt that a fake one could offer an experience even close to this. I mean that noise? the feeling of this thing? I mean because you're sucked right down on the road and feels like you're in unvintage spaceship.

It's just so much fun to drive. but I'm gonna go into this with an open mind so we'll see. Well I've arrived in video Bob's Lair and I Met him years ago when he brought over his Rolls-Royce Phantom that he bought like mine. He still has one of his but he's famous for his movie car replicas.

He's built over 40 backs of the future several Ghostbusters Echo at once he just loves replicas. Grew up wanting to build fake versions of of real movie cars or well, real cars. and uh yeah, he's video bob. It's either the left ball or the right ball.

It's one of these balls is hanging too low. What do you think? Wizard Tyler Video Bobby I'm can't you see I'm working on my Ferrari Testarossa and get paying 200 an hour for Wizard to look at it on the phone his phone console. so I didn't think he did those anymore. Oh yeah, well which ball is it I don't know I'm gonna need you probably to fly in here and you're gonna have to feel to each one to see which one is is squishy.

Well one's supposed to hang lower than the other. That's not the case. that's not true. Listen, this is a real Ferrari tester.

That's what the guy at the car lot told me I think your problem is the engine's in the wrong place. They don't put the engines of Ferraris not in the Testarossa No Testarossa has a 350 TPI You know these Italians keep stealing these these engines from Pontiac and I'm getting very sick of it. All right? Uh, I'm gonna hang out with you wizard before you build me another minute. I've got Tyler here.

All right, All right, thanks. I'm getting I'm getting tired of these uh Italians stealing our American engineering this this thing is. yeah, a little. see what it says Ferrari a little trouble in Paradise there.

So this is the Miami Vice Ferrari tester. I Guess the original Miami Vice car was a fake right? The Daytonas right? Well the first yeah the the. that was the story that that Ferrara was so upset that they were using this replica that they offered them free testarossas if they promise to blow up their fake ones. So that's in the episode they blew up the Daytona but the testerosas that they got were black and then they didn't like the way they looked on camera at night.

So they painted them white and that's the story. Yeah, well, this is obviously not a Testarossa but it looks like it has some real. It's an 89. Parts Yeah, you know.

the thing about it is you can fit in this. It has air conditioning and you know power steering and all the modern Comforts of the car. Yeah well. someone got a legit cell phone.

oh my. God and uh, it looks I mean the badges look real. it's it's a real uh Lamborghini steering wheel. so I'm almost in.

Yeah well, the most convincing part is probably the the back. except it's a little short obviously. I think these are off a Hyundai Excel Okay and totally functional. You need to vent the trunk obviously.

but you know what? I can go get groceries in this car see can't do that in the Ferrari All right. Well I Want to show you my latest acquisition acquisition now I Know that you're into exotic cars? Yes and uh, you know I'm trying to get up on your level. You know I'm out here in Las Vegas I Don't live in the big time in Wichita and I want to I Want to try to get up to the hoobie level I I Hope this isn't what you're yeah my Lamborghini Countach This thing is real. This is legit.

I Got this from this guy named Sam Hart He's a he's a British guy. Oh yes yes yes yeah he he recommended this to me. He said it's like Bob if you want a real Lamborghini kotosh you go get one of these and so here it is. Look at this.

Um right. Oh oh guy, it's a work in progress I hate to break it to you Bob But uh, everything about this is not this. Look at that. that one piece rear second plywood? no no, this is uh, this is a fine uh Burlwood.

You know, like my Rolls-Royce has Fine mahogany Yes, this is a fine Pine plywood and a Cadillac V8 no no, this is an Italian a transverse mounted uh from an Allante That's Italian I'm telling you these Italians keep trying to steal our American engineering. This is what really goes into Countach that's a 4.9 Cadillac from an Allante Well, I I came to see a much nicer replica of a countage. hey hey hey and this is nice. This this looks like somebody sat on it.

Uh, an elephant or something. but I know you're a fan of these I know that you have a soft spot in your heart growing up with these replicas, right? Well when I was a 16 year old, you know I used to go through the back of Kit Car magazine and I saw that ad for the five thousand dollar kit car. Remember those? So I I sent them a thousand dollar deposit and then I couldn't afford to pay the rest of it off so they sent me I said well just send me a thousand dollars worth of parts then. So this was like for the kit to put on.

Yeah, okay, not like this car. This is not a 1986 Fiero no matter what you might think. Um, so what they did was they just sent me that wing, sent me the wing and I attached it to the back of my black Trans Am that I had at the time and you know because I Love Knight Rider So I had a Trans Am and that was the beginning of my kit car building I Mounted that ridiculously large wing on the back of my 82 Firebird Painted it black and it was like a Night Rider Lamborghini kind of a thing and now you've basically made a life for yourself building mood replicas. The Deloreans Of course the Ecto ones everything.

Yes, you've done amazing work, but now you're branching out into Exotics And all right, if you don't like this, no I'm I'm sure this is my shop inside of a Las Vegas Here is this one any better. Oh wow, did it just spontaneously Pop I think I think but um, um, what do you think of this one again? this is not a 1987 Pontiac Fiero Despite whatever you might believe, this is a real Lamborghini code. Look at this. Check out the the engine bay back here.

Not a one piece, a two-piece That's quality. But one first thing I'm noticing is the paint job might be nicer. This is my factory but oh no no. Lamborghini stole this from Pontiac.

We're gonna have to cut this out. It worked earlier. there it is. That's what I was looking for.

There we go. Okay now we don't have enough room under here because I got the DeLorean Oh yeah, let's get it out from under the flooring and out in the sun here. I Really want to see this? Let me take this off first. so this just slides off.

It's only like 116 degrees now. it's so hot yet. um but yeah that just comes off. It's pretty empty though.

it's made of metal. One of the things I like about this company is what they the inlaid, nice metal frame. um that is similar to the Viper actually better than the Viper I Had to buy inserts for my old one to have something like that versus the factory toupee. It actually doesn't sound that bad.

so did that just click into gear? because it has an automatic transmission? It is oh good. For some reason it's an automatic put. I Have to say Bob it looks very very real. Proportionally it looks correct but smaller.

Am I right? You know that's what my wife said on my honeymoon. That's me. Yeah, birth myself Lambo Yoga? Yes. but this roof comes all the way off.

It comes completely off. It's held in with screws. okay, interesting speaker placement? Yeah, um. the interior is a is a bit of a let down here.

I Don't know. This is how a contash is really. Um, this is genuine Italian speaker fabric. Okay, well, it's an Alpine radio.

All right. Oh, that's where I keep extra screws. Wonderful! Well one bonus is there's a lot more Headroom in this thing. but obviously.

uh, the quality kind of falls apart on the inside. Basically they want people to think from the outside you're driving a countage and then uh, you lose a little bit in the details when it comes to the interior. Oh okay, that's a little crooked too. Hmm.

and then yeah, an automatic transmission. but you couldn't give the Countach So if you wanted an auto this, this is the way to own a Lamborghini Countach All right, but the fact that my head's not hitting the ceiling is nice. It has surprisingly good. Headroom Yeah, you need a drill to roll down the window.

It's held together with wood screws, so you just carry a few of these little wood screws with you. Yeah, and then um, that holds the door together. So Bob if I may ask, how much did this beauty set you back? Um, you know real quintoshes are selling and the five six hundred thousand dollar range I Got this thing for like half of that 20 grand I Don't think that's how the math works but 20 grand I didn't I did a good in math but um I thought it was a good deal. From out here it looks real.

It's not too bad. Notice how the doors though kind of weighing out a bit. Oh, how do I get out? Yeah, there's no door handles. Um, there's there's actually some buttons under the dash.

You'll feel them. Uh, they're they're to the right. Uh, they're like little teats. Oh that's right.

I found one. Yeah, yours is the other one. Okay I hate the door popper things guys. if you're building a kit car, don't put the door poppers in.

They suck. That's so 90s. Just put a door handle all right. I Can tell the clutch feels not very good on this.

No, this isn't uh uh uh. very light color. There's no clutch needed. it's a special.

Italian and I assume we don't want to buckle our seatbelts. No because I mean you want to. You want to be thrown. You want to be able to escape as quickly as possible.

But there is tilt wheel though. and do not turn on the headlights because once they go up you, they don't go back down again. I Do have to admit Bob this is more comfortable than a real town. You have like a gut two or three inches of Headroom there.

Yeah, even with the spiky highlights right? Okay, see what? she's got some pool? It has something I mean it went it, it tried. It's squirrely though, right? Yeah, yeah, tight. it's It definitely feels way lighter because it is way lighter. So this is yeah.

All right, let me dive into the corner here. It turns tight so we can. Wow. It handles pretty good.

It's got a good suspension package on it. Actually, that is impressive. In all seriousness, the Fiero guys that are out there, they put a lot of time and effort into their furrows. They just had the 40th anniversary of Pharaohs up and uh, wherever it was and uh, there's a lot of options for these cars because there is a cult following for them to turn in is obviously way better.

The Fiero is a small Nimble car not white on a piano level. but have you had a funeral? Oh, the thing about it though, what makes this different than a real Countach Other than all the obvious, theoretically use this as a daily driver. the KIRO is a car that you find it's a couple hundred thousand miles on it. The people who use this as a deadly driver and as I'm a big guy like yourself I'm six one I I wear size 14 shoes I Don't know if I could physically drive a real quintosh.

I mean somehow you pulled it off even with all of your manliness and girth. Yeah, right. No, it's just I will myself too even though I don't fit. but I have tons of Headroom in here and I would be very, very sad and I'm sure you'd be very upset with me if I crash this because it is difficult to replace because there's nothing you can't replace it.

Yeah, there's nothing. there's no Parks but I'm not I'm not scared like when I'm in the Countach yeah I feel very relaxed and comfortable driving this and I imagine I am getting the same reaction as when I drive the real thing. Oh 100 when I drive this up and down the Las Vegas Strip there's nobody that thinks it's not real and if they do, they're still impressed with how neat it is is to Marion been calling you every day begging you to sell them in the car. oh he just checks in once every six months or so.

Hey how you doing Tyler Yeah, all right I'll pull it in. Maybe I don't need it anymore. Maybe this is what you should get. one of these sell that ratty-ass Italian cookie of yours Yeah, I mean a nice interior and maybe that Cadillac bead over there and some air conditioning.

and that was the plan because I bought I bought that car to put the Cadillac V8 because it's roughly about twice the horsepower of this one. All right. Well there's like three motors you could put in a Fiero you can put other than the um I'm out oh I feel like I'm at the dock? Well you pull up in your your countage that people think are real and then you get out like that in any of the clout you had pulling up is just absolutely gone unfortunately. Hey ladies exactly Well now that Bob's just given childbirth I guess uh well yeah I feel like I just had a passion? yeah on today's video.

Thank you so much for watching.