When considering all the cars of a particular model year that should be short-listed to become collectible, you simply can't disregard the exotics. After all, any exotic car should be a shoo-in for collectible status, right? In that case, let's turn to what is perhaps the most exotic of the 1986 exotics: the 1986 Lamborghini Countach 5000QV.

The Countach, as futuristic as it looked, in fact dates back to the LP500 prototype first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971. Three years later, it went into production as the LP400, keeping the same general rear-mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, though substituting a 4.0L V-12 for the prototype's 5.0L V-12. The version of the Countach that any child of the '80s knows all too well from bedroom posters, the LP400S with its steamroller tires, flares, spoilers and wing, came along in 1978. The LP500S brought the 5.0L V-12 back to the Countach in 1982, then four years later Lamborghini punched the 325hp 5.0L out to 5.2 liters, added four-valve-per-cylinder heads, swapped the six Weber carburetors out for Bosch electronic fuel injection and created the 420hp Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole, QV for short. It was the 5000QV that would become the face of Lamborghini from 1986 through the end of Countach production in 1990 as well as become the basis for the 25th Anniversary Edition a few years later.

Nobody can argue that the 5000QV was one of the most stunning cars of its era, but few can argue that it was in the least bit practical. It overheated, visibility was nil, repairs and maintenance cost more than a new family sedan, and the scissor doors didn't cooperate with low overhead obstructions.

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