Lamborghini V12: an engine that made history

Lamborghini super sports cars have distinguished themselves ever since the first 350 GT model came onto the scene in 1963 owing to their beauty of design and power of the aspirated V12 engine that, back then just like today, is able to offer an enthralling and matchless driving sensation. 

Ferruccio Lamborghini set out to create the perfect sports car, and legend has it that the brand’s founder offered engineer and designer Giotto Bizzarrini a bonus for each additional power output that he could get with the new 3.5-liter V12 engine mounted 60° with a twin overhead, able to supply 320 CV on the 350 GT. This is how the Lamborghini tradition was born. 

The first model served as the basis for the additional V12 iterations with various perfections developed in the later models, like the 400 GT (1966), the Espada (1968), the Islero (1968) and the Jarama (1970), the latter evolving into the 365 CV Jarama S, perhaps the founder’s favorite.

The Miura, created in 1966 and that evolved into the SV in 1971, broke all the rules. The V12 was moved to the center rear part of the car, guaranteeing an improved weight distribution and reaching 370 CV of power, a 0-100 km acceleration in 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 285 km/h, and turning the standard production car model into the fastest in the world at the time it was launched. 

The unmistakable sound of the V12 is like a symphony for orchestra. Each of the 12 cylinders has to move in harmony with the others, like a series of 12 violins playing in crescendo, gear after gear, to best exalt the driver’s driving sensations.
 

With the Countach (1974), the engine was moved even further to the back, reproducing music even closer to the driver’s ears. The LM002 (1986) then had the honor of incorporating the Countach engine – now with a 5.2-liter displacement and 444 CV of power - into the heart of the very first SUV. 

However, research and innovation did not stop here. The Diablo (1990), with its 5.7-liter, 485 CV V12 engine, retained the same position as that of the Countach’s engine, but for the first time offered four-wheel drive together with 0-100 km/h acceleration of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 320 km/h.

The notorious Lamborghini V12 was still the favorite engine at the dawn of the new century with the Diablo and Murciélago, with an initial capacity of 6.2 liters that delivered 580 CV and 330 km/h in the Super Veloce LP 670-4 Version, capable of delivering 670 CV.

The latest chapter of the V12 began in 2011, with the launch of the Aventador and its extraordinary brand-new 6.5-liter V12. With 700 CV, acceleration from 0-100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 350 km/h, up until today no fewer than 4 engine versions include the SVJ’s engine, which delivers 770 CV and 720 NM of torque at 8,500 rpm. 
The Lamborghini V12 engine is an engineering work of art, able to provide unmatched power and performance, which turn into music for the driver’s ears.

Listen to its unmistakable sound that made history>