(Bloomberg) -- Ferrari NV has impeccable timing with its new 12Cilindri.
The first car the automaker has ever debuted outside of Italy, the naturally aspirated V-12 grand tourer arrives as increasing numbers of consumers are looking for visceral driving engagement via big-displacement engines and/or manual transmissions. (This one has the former, which revs to 9,500 rpm, but not the latter.)
Making it was a gamble that paid off, says Enrico Galliera, Ferrari’s chief marketing and commercial officer. Development of the 12Cilindri started four years ago, when automakers were so hyped on EVs that many were promising to go all-electric all the time.
Galliera says EVs shouldn’t be “imposed” on Ferrari’s consumers, who earn at least $1 million annually, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The company will build internal combustion engines indefinitely even as it also builds EVs, he says: “Our clients love the 12-cylinder. Every time we mention that a model is 100% naturally aspirated, a 12-cylinder engine, people stand and start clapping.”
Access to such growling glory doesn’t come cheap. With a base price of $459,000 for the coupe (a $505,400 Spider will also be available), the 12Cilindri speaks to Ferrari’s proven track record of selling cars five times more expensive, on average, as those from Porsche AG, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Ferrari’s order books stretch out to 2026.
And with truly gossamer handling and a standout body that evokes the glory days of the Ferrari Daytona, the 12Cilindri will reward driving enthusiasts and design connoisseurs for decades to come.
The Essentials
The 12Cilindri contains the mid-front-mounted 6.5-liter V-12 engine found in the 812 line that debuted in 2019, which in this form achieves 819 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. (That’s roughly the same performance as the 812, but improvements here include new titanium rods; a different aluminum alloy for the pistons; and a rebalanced crankshaft, all of which have reduced weight and inertia.) Zero to 62 mph is 2.9 seconds. Top speed is 211 mph.
Styled like a berlinetta (that’s “little saloon” in Italian) with a projectile front, a rounded back, and a darkened glass top that swoops low across the roofline, the car has a wheelbase nearly one inch shorter than the 812. But it still feels decadent (i.e., long) to maneuver, like a grand tourer you might see in a Godard film.
I drove it across the tiny country of Luxembourg in September. The two-seater swept along hours of wet, winding rural roads like a sophisticated tourer, with seamless shifts of its eight-speed automatic transmission—the same in Ferrari’s scintillating SF90 Stradale—and perfectly calibrated brakes that inspired confidence upon every request. (The carbon ceramic brakes come standard, with different color options for the calipers.)
Later, I drove it on the two-and-a-half-mile Goodyear Proving Ground circuit in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg. There it roared to life, gliding into each corner with the grace of a sailboat cutting into the wind before surging like a bullet down the front straight. It hit 100 mph with equal doses of urgency and poise; a new exhaust system calibrated so the car complies with the latest emissions requirements in Europe and China, among other spots, howled in a chorus that true Ferraristas will love.
Deliveries for the coupe will begin in the first quarter of 2025; the Spider will follow later in 2025.
The Good
Ferrari has made the 12Cilindri instantly recognizable as a Ferrari and also specifically as that unique Ferrari—it doesn’t get lost among the ranks of other, more track-focused models from the automaker. This Ferrari is pure style.
Just looking at it gives me joy. Talk about a car with personality. Its lovely long nose would be aquiline if it were any less sleek—moving the car in small spaces reminded me of the extended front of my own C3 Corvette.
The svelte body lines of the 12Cilindri combine the cult status of the Ferrari 365 GTB with rear styling that calls to mind the underappreciated GTC4Lusso hatchback. There’s also a dose of the refined Ferrari Roma in there. Like the elegant Roma, the 12Cilindri doesn’t have to have all of the air ducts, spoilers, wings and associated aero-kit accoutrements needed to maximize speed in an ultimate performance car—it can afford to be beautiful.
A single wraparound band of lights and black trim at the front replaces traditional headlights and accentuates the message that this is an elevated design for the discerning aesthete. Twin triangular fins on the rear edges are integrated into the body of the car but flip up at speeds of 60 kilometers per hour (37.2 mph) to 300 km/h to help control downforce at speed. The entire hood opens outward—the opposite direction from most “normal” cars—in a front-hinged design that shows off the entire engine bay.
It drives as sophisticated as it looks, combining strong performance with the creature comforts suited for holiday weekends and long Sunday drives inside its dual-cockpit-style cabin. I’m a fan—with one caveat detailed below—of the new computer system with three practical screen displays: a central 10.25-inch touchscreen within reach of both driver and passenger; a 15.6-inch driver display; and an 8.8-inch display on the passenger side.
In fact, it’s an ideal daily driver, quiet inside the cabin and not so stiff to handle that it grates on the nerves, as is often the case with track-focused cars. Ferrari has given us incremental driving improvements here rather than a large jump—in contrast to its arresting looks, underneath the hood, the 12Cilindri is a story of subtle engineering changes that add up to better driving overall. To wit: Larger tires on 21-inch rims deliver 5% shorter gear ratios in the lower gears and a 12% torque increase compared with previous V-12s, all to the benefit of 30% quicker gear shifting times compared with previous V-12 berlinettas, Ferrari says.
Even better, and unlike many of the vehicles Ferrari sells, the 12Cilindri will not be limited in its production run, which means anyone can put money down and, with a little patience, get one in due time.
The Bad
The nomenclature of this wondrous brute continues to vex. If you ask Ferrari, the name of the car is pronounced “DOE-dee-chee chee-leen-DREE,” Italian for 12-cylinder. Don’t ask me to say it again; I’ll only mangle it more.
“The fact that it’s difficult to pronounce gave us the possibility to joke,” says Galliera. “We always like to say to our clients, ‘You need to learn Italian.’ So, pronouncing correctly the name of the car is already the first step to start becoming Italian.”
Joke’s on me, I guess. I’m still practicing.
The real low point of the 12Cilindri is the blind spot I found directly behind my right shoulder, which is created by the sloped roof and B-pillar. I discovered it as soon as I turned right out of the parking lot at the hotel where I stayed; it was impossible to see around. The best I could do was look both ways five times before inching out into the road on a hope and a prayer.
As in the Roma and Purosangue, the small touch controls on the steering wheel that operate audio, navigation and other systems are annoying and distracting to use, since they lack the tactile feedback of actual buttons or knobs and are smushed on the wheel rather than spread nicely along a dashboard or center console.
If You Remember One Thing
Ferrari consistently produces surprising, beautiful, sexy sports cars with superior craftsmanship, memory-making performance and a long heritage of Italian passion and style. The cars are so good they generate, by far, the highest profit margins in the industry, and they routinely command the highest residual values on the secondary market.
This the latest model in the long line of winners. If you don’t appreciate the unique look and offering of the 12Cilindri now, just wait. It’ll be a standout model for years to come.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.