He spent 17 years creating this Lamborghini Countach replica seen in a film (with a Ford engine).

When Wisconsin engineer Ken Imhoff discovered the Lamborghini Black Countach from The Cannonball Run (1981), he knows this is "his" car. (A car which, by the way, celebrated its 45th birthday last year, and from which the illustration above is taken). But the Countach already cost more than his house, and the idea of buying one was quickly dismissed. Rather than give up, Imhoff decided to build it himself, at home, in his... basement. A challenge that would last 17 years.

A titanic, entirely hand-crafted project

• Chassis: tubular steel, inspired by the original car.
• Body: hand-formed aluminum panels;
• Original parts: taillights, windscreen and a few Lamborghini badges to keep the silhouette true to the 1982 Lamborghini Countach 5000 S.

Everything is made at the workbench, including the rims. To shape the hull, he creates a life-size wooden template. It's this "mold", seen in the YouTube video and often mistaken for the chassis structure, that enables him to beat each sheet with a sledgehammer to a perfect curve.

Instead of the Lamborghini V12, a Ford Cleveland "Boss" 351 V8 takes center stagecoupled to four Weber carburetors. The result: 514 hp at 6,800 rpm and muscle-car torque. Power is transferred to the rear wheels via a 5-speed ZF gearbox. Top speed was reached at 225 km/h.

And to add yet another difficulty, even though his Lamborghini was finished... it was still stuck in the cellar! So Imhoff tore down a whole section of wall, hired an excavator and the Countach out through a hole in the foundation.

How much did this dream cost?

• Total cost : ≈ 65,000 $ (€58,000)
• Price of a vintage Countach today between €500,000 and €1 million depending on condition
• Replica resale : 89 000 $ (78 000 €)

In the end, the operation yielded only a few thousand euros over 17 years, and above all, according to the engineer, the car had become a painful reminder of years spent in the workshop rather than with his family. So he let it go, drawing a line under that chapter...