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