THE SHIFT Every Supercar has a Story. Live it with Us.
JEFF AJLUNI
Some cars are admired.
Very few shape the course of a life.
For Jeff, the Lamborghini Countach was never a casual fascination or a future ambition.
It was a presence, something that entered early, stayed quietly persistent, and demanded to be resolved on its own terms.
That story begins in a classroom.
1982 — THE FIRST IMPRINT
Jeff was thirteen years old when the Countach first imprinted itself on him, not through sound or motion, but through an image that refused to let go.
“It was 1982 and I was 13 years old. I was in my 7th grade science class sitting with my lab partner. He pulled a car magazine out of his backpack and showed me an advertisement in the magazine to order posters and featured prominently in the ad was a white Countach.”
What followed was not a phase. It was a slow, steady accumulation of attention. The Countach became something Jeff actively sought out, studied, and collected long before ownership was even conceivable.
“As the years went on I became more and more fixated on the Countach, collecting virtually anything I could on the car, such as posters, calendars, books, most of which I still own today.”
“I also spent much of my free time seeking them out, at car shows, visiting dealers when I would travel.”
Every rare sighting only reinforced what had already taken root.
“Occasionally I would see one in the wild, which was always an amazing experience.”
“The Countach was always my ultimate dream.”
GROWING UP AROUND DESIGN
Jeff didn’t grow up far from cars or design. He grew up immersed in it.
“I grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.”
“My neighbor was the lead designer for the Corvette at General Motors.”
“The GM Tech Center famously owned many top European exotics at the time. They claimed they were for research but I suspect they were more likely perks for their executives.”
At seventeen, proximity became access. And access turned obsession into lived experience.
“When I was 17, my neighbor brought a Countach Quattrovalvole, Euro carbureted, home for Memorial Day weekend and he let me spend much of that weekend with it, knowing how obsessed I was with the car.”
Jeff didn’t rush the moment. He absorbed it.
“I spent many hours just looking at it and sitting in it, and he even let me drive it.”
“This was incredibly impactful for me…”
THE SPEC IS SET
This was the point where the dream stopped being abstract.
It became precise.
“This was incredibly impactful for me because I was especially in love with the Euro Quattrovalvole with Rosso Siviglia and Champagne livery, which this was.”
“I knew that if I was ever to have one, that is precisely the variant and color combination I would want.”
From this moment on, everything Jeff would do, every car he would own, every decision he would later make, would be measured against this memory.
SUCCESS WITHOUT RESOLUTION
Years passed. Life moved forward. Jeff’s passion for cars evolved into ownership at the highest level.
“Truth be told, I was always more of a Ferrari man, and I owned a few of them.”
“I owned two multi platinum concours winning Ferraris at the Cavallino Classic.”
Modern success followed.
“I then ordered a new 2017 488 GTB.”
“Soon after, my Ferrari dealer offered me the opportunity to order a Pista, which I initially began the process.”
Yet something remained unresolved.
“Still, the desire for having a Countach never went away.”
Then came the moment of rupture, not because something failed, but because something refused to disappear.
“Just before finalizing the Pista order, I decided to cancel it and focus all my efforts on finding the right Countach.”
THE PROBLEM WITH REALITY
Jeff’s vision was clear. Reality was not.
“My vision for my dream car was what I remembered as a teenager.”
“I wanted a perfect, new 1985 Rosso Siviglia and Champagne carbureted Countach.”
“They were now 35 plus years old and very rare to find in the US.”
Time had not been kind to most survivors.
“The vast majority of Countachs hadn’t aged well, mostly because they were poorly cared for and heavily modified by a variety of previous owners.”
“It was discouraging.”
Jeff accepted what fidelity would require.
“I came to the conclusion that if I found the right car, I would almost certainly embark on a total and comprehensive restoration to make it just like new.”
ITALY, 2019
After a year and a half of searching, the break came quietly, from where it always should have come.
“After searching for about a year and a half, I received a tip from a friend in Italy that there was a Countach fitting my criteria owned by its original owner and his wife was looking to sell it.”
Knowing who to trust mattered.
“Knowing that Valentino Balboni lived in the region I contacted him through a mutual connection and asked him to investigate the car’s whereabouts on my behalf.”
“Fortunately he was familiar with the car and he went to meet the owner and inspected the car for me.”
What Valentino found confirmed everything Jeff hoped for.
“Though the car had sat unused in the owner’s underground garage for many years, it was never modified and had no structural damage.”
“The owner’s wife had also recently sent the car to Polo Storico to have the engine refurbished, so Valentino felt the motor was in good shape.”
“It had spent its entire life in Milano and had been serviced at the Lamborghini factory.”
Beyond the car itself, its story mattered.
“The story of the car and its only previous owner is fascinating. He was a very successful self made postwar builder and businessman in the Milano region.”
“He had become close with Ferruccio Lamborghini and was one of Lamborghini’s first legacy clients.”
THE ORDEAL
Restoration was never going to be passive.
“The process was exhausting and extremely challenging, much due to my obsessive personality and deep knowledge of the carbureted Countach Quattrovalvole.”
Jeff made his expectations clear.
“I wanted the car perfect. When finished, it must be the nicest Countach Quattrovalvole in the world.”
“The car must be absolutely pure, right down to the smallest details.”
“Everything on the car, right down to the wires and screws, is precisely as it left the factory in 1985.”
Some phases tested patience more than others.
“As far as the challenges, without question the biggest were finding certain parts, components, and restoring the interior.”
“This was an especially challenging and frustrating period of the restoration.”
PEBBLE BEACH
Four years of effort culminated before sunrise.
“Early morning in 2021, driving the car from the trailer parking area to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was thrilling.”
“Seeing it on the lawn at the most prestigious automotive event in the world was quite something and a proud moment.”
The result was historic.
“My car placed third in the class but was the very first ever Countach Quattrovalvole variant to ever win a trophy at Pebble Beach, and that can never change.”
“I’m very proud of that.”
LEGACY
Today, the Countach is not a finished chapter.
It is a responsibility.
“It’s the achievement of a dream that started when I was a boy.”
“It goes well beyond just a material object because I do believe it is part of my legacy.”
Jeff’s ambition extends beyond his own car.
“I would like the dedication to Countach originality and restorations reflect that of high-end vintage Ferraris.”
“If I can impact that trend in a positive way, I would love to.”
This is not ownership.
It is stewardship.
And it is how icons survive.
