Bringing a childhood fantasy to life.
By any reasonable measure, Shelton clearly qualifies as bonified car guy. The spacious, two-car garage adjacent to his lovely, contemporary home contains the Countach along with a Triumph Thruxton R “Café Racer” motorcycle and a Yamaha 125 Zuma scooter with a surfboard rack to scoot to the beach. That leaves room for his practical car, a ’95 Porsche 911, the sought-after 993 version that was the company’s last air-cooled model.
Shelton graduated from UNF in 2000 and attended Officer Candidate School before serving tours during Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom where he specialized in armor and ballistics. After his Army discharge as Captain, Jacques worked for military suppliers Safariland and Rampart USA in business development. He now consults with businesses and government agencies for tactical requirements.
When Jacques decided to acquire his dream car, he unsurprisingly brought an officer’s discipline to the task. That focus was needed since Lamborghini produced no more that 120 Countach models a year for worldwide sales from late 1973 through 1990. To find a very nice one today is difficult and to find an authentic factory white model with a white interior and wheels, along with European bumpers just like the poster, is an extraordinary undertaking. But when a friend found just that in an Illinois collection, Jacques was smitten.
Just like thousands of other young boys, Jacques Shelton had a poster of a Lamborghini Countach on his bedroom wall while growing up in Fernandina Beach. Shelton still has the iconic poster, but unlike the overwhelming majority of youngsters growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s, he also has the real Countach. And this year, the third generation native of our Florida island won first place in the Supercar class at The Amelia Concours with his triple-white 1987 Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV, a mirror image of the poster car.
Of course that desire comes with a price. Remaining models of the legendary Countach in excellent condition have become rare enough that Lamborghini recently created a new, very limited version. The company announced that 112 Countach LPI 800-4 models would be produced for an eye-watering $2,640,000 base price. Undoubtedly, a triple-white color scheme was extra, but it didn’t matter since they quickly sold the very limited production. And although that’s not what Jacques was after, the new factory offering kept upward price pressure on legacy models.
The decision to write a big check for your dream car is not for the feint of heart, but Jacques decided that if not now, then when would he do such a thing. And he’s invested in a remarkably lovely Lamborghini, a USA model that traveled back to Europe from its original owner in Texas where it exchanged its frumpy black bumpers with Euro-spec just like the poster. Then traveled back to the Illinois collection where the mechanicals were properly tuned up and seats reupholstered, since white is tough to maintain over nearly four decades, even with just 6,000 miles of use. And along with admiration from people of all ages that Jacques encounters when he takes the car out, his Countach is recognized as Best in Class. That’s priceless.