Do the Lamborghini Countach LP500 and the Maserati Boomerang look too similar?

The Maserati Boomerang was presented as a design study by the brilliant Giorgetto Giugiaro and unveiled at the Turin show in 1971, although it was still only a concept without an engine. The Boomerang more than fulfilled its mission on the show circuit, being presented in Geneva, Paris, London and even Barcelona.

By 1972 the Boomerang had an engine, a 4.7-litre V8, and a design style that was admired by many and later copied by just as many others. And since we are talking about copies, don’t you think the Boomerang is very similar to the LP500 prototype of the Lamborghini Countach?

To my taste, and by way of comparison, the Boomerang is more accomplished than the Countach itself, although the Lamborghini had to be reshaped to suit the tastes and demands of the market, with rounder lines, fewer right angles and less glass surface. In the end, the Maserati Boomerang was only a concept. The two are very similar but have no relationship with each other. Or do they?

But if we look at the fact that the Boomerang was designed by Giugiaro and that the original Countach was designed by Marcello Gandini, both designers have something to do with each other. Gandini replaced Giugiaro for 14 years at Gruppo Bertone, because it is said that Giugiaro never wanted to work with Gandini.

Gandini enjoyed a close friendship with Nuccio Bertone, who had begun a period of fruitful collaboration with Lamborghini. Under Bertone’s inspiration and the badge of the bull, some of the most spectacular concepts of the 60s and part of the 70s were created.

Can we think that the Countach is in fact a direct descendant of the Maserati Boomerang and that Giugiaro’s design was commercially used by Lamborghini under Gandini’s signature? Possibly, but under certain conditions. I don’t believe Giugiaro would have let one of his creations go so easily into the hands of other designers or a brand like Lamborghini. Even though the Lambo LP500 bears Gandini’s signature, there must have been some kind of agreement between the designers.

Which of the two concepts do you like more? I’ll go with the Maserati, much lower, full of straight lines, the typical concept of its era that never got beyond the show halls.

Source | Retrofutur, Wikipedia

Photos | Ultimate Car Page, Car Styling