Lamborghini V12

The Lamborghini V12 is a sixty degree (60°) V12 petrol engine designed by Lamborghini, and was the first internal combustion engine ever produced by the firm.

It first entered production in 1963, in 3.5 litre form, displacing , in the Lamborghini 350GT - the first car ever produced by the carmaker. The latest 6.5 litre version is used in all currently produced Lamborghini Murciélago models.

History

When Ferruccio Lamborghini set out to provide Ferrari with competition, he contracted Giotto Bizzarrini to design the engine for his car and, according to some accounts, paid him a bonus for every horsepower over what Ferrari's V12 could produce. The finished V12 was such that, with minor modifications and improvements, the very same engine (in 6.5 litre form) powers the current Lamborghini Murciélago LP640, and is estimated to finish its service for Lamborghini with the coming version of the Murciélago, the Murciélago SV.

The replacement 6.5 litre engine is estimated to produce 700 horsepower.

Technical overview

The engine was designed from the start to be a "quad cam" - 2x double overhead camshaft (2xDOHC - two overhead camshafts per cylinder bank) 60 degree V12 - as an intentional snub by Mr. Lamborghini of Ferrari's single overhead camshaft...
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