You're Going To Have To Pry The Naturally Aspirated V12 Out Of Ferrari's Cold, Dead Hands

Photo: Ferrari

Ferrari recently revealed its latest V12-powered grand tourer and very much wants you to know that it has 12 cylinders. How do we know that? Well, Ferrari named it the 12Cilindri. You know, because a V12 has 12 cylinders. As silly as the name may be, though, we’re absolutely not complaining about any car that still offers a naturally aspirated V12 in 2024. And if Ferrari is to be believed, that glorious 6.5-liter V12 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Heck, it won’t even be turbocharged.

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Speaking with Autocar, Ferrari’s chief commercial officer Enrico Galliera explained that Ferrari’s engineers worked hard to ensure the 818-horsepower V12 would comply with the latest emissions laws in Europe. As a result, it was able to avoid having to turbocharge the engine. “It is possible to keep selling the car all over the world for the time being and then we will see what happens in the future,” he said.

Galliera later added, “The work that has been done on this engine to remain performant and compliant with the regulation is absolutely stunning, which is probably one of the reasons why there are not many manufacturers that keep investing in the V12 engine.”

When asked about future plans and whether, if it ever came down to it, Ferrari would rather turbocharge its V12 than cut it from the lineup altogether, Gianmaria Fulgenzi, Ferrari’s head of product development, said:

I’ll try to be polite: V12 turbocharging is not in my mind.

The V12 is a naturally aspirated engine for many reasons. We use turbochargers when we reduce the displacement of the engine. Of course, we need the same power.

The V12 is natural. It is something that creates emotion, sound and acceleration from a low RPM to maximum RPM. That’s the product we wanted to deliver.

So while we’ll never get to experience it, it sounds like the naturally aspirated V12 is here to stay for as long as Ferrari can keep it around. And the Italian automaker is willing to commit serious resources to make that happen. Props to Ferrari for that one.