The Italian language is very good – molto bene – at translating ordinary car names into lyrical poetry. ‘Four doors’ becomes ‘Quattroporte’. ‘Red head’ becomes ‘Testarossa’. This new Ferrari ultra-GT is called the 12 Cylinder. But Maranello would prefer you wrapped your lips around their way of talking… and called it the Dodici Cilindri.
It’s an on-the-nose celebration of Ferrari’s signature dish: a big V12. A mighty 6.5-litre orchestral instrument, mounted way behind the front axle under a gigantic clamshell ‘cofango’ bonnet designed to showcase the engine bay more dramatically than the
812 Superfast or F12.
It shuns turbochargers or any form of hybrid boost, but lighter titanium conrods and forged pistons mean it’s now even revvier. Power matches the wild
812 Competizione’s 820bhp. Maximum torque is 500lb ft at 7,250rpm, but more than three-quarters of that overtaking oomph is on tap from 2,500rpm. The redline’s a heady 9,500rpm – kiss the limiter a couple of times and you’ll find yourself doing 0-62mph in 2.9 seconds, 0-125mph in 7.8 seconds, on your way to over 217mph.
