The Bull in the Basement...

[LUKE_L]

http://www.kiengineering.com/The_Bull.php

@The Bull

What kind of car does a man buy who has a love affair with the Lamborghini Countach from years ago watching the movie The Cannonball Run and raised during Ford’s dominance ofLe Mens with the Ford GT40? The answer is, he builds a Countach from scratch out of aluminum with a steel tubular space frame. He powers it with a bored and stroked 351 Ford Cleveland, topped with 48IDA Webers running the burned racing fuel at 12/1 through stainless steel 180 deg. headers referred to as the Ford GT40 ?Bundle of snakes?. The 515hp mid-engine power is being transferred through a ZF transaxle 5 speed. Yes, it’s eclectic, old school and 100% built by hand.

[91MR2]

Woah.

[LUKE_L]

I realize it is a bit of an outdated story…but still cool.

It made number 3 on jalopnik best stories of 2008.

Hand-Made Lamborghini Built In Basement Finally Sees Light Of Day

@jalopnik

Hand-Made Lamborghini Built In Basement Finally Sees Light Of Day - Seventeen years ago, Ken Imhoff watched Cannonball Run and became so enamored with the Lamborghini Countach in the film, he hand-built his own, in his basement. In what we imagine might be the most Jalopnik build ever undertaken, Ken designed and fabricated his own tig-welded frame, installed a thoroughly massaged 351 cubic inch V8 with a ZF-25 5-speed transmission, hand-formed the aluminum body over a meticulously measured and accurate body form, and finished it all off in a beautiful metallic gray. It took Ken 10 years to complete the project, and the results — as you can see both in the gallery and in the video below the jump — are amazing. There’s only one problem, when you build a car in a basement — how do you get it out?

Ken went into the project fully aware of the problem of a getting the car out of his basement — it was your classic ship-in-a-bottle project problem. When the faux Lambo was complete, he actually hired a contractor to knock out a part of the basement wall, build an earthen ramp, and then drag the car out of its subterranean workshop.

Firing It Up In The Basement, You Gotta Love It
Mr. Imhoff, our hats are off to you sir. You are an inspiration to us all, we want to be like you when we grow up. Considering the quality of the work here, we’re fairly confident your car is actually better than factory, more reliable, better handling and faster, and you have the satisfaction of having built it yourself. Congratulations sir, you are a grease monkey superhero.

A little history on the car
100% hand crafted Countach out of aluminum and a space tube frame. All aluminum body formed on a wooden buck using an English wheel. My own design space frame with Corvette hubs and custom A-arms. Mated to a ZF-25 5 speed. S.S. 180 degree headers GT40 design “bundle of snakes” Boss 351 bored stroked to 377 515hp 48 IDA Webbers. One off TransAm BBS rim shells to my own center section wheels. Custom brake package to fit 16" wheels. Fuel cell, twin aluminum sprint car (Howe) radiators. All aluminum interior with leather dash, Momo seats and 5 point harness, on board halon fire bottle. quick release steering wheel. Low to the ground at 2700 lbs. 100% body correct by using a real Countach to measure from. Over 10 years in the making.

Lastly, a pretty good interview with the owner, Ken Imhoff: EXCLUSIVE: "I Am The Guy With A Lamborghini In The Basement"

Enjoy!

[Anonymity]

I am sure it was on here, let me check,

o, and btw, sry I didnt return your call joe, I am out of town right now.

[JayS]

Can’t imagine tackling a project of that scale. Especially where one of the steps is “excavate and remove foundation wall of house to get project out”.

[PureXTC]

Fact of the day.

Henry Ford had to knock a wall out to get the worlds first automobile out of his shop.

[LUKE_L]

@Anonymity

I am sure it was on here, let me check…

I searched…didn’t see it.

EDIT: found it…

[SnowboardinWNY]

awesome story

[POOPRA]

Pretty amazing, I do remember reading this but its great to see again

[LUKE_L]

See, I forgot to think like a Flanders when searching: “I’m a big four eyed lame-o and I wear the same stupid sweater…”

http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?59402-Hand-Made-Lamborghini-Built-In-Basement&highlight=pure+crazy+lambo

Another fact for the day…a thread 3 years old that cronicles a hand made “Contach” in a basement has < 350 views while a bullying thread that has absolutely nothing about cars in it, although tragic, has > 1,500 views in 3 days. Fuck.

[DetailWNY]

I remember seeing this the first time and just thinking of how everyone in the house must’ve been delirious from the paint fumes…

but the color came out looking amazing, and man what a motivation this guy had…

[LUKE_L]

He primed everything in his basement. The paint was done professionally, at a shop, piece by piece, and then re-assembled.

[JayS]

@LUKE_L

Another fact for the day…a thread 3 years old that cronicles a hand made “Contach” in a basement has < 350 views while a bullying thread that has absolutely nothing about cars in it, although tragic, has > 1,500 views in 3 days. Fuck.

We only pretend to be about cars.

[LUKE_L]

LOL.

[Jim1234664]

@PureXTC

Fact of the day.

Henry Ford had to knock a wall out to get the worlds first automobile out of his shop.

I thought mecedes was making automobiles in the 1870s?

[King]

@PureXTC

Fact of the day.

Henry Ford had to knock a wall out to get the worlds first automobile out of his shop.

Other fact of day .
Henry Ford did not make the world’s first automobile.

---------- Post added at 04:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------

@Jim1234664

I thought mecedes was making automobiles in the 1870s?

On March 8, 1886, Daimler took a stagecoach and adapted it to hold his engine, thereby designing the world’s first four-wheeled automobile.

[MPD47]

@PureXTC

Fact of the day.

Henry Ford had to knock a wall out to get the worlds first automobile out of his shop.

That’s odd considering the world’s first automobile was constructed in France by someone not named Ford.

Unless you want to go gas powered, then we would say Germany.

[PureXTC]

Model T?

[TrueBlue]

@LUKE_L

Another fact for the day…a thread 3 years old that cronicles a hand made “Contach” in a basement has < 350 views while a bullying thread that has absolutely nothing about cars in it, although tragic, has > 1,500 views in 3 days. Fuck.

See sig. :shrug:

---------- Post added at 04:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:59 PM ----------

@PureXTC

Model T?

Nowhere near the first car.

[boardjnky4]

@LUKE_L

See, I forgot to think like a Flanders when searching: “I’m a big four eyed lame-o and I wear the same stupid sweater…”

http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?59402-Hand-Made-Lamborghini-Built-In-Basement&highlight=pure+crazy+lambo

Another fact for the day…a thread 3 years old that cronicles a hand made “Contach” in a basement has < 350 views while a bullying thread that has absolutely nothing about cars in it, although tragic, has > 1,500 views in 3 days. Fuck.

I read the OP.

It’s really cool, and I like the touch with the excavated basement removal. However, I don’t think there’s much to discuss here.

Thanks for sharing it though, great project and end result.