Ferrari’s screaming V12 finale
Yahoo Autos argues the new Ferrari 12Cilindri could be a final bow for naturally aspirated V12s — it revs to a headline‑grabbing 9,500 rpm and is described as having race‑car urgency. For fans of analog engine character, that kind of redline and response makes the model feel like an emotional send‑off (autos.yahoo.com).
Ferrari just launched a new grand tourer with a 6.5-liter V12 that spins to 9,500 revolutions per minute, which is motorcycle territory in a street car weighing over 1,500 kilograms. Ferrari calls it the 12Cilindri, and the name is almost blunt: “12 cylinders.” (ferrari.com, ferrari.com) Most modern supercars make giant power with turbochargers, which are air pumps driven by exhaust gas. The 12Cilindri does not use turbochargers at all, so its throttle response comes straight from engine speed and airflow instead of waiting for boost to build. (ferrari.com, thedrive.com) That layout matters because Ferrari’s V12 road cars go back to 1947, when the company’s first car left Maranello with a naturally aspirated 12-cylinder engine. Ferrari introduced the 12Cilindri in Miami Beach on May 2, 2024, as the latest link in that chain. (ferrari.com) The raw numbers are old-school and extreme at the same time: 830 metric horsepower, 678 newton-meters of torque, and 80 percent of that torque available by 2,500 revolutions per minute. Ferrari says the engine’s specific output is 128 horsepower per liter, which is unusually high for a naturally aspirated road-car V12. (ferrari.com, ferrari.com, ferrari.com) Ferrari pairs that engine with an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox mounted at the rear, and the company quotes 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.9 seconds. Top speed is listed at over 340 kilometers per hour. (ferrari.com) The shape is doing history on purpose. Ferrari says the car was inspired by its front-engine grand tourers of the 1950s and 1960s, and the long nose and dark horizontal band across the front echo the 365 GTB/4 Daytona from 1968. (ferrari.com, gearpatrol.com) The reason people are treating this car like a farewell is regulation and electrification. European emissions rules have tightened for years, and Ferrari has already moved part of its lineup to hybrids like the SF90 Stradale and 296 GTB while preparing its first fully electric model. (gearpatrol.com, ferrari.com) Ferrari has not said the 12Cilindri is its last naturally aspirated V12, but the company is selling it like a monument to that engine format. Its own launch material calls the car “aimed at connoisseurs of the iconic V12 engine,” which is not how brands talk when they think dozens more are coming. (ferrari.com) That is why the 9,500-rpm redline gets so much attention. In an era when speed is increasingly delivered by batteries, turbo boost, and software smoothing everything out, Ferrari built a front-engine coupe whose main trick is still mechanical noise, rising revs, and your right foot. (thedrive.com, autos.yahoo.com)
