Credit: YouTube
by VHND Contributing Writer Jeff Goebel
Over the last four years, I have been chasing the story of not just Edward Van Halen’s famous Red Lamborghini Miura’s Restoration but also the location of his former 1985 Black Lamborghini Countach.
Edward’s love for fast cars was legendary and owned a vast collection of them. But what makes his Lamborghinis different call comes down to timing!
Van Halen’s rise to prominence mirrored Lamborghini’s rise in visibility in The United States, primarily due to the appearance of a Dual Winged Black Lamborghini Countach in The 1981 movie Cannonball Run.
At the same time, Van Halen was exploding into what many say was their prime year – “1981”. Meanwhile, the Countach wall poster adorned the walls of teens everywhere. The impact of these two images of automotive design and rock and roll fused into a time capsule called the 1980s! Every teenager in America wanted to be a “Rockstar” like Eddie Van Halen and own a Lamborghini Countach.
Edward Van Halen’s dream became reality when he married actress Valerie Bertinelli. She gifted him with his first Lamborghini. He would keep his famous Wide-body Lamborghini Miura SV up until 2019 when he sold it to Curated Motors in Miami, Florida. To this day it’s adorned with the custom License plate “APR 11” to commemorate their wedding date.
The car entered Van Halen Music History when Eddie backed it up to the doors of his 5150 Studios to record the exhaust sounds during the breakdown on “Panama”.
But for many, the least seen of Eddie’s Lamborghinis was his 1985 Black Countach. Only a few photos of this car with him exist.
My search for The Black Countach led me to John Temerian at Curated Motors in Miami. I knew John was not only an expert in all things Lamborghini Countach, but also in possession of the famous Eddie Van Halen Red Lamborghini Miura SV.
Curated TV, his YouTube Channel has highlighted the car’s restoration story in multiple videos over the past four years, recently unveiling its final restoration in collaboration with Lamborghini Motor Company.
In a Curated TV’s touching video, the car is shown and driven in restored, like new condition. The original “Apr 11” license plate is also shown.
I decided to drop in at Curated Showroom last year because, as much as I love the Miura and its amazing story and crazy restoration, I’m still wondering: What about his second Lamborghini, his Countach?
Hopefully, one day soon, we’ll see Eddie’s other classic car – The Lamborghini Countach – get the amazing royal restoration that Curated and Lamborghini accomplished together on his famous Miura SV!
Many things from the 1980s echo to this day. The musical genius of Edward Van Halen and the angular lines of The Lamborghini Countach are two!