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Drive like Mario Andretti: His '84 Lamborghini Countach is for sale

Mario Andretti is, arguably, the name most synonymous with “racing driver.” There are good reasons why: He has won the Indy 500 (1969) and the Daytona 500 (1967). HeÂ’s a four-time IndyCar champion and all-time IndyCar lap leader. He is also the last American to be Formula One world champion, in 1978 (Andretti emigrated from Italy to the United States when he was 15). The extraordinary length of his career is emphasized by the fact that he is the only racer to be named driver of the year in three different decades: 1967, 1978 and 1984. Perhaps it was in celebration of that third time that Andretti treated himself to a new Lamborghini, this Â’84 Countach S. Now someone else is gets the chance to own it. ItÂ’s for sale at Motorcar Gallery, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with an asking price of $499K. The livery of this Â’84 Countach 5000 S reflects AndrettiÂ’s Italian heritage in its classic red-over-tan color scheme, a contrast to the Bolivian-marching-powder white that was so emblematic of Â’80s Countachs. Subtle custom touches include pinstriping that integrates the Mario Andretti logo, and logos on the outside mirrors as well. The V12 engine pumps out 371 horsepower and is paired with a five-speed manual with a gated shifter. The selling dealer states that the car has been treated to an engine-out mechanical refurbishment, and the odometer shows just 17k miles. Despite the low miles, we imagine Andretti liked this car well enough — he ended up owning a string of Lamborghinis, reportedly including an Â’89 Countach, a Â’91 Diablo, a Murcielago and an Aventador S. The pairing of a fast driver and fast cars is a natural one, it seems. Featured Gallery Mario Andretti's Lamborghini Countach View 14 Photos Celebrities Lamborghini Crossover

Audi CEO says brand's EVs are almost as profitable as its other cars

After, oh, a hundred years or so of building vehicles primarily powered by internal combustion engines, automakers around the world have been and still are pumping billions of dollars into the development of electric vehicle technology. Everything from platforms and batteries to motors and the software to control it all requires untold hours of development, and that takes time and money. Fortunately, it's not going to take long for that massive investment to start paying off, at least according to Audi CEO Markus Duesmann, who told Reuters in an interview that "The point where we earn as much money with electric cars as with combustion engine cars is now, or ... next year, 2023. They are very even now, the prices." As a brand, Audi contributed more than a quarter of overall profit for the massive Volkswagen Group, which has such powerhouse brands as Volkswagen and Porsche among others. Under the Audi umbrella are Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati, and it seems those high-end branches aren't going anywhere, at least for now. "These brands ... are very valuable very profitable brands, where we can even expand the synergy level in the future," Duesmann said in the interview. "There are no plans whatsoever to get rid of them." Despite the overall profitability of the brand, the ongoing global chip crisis is causing headaches. "We had a very strong first half in 2021. We do expect a much weaker second half," said Duesmann, who added, "We really have trouble." In fact, so serious is the trouble that the brand is forced into "a day-to-day troubleshooting process" to limit the chip-shortage damage. The good news for the automaker is that Audi has been able to boost its profit margin from 8% prior to the pandemic in 2019 to 10.7% in the first half of 2021. The bad news is that various chip shortages aren't expected to get a whole lot better over the rest of the year. Related video:

Lamborghini finds and restores the Miura used in 'The Italian Job' movie

Today is a historic day for fans of the film "The Italian Job." Lamborghini just announced it has found and completely restored the original Lamborghini Miura P400 used in the film's opening scene. And no, this one was never ceremoniously dumped off the side of a mountain and into a ravine. That was a second, different Miura that Lamborghini provided Paramount Pictures with — it had already been crashed, so was considered a perfect donor car for the scene. Of course, even a crashed Miura is worth some serious cash these days. The orange Miura in question here is #3586, and is verified as the one driven by actor Rossano Brazzi (playing Roger Beckermann in the film) and stunt driver Enzo Moruzzi on the Great St Bernard Pass. We'll put the video right here for you, since those who haven't seen it need to, and those who have most certainly want to watch it again now. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Lamborghini's in-house restoration unit, Polo Storico, did all the work to certify and restore the Miura. It's been a long-time coming, too — this Miura has been off the map since the filming ended and Lamborghini sold the film car to someone in Italy. The car was found in The Kaiser Collection of Vaduz, which happens to be in Liechtenstein. Lamborghini is certain this is the right one after looking at the documentation, company archives and a full examination of the car itself. Testimonials from enthusiasts and former Lamborghini employees further solidified the belief that this was the movie car. The only difference you'll notice between this fully restored Miura and the movie scene is the color of the seats. Lamborghini swapped out the white seats for black ones, as they were worried the white seats wouldn't make it back to the factory in perfect condition. However, there was no time to swap the headrests (mounted to the dividing glass) for black ones to match the seats, which you'll notice in the movie scene. We know we'll have "On Days Like These" running through our heads for the rest of the day on account of this incredible find. Thankfully, Lamborghini provided a bunch of photos to look at the car post-restoration, so go check them all out above as you race to your VCRs to watch the film once more.