End Of The Lamborghini’s V12 Engine Saga
For Lamborghini, 2022 is the year of the V12, its 12-cylinder engine that has powered iconic models for almost 60 years of history and became a symbol of technological innovation, vision, and engineering expertise: the foundations of Lamborghini’s DNA.
Before entering the hybridization phase in 2023 with the advent of the first series-production model, Lamborghini is paying tribute to its most memorable engine in a retrospective account of the cars that have featured it.
To design the engine, Ferruccio Lamborghini chose an external consultant, the engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, born in Quercianella (province of Livorno) in 1926. Bizzarrini was a huge fan of racing and dreamed of building an engine for Formula One.
As an incentive for Bizzarrini, Lamborghini included in the contract a bonus for every additional 10 horsepower. When the engine ran on the test bench for the first time in July 1963, the readings were spectacular, with 360 HP at 9000rpm. Ferruccio Lamborghini paid what he owed, including the bonus for the extra horsepower, but he realized he was in trouble.
In fact, Bizzarrini had designed a Formula One engine that was unsuitable for road use and mass production.
It was then Paolo Stanzani, one of the engineers of Lamborghini, who was entrusted with the job of civilizing this engine. His work, though capable of maintaining the engine’s exceptional performance and making it pleasantly drivable even at medium and low revs, did not alter the basic technical specs, which in many points would become a first for a series-produced car.
Its maximum power output of 280 HP at 6500 rpm was enough to propel the 350 GT, the first production Lamborghini model debuting in 1964, to a top speed of over 250 km/h.
The first 350 GT was delivered to Livorno-native drummer Giampiero Giusti, who was at the height of his success with the band I 5 di Lucca, which later became the Quartetto di Lucca. This marked the beginning of a close relationship between Lamborghini and the entertainment world in which many actors and musical performers became passionate customers of the company.
The same car, now the oldest production Lamborghini in existence, perfectly restored and certified by Polo Storico, won Best in Show at the Lamborghini & Design competition held in Trieste and organized in 2019 by Lamborghini Polo Storico.
From its debut in 1964, the Lamborghini V12 became a benchmark for its torque, elasticity, reliability and durability. The same unit, with only minimal modifications, would remain in production until the 1990s, growing to 7 litre of displacement with power over 500 HP before subsequently receiving more substantial structural modifications.
