Even though the movie won't actually be coming out for a while, Kung Fury has already attracted quite a lot of attention (over 5 million views!) for a Kickstarter-funded Swedish film from a director that few people have heard of. But the sheer force of the film's '80s nostalgia is powerful, and instrumental in this is the Lamborghini Countach->ke387 shown in the music video for True Survivor, which has a tie-in with the movie. The song is performed by David Hasselhoff, perhaps looking even more '80s than when he did Knight Rider, if that's possible. The Countach was such an icon of the '80s that Kung Fury director David Sandberg has decided to tell us a bit about the car in the video.->ke278

The bad news first: this is actually a replica car, albeit a painstakingly accurate (in most respects) one. The car was built by two men, simply identified as Daniel and Fredrik, and it took them 10 years to complete. The frame was built to the same specifications as the original, and the body comes from Mirage, a replica kit-car company in the UK that has made some of the better replica bodies you'll ever see. This one is Mirage's specialty, the LP 5000 Quattrovalvole.

Continue reading to learn more about the Lamborghini Countach featured in David Hasselhoff's "True Survivor" video.

Why it matters

Plenty of movies->ke3897 use replicas when they want to thrash or crash something that's particularly rare or expensive, although these cars tend not to be any more detailed than is absolutely necessary in order to keep costs down. But that wasn't the goal of this replica, and a lot of attention has been given to the details of the car. Many of the parts are original Countach, such as the gauges, windows and windshield. The interior leather is calfskin, and done in a period-correct Lamborghini->ke44 color. The wheels are Campagnolo, and there are coilovers for the front suspension and dual coilovers for the rear.

The engine is where things start to differ more from the original, with a 5.7-liter Chevrolet->ke199 V-8 being used in place of the original Lambo V-12. Nevertheless, it produces 497 horsepower, which is 42 more than the original did in 1985, and it sends this power through an Audi->ke14 gearbox. The replica has a claimed top speed of 186mph, which is 3 mph faster than that of the original. These are encouragingly accurate numbers, even if the engine would produce the wrong sound.

David Hasselhoff himself has apparently said that he'd like to use the car for the Gumball 3000->ke4396 rally, although it isn't immediately clear just how serious he was. But whatever he decides, Daniel and Fredrik are ready to part ways with the car if the price is right, and to the right person, and move on to whatever project captures their imaginations next.

Lamborghini Countach

Read our full review here.