Here's Every V12 Car You Can Still Buy

There's thing rather for illustration nan high-revving, smooth-running capacity of a V12 engine, and for a batch of folks, there's nary replacing nan soundtrack, either. Unfortunately, their disbursal and complexity meant they were almost ever going to beryllium uncommon beasts, astir often reserved for nan precocious echelons of nan car world. (Although GM erstwhile built a V12 engine for heavy-duty trucks.)

The only caller vehicles disposable for waste coming pinch V12 engines are from nan likes of Ferrari (Purosange and, duh, nan 12Cilindri), Lamborghini (Revuelto), Aston Martin (Vanquish), Rolls-Royce (Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan), and Mercedes-Maybach (S 680 4Matic). And it's really been that measurement from nan beginning.

The first V12 utilized successful a mass-produced automobile came successful 1915, erstwhile a 424-cubic-inch mill was mounted successful nan Packard Twin Six, wherever it delivered 88 horsepower astatine conscionable 3,000 rpm. The point is, nan starting value for nan Twin Six was $2,600, and a premium exemplary for illustration nan Imperial Landaulet upped nan ante by $2,000 for a costs that translates to complete $150,000 today. Meanwhile, nan 70-horsepower Cadillac Type 51, introduced nan aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic nan Packard and known arsenic nan industry's first measurement car pinch a V8, opened astatine conscionable $1,975.

(If you're wondering astir Ferrari and Lamborghini, 2 brands celebrated for V12 machines, nan erstwhile utilized 1 connected its very first car, nan 1947 125 S. The second past hired 1 of nan former's maestro engineers, Giotto Bizzarini, to trade its ain caller V12 for nan 1964 350 GT.)

Aston Martin is simply a comparative latecomer to nan V12 scene, introducing nan DB7 V12 Vantage successful 1999 arsenic its first accumulation exemplary pinch that motor setup. The institution had experimented pinch a 4.5-liter V12 backmost successful 1954, trying it successful nan DP115 prototype title car, but nan conception seems to person been abandoned soon after. As for nan V12 Vanquish, it came pinch a 6.0-liter portion kicking retired 420 horses and 400 pound-feet of torque — and a astonishing backstory.

No, Aston Martin's V12 wasn't 2 Ford V6s glued together, but it does trace its conception backmost to nan Blue Oval. Remember, Ford owned Aston Martin for astir 20 years, from 1987 to 2007, and engineers from nan erstwhile made galore contributions to nan V12 motor for nan latter. (Ford and Lincoln did show V12 conception cars astir this time, but they ne'er made it into production.)

Clocking successful pinch nan existent Aston Martin lineup shows nan Vantage has been vanquished by, well, nan Vanquish. Rocking a twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V12 — nan present-day Vantage makes do a pinch a twin-turbo V8, albeit 1 pinch 670 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque — nan Vanquish raises nan output barroom to 824 horses and 738 pound-feet of twisting strength. At nan aforesaid time, it lowers its 0-60 sprint clip beneath 3.3 seconds. Keep nan pedal to nan metallic aft that, and you tin spot nan speedometer get each nan measurement up to 214 mph. You tin besides driblet nan apical successful nan beautiful 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante for a amended chance to perceive nan V12's unsocial roar.

The Ferrari 12Cilindri taps correct into nan automaker's agelong history of V12-powered GT cars, leveraging a 6.5-liter motor that delivers astir 820 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. Plus, it takes afloat advantage of nan high-revving quality of V12s for a sky-high redline of 9,500 rpm. 

Think of it this way: If you comparison V12 and V8 engines pinch nan aforesaid magnitude of displacement, those cubic inches are divided among 12 cylinders successful nan erstwhile and among 8 successful nan latter. As a result, each individual piston tin beryllium smaller successful nan V12 than successful nan V8 and trust connected smaller, lighter pistons (and associated components). Then, pinch nan motor moving little piston weight, it tin rev those pistons faster. In fact, highest ponies for nan 12Cilindri get astatine 9,250 rpm while maximum torque is disposable astatine 7,250 rpm. It's capable for nan 12Cilindri to scope 60 mph successful less than 2.9 seconds connected its measurement to a maximum velocity northbound of 211 mph.

Of course, nan car is hardly perfect. Ferrari had to recall 80 12Cilindris for illegally acheronian model tint. Which was astatine slightest a amended callback result than for nan automaker's different existent V12 ride, nan Purosangue SUV. Ferrari had to callback 541 of them for imaginable nonaccomplishment of braking ability.

That could beryllium particularly worrying if you're trying to slow your Purosangue from its apical velocity of astir 193 mph, aliases aft a brisk 0-60 tally of little than 3.3 seconds. True, those numbers are down somewhat from nan 12Cilindri, but retrieve nan SUV weighs much and has a somewhat older type of nan 6.5-liter V12. The mill for nan 12Cylindri has been updated pinch caller exhaust, oil-pump, and fuel-injection systems.

Ferrari's arch-nemesis likewise built connected contented erstwhile it introduced nan Lamborghini Revuelto pinch V12 motivation. Lamborghini, however, gave a motion to modern powerfulness trains by adding a plug-in hybrid strategy into nan mix. You won't get very acold utilizing energy alone, since nan car has an EV driving scope of a specified 5 miles. Nor does hybridization thief overmuch erstwhile nan juice runs out, arsenic nan Revuelto has a fuel-economy statement of 12 mpg combined/10 mpg city/17 mpg road astatine that stage. Not that galore of its drivers will astir apt care.

Folks emotion nan request for velocity tin look guardant to 1,001 horsepower from a operation of nan Revuelto's 6.5-liter V12, its 3.8-kWh artillery pack, and 3 electrical motors — each of nan beforehand wheels gets one, while a 3rd has been built into nan eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Launch this raging bull and you're rewarded pinch a max velocity of astir 217.5 mph. Acceleration-wise, nan Revuelto rockets to 60 mph from a dormant extremity successful nether 2.5 seconds.

Lamborghini lovers should besides beryllium connected nan lookout for nan automaker's "few-off" constricted editions. These typically blend very constricted accumulation pinch unsocial details, pinch models released according to nan brand's backstage schedule. One of nan astir caller was nan Lamborghini Fenomeno, a super-exclusive monster backed by a tuned-up type of nan Revuelto powerfulness train pushed to 1,065 horsepower. All sold retired almost immediately, but you ne'er cognize erstwhile nan adjacent limited-edition Lambo will drop.

Back earlier nan Italians exchanged rings pinch their V12s, Wilhelm Maybach was doing nan aforesaid successful Germany: He rolled retired that country's first V-12 series-production car successful 1929, his aptly named Maybach Type 12. Maybach besides earned patents for a belt-drive system, a jet-style carburetor, and a modern honeycomb-type radiator, and he designed nan engines for galore of Germany's zeppelins. Nowadays, though, he whitethorn beryllium champion remembered for his activity pinch Mercedes-Benz, which nan institution honored by naming its ultra-luxe sub-brand — Mercedes-Maybach — aft him.

All that comes together successful nan Mercedes-Maybach S 680 4Matic sedan, powered by a twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V12 that gets nan handcrafted curen from Mercedes' engineers. Thanks to those efforts, this mighty centrifugal tin move retired 621 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, allowing folks to aviator nan 5,200-pound ace sedan from 0 to 60 mph successful 4.3 seconds. Moreover, while it whitethorn not outrun nan V12 entries from Ferrari and Lamborghini, nan Mercedes-Maybach tin out-comfort them. A compartment offering a simulated hot-stone massage, aromatherapy, 31-speaker Burmester audio, Manufaktur leather, existent wood accents, and a afloat scope of bespoke options are each portion of nan picture.

You should further support successful mind that, for 2027, nan Mercedes-Maybach S-Class sticks pinch nan V12 and looks moreover flashier. The already imposing exterior, for example, is enhanced by an moreover bigger grille and agleam touches including rose-gold headlight accents and disposable gold-accented 21-inch wheels. Mercedes' V12s will past longer than that, too, arsenic nan institution has vowed to support nan motor live into nan 2030s — if not longer.

The communicative of Rolls-Royce's 12-cylinder engines goes backmost yet farther, to 1915, though nan first exertion was successful an airplane, not a car. More specifically, it was a monolithic mill designed for British subject planes and boasted much than 20 liters of displacement and much than 200 horsepower connected tap. After World War I — and a fewer decades of motor improvement — Rolls-Royce premiered its first V12-powered car, nan 1936 Phantom III that leveraged 7.3 liters of displacement for 165 horses.

Rolls had its stock of occurrence pinch cars driven by its legendary, long-running 6.75-liter V8 — sometimes shared pinch Bentley during nan engine's 60-plus years successful production. But erstwhile BMW acquired nan Rolls-Royce sanction successful 1998, Rolls shifted to V12 motivation — though pinch nan V8's accepted 6.75 liters of displacement.

Fast guardant to 2026, and 3 Rolls-Royce models transportation connected that contented pinch modern 6.75-liter twin-turbo V12s: nan Phantom sedan, Ghost sedan, and Cullinan SUV, each of which tin return advantage of 563 horsepower and much than 600 pound-feet of torque. Only nan all-electric Spectre lacks a V12 — for now. There was really a clip erstwhile nan institution planned connected giving up connected state engines entirely, but Rolls-Royce has walked backmost its all-electric plan astatine this point.

Here's wherever we'd usually walk immoderate clip telling you astir each nan awesome non-engine contented successful these vehicles, but we don't really person space. After all, arsenic Rolls-Royce's astir jaw-dropping bespoke cars will show you, conscionable astir everything tin beryllium optional for its customers.