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V12 - V12 road cars

V12 - V12 road cars: Encyclopedia II - V12 - V12 road cars

In automobiles, V12 engines have never been common, because of their complexity and thus cost. Their use has been thus confined to costly luxury and sports cars, in which they give superlative performance and smoothness characteristics. Prior to World War II, twelve-cylinder engines were found in many luxury models, including cars from Cadillac, Packard, Lincoln, Franklin, Rolls-Royce, and Hispano-Suiza. Packard's 1912 "Double Six" is widely regarde ...

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V12, V12 - Aviation, V12 - V12 road cars, V12 - Heavy trucks, V12 - Auto racing, V12 - Large diesel engines

V12, V12 - Auto racing, V12 - Aviation, V12 - Heavy trucks, V12 - Large diesel engines, V12 - V12 road cars

V12: Encyclopedia II - V12 - V12 road cars

V12 - V12 road cars

In automobiles, V12 engines have never been common, because of their complexity and thus cost. Their use has been thus confined to costly luxury and sports cars, in which they give superlative performance and smoothness characteristics.

Prior to World War II, twelve-cylinder engines were found in many luxury models, including cars from Cadillac, Packard, Lincoln, Franklin, Rolls-Royce, and Hispano-Suiza. Packard's 1912 "Double Six" is widely regarded as the first production V12 engine.

Postwar, the type lost favor in the United States, where the V8 became ubiquitous. Italian sports cars from such makers as Lamborghini and Ferrari used the V12 almost exclusively on their highest-performance vehicles, while Jaguar developed a V12 that was put into production in 1971 and lasted until 1997. Ferrari's newest V12 (used in the 456) is an odd 65° unit based on the Ferrari Dino V6, while the company's flat 12 engine is really a 180° V12.

In the early 1990s, the German manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW both introduced V12 designs. The BMW-designed V12 also appears in Rolls-Royce cars, while the Mercedes engine is also seen in Maybach cars. Aston Martin introduced a V12 model in 2001, while Cadillac is re-introducing the V12 after 60 years with a V12 version of their Cadillac Northstar engine range. This engine is to be available initially only in the Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV.

Toyota equipped their Century Limousine with their own 5.0 L DOHC V12 engine, designated the 1GZ-FE.

TVR made and tested a 7.7 L V12 called the Speed Twelve, reportedly making 1000+ BHP naturally aspirated, but the project was scrapped after the car it was designed for was deemed too powerful for practical use.

A List of Postwar V12 Production Road Cars (Alphabetical by make, sub-sorted by year of introduction):

Sport-utilities:

Lamborghini LM002 SUV

Other related archives

1912, 1965, 1971, 1980, 1990s, 1997, 2001, 456, 575M Superamerica, Alfa-Romeo, Allison V-1710, Aston Martin, Aston Martin DB AR1, Aston Martin DB7 Vantage, Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin Vanquish, BMW, BMW 750/760, BMW 850i/Ci/CSi, BRM, Bugatti EB110, Cadillac, Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac Northstar engine, Cosworth, Curtiss NC, Daimler, Daimler Double Six, Daimler-Benz, Ferrari, Ferrari 166, Ferrari 195, Ferrari 212, Ferrari 250, Ferrari 275, Ferrari 330, Ferrari 340/342, Ferrari 365 GT 2+2, Ferrari 365 GTB/4 & 365 GTS/4 (Daytona), Ferrari 375/375 America, Ferrari 400 Superamerica, Ferrari 400i/412i, Ferrari 410 Superamerica, Ferrari 456, Ferrari 500 Superfast, Ferrari 550, Ferrari 575M Maranello, Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Ferrari Dino, Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, Ferrari F50, Flat-12, Flying boats, Ford, Formula One, Franklin, GMC, Hispano-Suiza, Honda, Jaguar, Jaguar E-Type, Jaguar XJ-S, Jaguar XJ12, Jaguar XJR15, Lamborghini, Lamborghini 350GT, Lamborghini Countach, Lamborghini Diablo, Lamborghini Espada, Lamborghini Islero, Lamborghini Jarama, Lamborghini LM002 SUV, Lamborghini Miura, Lamborghini Murcielago, Lincoln, Lincoln Continental, Lincoln Zephyr, Lister Storm, Maserati, Maserati MC12, Matra, Maybach, Maybach 57 and 62, McLaren F1, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz CL600/CL65 AMG, Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, Mercedes-Benz S600/S65 AMG, Mercedes-Benz SL600/SL65 AMG, Merlin, NC-4, Packard, Pagani Zonda, Peugeot 907 (concept only), Renault, Rolls-Royce, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, SUV, Speed Twelve, Sunbeam, TVR, Tatra, Tatra T815, Tecno, Toyota, Toyota Century, V, V10, V12, V6, V8, Weslake, World War I, World War II, Zeppelins, automobiles, balance shafts, bombers, configuration, cylinders, diesel, diesel engines, diesel locomotives, endurance racing, engine displacement, exhaust manifolds, fighters, flywheel, gasoline, horsepower, internal combustion engine, jet engine, liberty engine, power, straight-6, the first, tonnes, torque, transatlantic, trucks, turbo

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "V12 road cars", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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