Mirage Countach
Discussion
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Hi, it’s a 3.5 litre V8 Rover engine.
Power is remarkably low considering but torque is huge which suits the car.
Car is very lightweight but suspension is handled via 6X coil overs so can be tuned to how hard / soft the driver prefers.
The car is a fibreglass body built around a strong space frame chassis, I believe Lee Noble may have been involved in the design of this.
Power is remarkably low considering but torque is huge which suits the car.
Car is very lightweight but suspension is handled via 6X coil overs so can be tuned to how hard / soft the driver prefers.
The car is a fibreglass body built around a strong space frame chassis, I believe Lee Noble may have been involved in the design of this.
Nice looking car. Looks like a good job. I remember them appearing in the kit car press a lot, back in the day. ISTR the magazines saying they were challenging to build and quite a high budget for a kit car. I always wondered how they actually drove compared to the real thing. How does yours drive? Is it chuckable round bends, or intimidating?
Thanks for the interest,
I’d given up looking after a good few years when this car came up within 2 miles of where I live.
The previous owner bought the car for his son’s wedding and then realised it needed a full rebuild. So over a year he stripped the car and based the electrics on a VW golf, repainted and reupholstered the car as a full time job, which came through in the quality of the car when I viewed it.
Handling is good but probably bears no relation to the real thing as this has a lighter, less powerful engine and different COG. I’ve developed the cooling system and set up a few other elements such as the carb to make the car more user friendly but I’d suggest it’s closer to a big Caterham with a body than the V12 GT bruiser it’s actually based on.
It receives a lot of attention when on the road and at petrol stations as you might expect.
We have to visit a lot of petrol stations.....
I’m always happy if someone asks to sit in the car and always let them know it’s a replica if they’ve not already clocked that (not everyone immediately does but there are some large differences with a mirage mk1 and the original, lesser evident with later models).
It’s attended a few charity fetes as part of a small classic car line up for local hospices etc and is a favourite with kids for having their photos at the wheel.
I’ve done a few thousand miles around the UK in it but as usual, don’t really get the time i’d like due to a couple of small kids myself, although baby seat fits well and I sometimes take the youngest to nursery in it.
Visibility is an issue when you first drive it as the car is one big blind spot with a couple of letterbox size apertures when under way. The car is fitted with a constant rear view camera though which helps a great deal.
It’s amazing how quickly you adjust though and while you never forget your driving such a weird car, you can use it for shopping and trips out without difficulty.
I’ve met another forum member who kindly showed me his LP400 that he’d owned for many years and comparing the 2 was very interesting.
I’d say the replica is visually arresting, handles OK but can’t recreate any of the soul of the originals that I’ve seen, which is what you would expect.
However I also learned I couldn’t drive the LP400 due to my slightly above average height whereas the replica has a dropped floor so I fit ok. Nor have I any chance outside a lottery win or getting the original anyway!
I’ve followed a few of the replica threads and can see both sides of the argument about replicas, except any that suggest the replica market is taking potential original customers. The only convergence I’ve ever seen was at a friends who makes the mirage now and fixes some of the fibreglass on the originals for a few customers. The markets are completely different compared to a decade ago before the boom when some replicas were trading for higher than some original specimens. Wish I’d been a buyer back then! Modern replicas of current cars I don’t have a view on as they don’t appeal to me personally.
I’ve wanted a countach since I was about 9 watching cannonball run, so while this doesn’t tick that box, it’s a step up from the poster I used to have on the wall growing up!
My opinion is that you can’t take the car too seriously and it seems to bring a smile to a few faces when out and about but it’s not to be confused with the pedigree of the originals, nor could it be if you are lucky enough to be able to compare of course. It’s great to take out for a blast on a nice summers day but would be tiresome as a commuter car if you had no other form of transport. You also need to be able to ‘tinker’ as each vehicle is effectively a prototype of varying quality.
I can’t see evo being in any rush to get me on staff with that review but hope it gives a little detail on owning / running such a car. Insurance for me btw is around £100 per year.
I’d given up looking after a good few years when this car came up within 2 miles of where I live.
The previous owner bought the car for his son’s wedding and then realised it needed a full rebuild. So over a year he stripped the car and based the electrics on a VW golf, repainted and reupholstered the car as a full time job, which came through in the quality of the car when I viewed it.
Handling is good but probably bears no relation to the real thing as this has a lighter, less powerful engine and different COG. I’ve developed the cooling system and set up a few other elements such as the carb to make the car more user friendly but I’d suggest it’s closer to a big Caterham with a body than the V12 GT bruiser it’s actually based on.
It receives a lot of attention when on the road and at petrol stations as you might expect.
We have to visit a lot of petrol stations.....
I’m always happy if someone asks to sit in the car and always let them know it’s a replica if they’ve not already clocked that (not everyone immediately does but there are some large differences with a mirage mk1 and the original, lesser evident with later models).
It’s attended a few charity fetes as part of a small classic car line up for local hospices etc and is a favourite with kids for having their photos at the wheel.
I’ve done a few thousand miles around the UK in it but as usual, don’t really get the time i’d like due to a couple of small kids myself, although baby seat fits well and I sometimes take the youngest to nursery in it.
Visibility is an issue when you first drive it as the car is one big blind spot with a couple of letterbox size apertures when under way. The car is fitted with a constant rear view camera though which helps a great deal.
It’s amazing how quickly you adjust though and while you never forget your driving such a weird car, you can use it for shopping and trips out without difficulty.
I’ve met another forum member who kindly showed me his LP400 that he’d owned for many years and comparing the 2 was very interesting.
I’d say the replica is visually arresting, handles OK but can’t recreate any of the soul of the originals that I’ve seen, which is what you would expect.
However I also learned I couldn’t drive the LP400 due to my slightly above average height whereas the replica has a dropped floor so I fit ok. Nor have I any chance outside a lottery win or getting the original anyway!
I’ve followed a few of the replica threads and can see both sides of the argument about replicas, except any that suggest the replica market is taking potential original customers. The only convergence I’ve ever seen was at a friends who makes the mirage now and fixes some of the fibreglass on the originals for a few customers. The markets are completely different compared to a decade ago before the boom when some replicas were trading for higher than some original specimens. Wish I’d been a buyer back then! Modern replicas of current cars I don’t have a view on as they don’t appeal to me personally.
I’ve wanted a countach since I was about 9 watching cannonball run, so while this doesn’t tick that box, it’s a step up from the poster I used to have on the wall growing up!
My opinion is that you can’t take the car too seriously and it seems to bring a smile to a few faces when out and about but it’s not to be confused with the pedigree of the originals, nor could it be if you are lucky enough to be able to compare of course. It’s great to take out for a blast on a nice summers day but would be tiresome as a commuter car if you had no other form of transport. You also need to be able to ‘tinker’ as each vehicle is effectively a prototype of varying quality.
I can’t see evo being in any rush to get me on staff with that review but hope it gives a little detail on owning / running such a car. Insurance for me btw is around £100 per year.
Johnny5hoods said:
Nice looking car. Looks like a good job. I remember them appearing in the kit car press a lot, back in the day. ISTR the magazines saying they were challenging to build and quite a high budget for a kit car. I always wondered how they actually drove compared to the real thing. How does yours drive? Is it chuckable round bends, or intimidating?
I had all those magazines!!The only thing stopping me buying and building one was the small matter of being a broke 12 year old, so with the mirage it was a ‘one day’ type of thing. I should have studied harder and aimed for an original!
The kits were all a challenge, sienna, mirage, lamberti etc all built kits to varying quality, those had the best reputation I gather. All would provide finished vehicles and all were realistic that a huge amount of time and money was needed to complete. Originals dropped to around £30K, Sienna were looking at £40K, hindsight is an amazing thing!!
The issue lay in turning a body and space frame into a working vehicle that was useable. Issues with hanging doors and getting the handling right killed a lot of the dreams on those buying a body / chassis package for £5K back in the day.
Prova had a great reputation and Dave Harrison of DC Supercars still produces IVA versions of the latest Mirage with a BMW V12 which are closer to the Q.V. than any other replica I’d say.
But eBay throws out a lot of unfinished kits that pass from owner to owner on the wrong V5 that would be easier to just start from scratch than trying to unpick decades of tinkering.
I’ve had a few different types of cars and can manage basic tasks but wouldn’t want to take on a countach kit build. Having one and being able to pull the panels to see how the doors have been correctly fitted is one thing but being the poor sod that had to spend weeks fettling the mechanism and fibreglass for the final finish does not appeal. Given infinite time, money and facilities, an LP400 replica from scratch would be a dream but knowing the chaps that build these and the time invested it’s a non starter for me.
In terms of handling, the one I have is much daintier than I expected. It’s similar to an Esprit S2 I owned in terms of adhesion and understeer. The car naturally understeers then will go into rapid oversteer if the conditions are not right. Like the S2, it doesn’t have lots of headroom in terms of power to start balancing the car on the throttle at that stage so best avoid such circumstances. I used to have an Esprit SE that did have the power to compensate for oversteer if that gives any reference. The mirage also shares the same gearbox and gearchange mechanism as the SE which once set up is really fluid.
It also must have been a huge car at launch but is quite average by today’s standards, maybe no more than the size of a modern focus.
People do have a tendency to pull out on you while staring right at you, but that’s the whole point of the design I expect. No ABS so pump the brakes and hope for the best, lock up easy to induce.
Photos never do this car justice, I tried to even replicate the best images on the net while taking these replica photos! In the flesh it’s a lovely stab at the car it looks to emulate which is not perfect in itself but has passed into ‘icon’ class many years ago.
It was quite fun in the snow a few weeks ago, you can always find a quiet car park near here and work out where the limits are at a fraction of normal road speed. To break adhesion of the tyres under normal circumstances would be beyond what I think I could recover based on my snow recce. The same design now passes IVA but I wouldn’t want to test the integrity of the structure myself if at all possible in an accident although I’ve seen some bumped mirages and they do stand up well.
stuartmmcfc said:
Nice write up and good attitude from you OP.
As you said, nothing can recreate the experience of the real thing but for us mere mortals it’s not a bad attempt .
Thanks for that, one thing really stood out on the LP400 was the smell of the interior, 70’s leather and engineering, impossible to recreate!As you said, nothing can recreate the experience of the real thing but for us mere mortals it’s not a bad attempt .
Really good to know about your car, OP. I think, more than any other kit car, I've always wondered what Countach replicas were really like. Back in the 80s and 90s, they were probably the most talked about and yet least known about kit cars. It's great to get some insight into your experiences.
Schnozz your welcome to see the car, I’m based outside Leeds. PM me and we’ll see about a meet up.
If your keen to buy, Countach replicas generally tend to trade by word of mouth. It sounds grander than it actually is but the pool of cars is so small, we generally know when a car is going to be sold ahead of time. Also look at Lambo replica UK forum although it’s quiet these days and I can pass you the details of Dave who is effectively the UK guru.
It was ABS that produced the open Countach, I know of 2 that got made but believe one may have ended up in Germany.
If your keen to buy, Countach replicas generally tend to trade by word of mouth. It sounds grander than it actually is but the pool of cars is so small, we generally know when a car is going to be sold ahead of time. Also look at Lambo replica UK forum although it’s quiet these days and I can pass you the details of Dave who is effectively the UK guru.
It was ABS that produced the open Countach, I know of 2 that got made but believe one may have ended up in Germany.
Regarding the above forum, it’s very quiet on there as it dropped out for a few months late last year. It’s run as a labour of love by one of the ex-Diablo guys and is very useful for information. Facebook seems to be taking over as with all things but there’s usually an American angle to the replica pages which don’t cover the specifics of UK registration / insurance etc.
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