MOTOR

LAMBORGHINI

AVENTADOR

O

ther manufacturers have

strong 12-cylinder heritages,

but none have been as

committed to the cause

as Lamborghini. It’s dabbled in V8s

over the years, and the Gallardo and

new Huracán show there’s nothing

wrong with a V10 Lambo, either, but

all of Sant’Agata’s headline offerings

have been powered by a V12 – Miura,

Countach, Diablo, Murcielago, and now

the Aventador.

Incredibly, derivations of the same

engine powered Lamborghinis for

almost 50 years. Famed Italian engineer

Giotto Bizzarrini, the man behind the

Ferrari 250 GTO, was tasked with

building Ferruccio Lamborghini an

engine to power his new car. Bizzarrini

created a short-stroke, quad-cam

3.5-litre V12 that gave Lamborghini

technical superiority, at least, over

Ferrari’s equivalent units.

The story famously goes that

Bizzarrini was to be paid by the

horsepower, so his prototype produced

370bhp at a staggering 9000rpm, with

Giotto adamant with a better fuel system

it would hit 400bhp at 11,000rpm. How

long it would last was another matter,

and the 350GT debuted with a still-

impressive 280bhp (209kW) in 1963.

Over the next four-and-a-half decades,

Bizzarrini’s V12 would slowly increase

in size; first to 3.9 litres for the Miura,

then from 4.0 to 5.2 litres over the

Countach’s 16-year lifespan. During that

time four valves per cylinder arrived

with the 5000QV in 1985, with fuel

injection introduced at the same time on

US-spec cars.

By the time the Diablo ushered out

of production in 2001, Bizzarrini’s

V12 had now developed from 3.5 litres

and 209kW to 6.0 litres and 429kW. It

would soldier on, however, its swansong

fittingly coming in the back of the 2010

Murcielago LP670 SV, stretched to an

This raging bull is all about pure, unadulterated power

78 march 2015 motormag.com.au

BEST OF NA: V12