The Lamborghni Countach: the last real "Lamborghini" Lamborghini. Starting with the Miura in 1966, Lamborghini developed a reputation for creating the craziest, balls-to-the-wall supercars capable of reaching immense speeds while also looking as if Satan made them. After the Miura exited the market, a new symbol of excess came thundering out of the Sant'Agata Bolognese factory: the Countach. The name translates into an exclamation of excitement in the local Piedmontese dialect; it's basically the Italian "OOOOOOOOOHH" or "AAAAAHHH." The designer behind it, Marcello Gandini of the Bertone design studio, was very inexperienced in the vein of sensible car design, but this also did not stand in his way of creating an outlandish jumble of vents, scoops and wings that would have left a bad mark on any other brand, but remember that Lamborghini was at the height of its lunacy at the time; you have to open the door and look out in order to back out safely because you can't see out of the rear window! The longitudinally-mounted, mid-engined V12 produced 420 horsepower in its US variant, which was connected to a 5-speed manual and massive rear wheels.

All of this sounds swell to almost everyone else, but I could never catch on.

Sure, I appreciated the lunacy behind it, but I never could truly appreciate the design in pictures. The first edition they made, the LP400, is the simplest-looking of the Countaches, and was the best looking in my opinion. Smooth, uninterrupted lines on the body, the classic wedge shape, scissor doors, massive rear tires; it had all it needed to be an elegant monster. It was in 1978 when the LP400S came out that the design took a turn for the worse (If you're confused by the codes I'm using to describe the Countaches, use this guide by Autozine.org). Vents, fender flares and the front lip look as if they were designed haphazardly, using whatever sticks and rocks they had lying around to cut holes in the aluminum body and use Play-Doh to add the aero bits. In the years after, it just gets worse and worse until 1990 when they discontinued the thing to make room for the somewhat-sensible-yet-still-bonkers Diablo.

Or so I thought.

This past Saturday was the day of the weekly Hawthorne Fire Department Car Show at the Rose Hill Shopping Center in Thornwood, NY. I got there at the very beginning when there were roughly six or seven cars. After being told I should move my 2013 Ford Focus because "the cars park in a line there," I saw it; the bright red Lamborghini Countach 5000QV. The first thing I noticed was the absolutely massive, nonfunctional rear wing, which brought my attention to the massive wheel flares and meaty tires.

And wouldn't you know it? I instantly changed my mind.

Until that moment, I had never seen a Countach in person before. My first thought was that it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be (which is the case with most supercars), but then I reflected on my previous dislike of the car and realized that I was looking at pictures for too long. The Countach looks gaudy and obnoxious in pictures, but in real life, it all just works; I felt like I was reverse catfished. After I went over to the car and took a few pictures, it quickly went from one of my least favorite Lamborghinis to one of my favorite cars ever. Madness was executed perfectly like only Lamborghini could, and the fact that it was bright red helped tremendously. If you ever get the chance to see one, or any ugly car for that matter, go check it out. You may be pleasantly surprised.