At which motor show did the Countach LP500 prototype debut?

The Countach LP500 prototype debuted at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show.

The bright yellow LP500 was Lamborghini’s first public presentation of the project that became the Countach. It appeared as a concept rather than a finished production model, revealing Marcello Gandini’s radical Bertone styling and Lamborghini’s intention to replace the Miura with something more futuristic and extreme.

The prototype was mechanically different from the later production cars. It initially used a five-litre V12, but that engine proved difficult to make durable during testing. The prototype was later fitted with a 3.9-litre engine, while the first production Countach, the LP400, entered production in 1974.

The LP500 is sometimes confused with later Countach prototypes. A second prototype appeared at the 1973 Geneva and Paris motor shows, and a finalized pre-production car was shown at Geneva in 1974. Those appearances came after the original LP500’s landmark debut. The original prototype itself was eventually destroyed in crash testing in 1974, but Lamborghini later built a historically faithful recreation.