There are plenty of special reasons why automotive enthusiasts love classic cars. It sure isn’t about efficiency or speed. It is more about appreciating the timeless style, pure driving experience, exclusivity, and craftsmanship behind these historical masterpieces. They can be taste and style statements thanks to the attention to detail that turned them into well-made machines, a trait seldom missing in modern automobiles.
But when we say speed isn’t a key consideration doesn’t mean all classic cars are sloths. A walk down the storied automotive history shows that humans have been obsessed with speed from the beginning. There are plenty of powerful classic cars, from the V8-powered American muscle cars to high-performance European classic sports cars. Read on as we review some of the greatest V12-powered classic cars of all time.
10/10 BMW 850CSi
In the 90s, BMW tried something audacious with the 850CSi, a car most people, including the younger BMW fans, might not have heard of. The state-of-the-art grand tourer was a special Bimmer that featured a 5.6-liter V12 engine developing 380 hp and 405lb-ft of torque.
It was the fastest 8 Series model of the 90s, with a zero to 62mph acceleration time of 5.7 seconds. Also, it featured a crisp-shifting six-speed manual gearbox. The E31 should’ve been a massive success, and today it is a coveted collector’s item with only 1,510 copies produced.
9/10 Ferrari 500 Superfast
Before the iconic Ferrari 250 GTO came along, Ferrari had attempted to penetrate the American market in the 1950s with the Pinin Farina-designed Superamerica and Superfast models built between 1956 and 1966.
Some historians consider these cars the ultimate street Ferraris for being monstrously powerful and blindingly fast. The final model of the series and the last coach-built Ferrari coupe, the Ferrari 500 Superfast, came with a special Colombo and Lampredi-built 5-liter V12 pushing 400hp.
8/10 Jaguar E Type Series III
After striking success with the XK twin-cam straight-sixes of the 60s, Jaguar designed an all-aluminum block V12 engine that many agree was one of the ultimate power plants of the 70s and 80s. The engine helped keep the E-Type competitive amid tightened emission controls while keeping Jaguar in the same cylinder-count league as Ferrari and Lamborghini.
The V12 provided a blend of smoothness, performance, and prestige, and the car remains a good buy 50 years on while being a major bargain compared to other 12-cylinder grand touring cars.
7/10 Aston Martin DB7 V12
Aston Martin hadn’t used a V12 engine until 1999 when they built a 5.9-liter V12 engine for its flagship model, the DB7. They developed it in partnership with Ford and Cosworth, and it remains one of the most prolific 12-cylinder engines yet, having powered everything from the 1998 DB7 Vantage to the recent AMR Rapide, and Zagato Vanquish cars.
The 1999 DB7 V12 was one of the best cars built by the British automaker. It produced 420hp, which was quite impressive for the time, and the version with the manual gearbox could hit a top speed of 186mph.
6/10 Bugatti EB110
The Bugatti EB110 is now more than 30 years old, yet its figures are still staggering. The 90s supercar helped usher in a new era while paving the way for modern hypercars thanks to the monster it packed under its hood.
The 3.5-liter quad-turbocharged V12 engine developed 603 hp and 479lb-ft of torque. Add the super-lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, and the Bugatti EB110 could launch to 62mph in just 3.6 seconds, making it the fastest production car of its time.
5/10 Lamborghini 350GT
The Lamborghini 350GT was the Italian brand’s first production car. It was their first gambit and a bold move that paid off and elevated Lamborghini to the global brand we now know six decades later. The model’s 3.5-liter V12 engine kickstarted a formula that has powered many iconic Lamborghinis.
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It was an iconic grand tourer that redefined a generation of cars and is a coveted classic car with only 120 copies built over two years.
4/10 TVR Cerbera Speed 12
TVR has built many lightweight sports featuring powerful engines, including the high-performance Cerbera Speed 12. The British developed three copies of the car between 1996 and 1998, aiming to make it the world’s highest-performance road car to take on the McLaren F1 and form the basis for their GT1 endurance race car.
However, the car proved too powerful for almost any road or track and never saw production. The incredible 7.7-liter V12 allegedly broke TVR’s 1000hp-rated dyno.
3/10 Ferrari F50
To mark their 50th anniversary, Ferrari developed an iconic two-seater sports car, the F50, which featured a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine. It improved on the engine used in the 1990s Ferrari 641 F1 racer and sang a superb exhaust tune.
With 512 hp on tap, the F50 could sprint from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds on its way to a 202-mph top speed using the six-speed manual gearbox.
2/10 Lamborghini Miura
The Lamborghini Miura is one of the most iconic cars ever built. It defined a new class, with many considering it the first-ever supercar that laid down the blueprint for every top-speed chasing performance car ever since.
The mid-engined Miura packed a monstrous 3.9-liter V12 mill pushing 345 ponies and helping it to zero to 60mph sprints in 6.7 seconds. It was a unique creation that merged the engine and gearbox into a single casting and made the Miura the fastest production car.
1/10 McLaren F1
It took four years of planning, designing, and building to give us what many consider the pinnacle of engineering in the 90s and one of the greatest automobiles ever conjured. The Gordon Murray creation was simply an engineering masterpiece that broke many world records, and it remains the fastest naturally aspirated road car ever.
Under the hood was a 6.1-liter V12 BMW engine with aluminum block and heads generating 618 hp and 470lb-ft of torque.
