Back when Kyosho released the Countach LP500 S model initially I went for the classic red over black version, a very nice combination, but then I located a white over white model a bit later ... now this is THE model to get, it just looks amazing with it's white interior, and actually white on white was a very popular choice in the early Eighties on real Lamborghini Countach cars.
These days the early LP500 S models from Kyosho are getting very expensive considering they were sold for about 40 Euro back in the days, I have seen the white on white Kyosho being offered for 250 Euro and more ... I don't know if they are actually sold for this amount, but you must admit this is a steep price for such a model.
And now Kyosho came to the rescue, they are offering a re-release on this model, available in red and in yellow, both with a black interior ... now I already own the red one, and wasn't really planning on getting the new yellow one, but when I saw it for sale at a local Italian car show I simply couldn't resist it ... yellow does look very good on the Countach, and after comparing details with the 'old' version getting the new one was actually a very good idea after all.
First the best news, this new version got rid of the slots in the roof, which is how it should be, the LP400 and some very early LP400 S models had these slots to extract warm air from within the cockpit, but on the LP500 S these were definitely no longer mounted by the factory, so the old release from Kyosho made quite an important error here ... this fact alone warrants getting the new release.
There are two other changes, most likely seen by other people is the fact the spare wheel now has straps and a cover over it, the straps are correct compared to the real car, the cover is actually a tool kit if I'm not mistaking, so that's a nice touch too. The last difference I could see between 'old' and 'new' were the turn signals in front of of the headlights, Kyosho turned the orange around on them, on this yellow model the orange lens is on the outside of the pod, like it should be. On the older ones they had the orange on the inside, which was also done on Countach models for the Swiss market ... so it wasn't as much a mistake from Kyosho, but an oversight probably, and not an issue for me to be honest.
Do keep in mind yellow is a very difficult shade to apply correctly, especially on a car that combines metal and plastic parts like this Countach LP500 S scale model, but Kyosho managed to get is just about right, sure there is a small difference in shade between the parts, and the inside of the doors aren't perfectly covered with yellow paint, however overall the paint and finish is very good on this one.
If you are looking to add a Lamborghini Countach in 1/18 scale to your collection, these newly released Kyosho versions of the LP500 S are the best you can get for the money, sure they still have a few minor details that aren't perfect compared to the real car, but your only other option of getting a decent 1/18 scale model of this car comes from AutoArt ... and we all know prices for these classic AutoArt models are reaching ridiculous levels these days, so the new Kyosho is the one to get.
Overall rating | 10/10 |