Ferrari 12Cilindri: Only For The Few
The Ferrari 12Cilindri wins The Sunday Times’ 2024 Luxury Car of the Year motor award.
Balancing opposing soul-defining features is a challenge that many fail to meet. How do we honour tradition while innovating? How do we create unprecedented power while maintaining control? How can new levels of design be executed if comfort is essential?
In the automotive world, especially in the luxury and hypercar categories, successfully resolving these questions can create a motorized beast at the pinnacle of performance made manifest by a sophisticated design language that speaks to the soul of anyone sitting behind the wheel.
But for the Ferrari brand, that pinnacle is the routine standard. This is no surprise: the brand’s logo is the iconic prancing horse — a clear symbol of the undeniable beauty of a majestic animal when it is exulting in its full power.
Just off the cusp of Ferrari’s 70th anniversary celebration of its arrival on the American market, the Ferrari 12Cilindri made a spectacular début during the Formula 1 week at an exclusive event in Miami Beach in Florida. Since then, automobile enthusiasts all over the world have been in awe, marvelling how Ferrari has never once in all those years compromised its high standards or ceded its dominance as the revered industry leader.
Ferrari’s Luca Breveglieri, head of the 12Cilindri development team, honoured Dolce with an interview to discuss the sophistication, power, ferocity, precision and that dash of sex appeal that combine in the 12Cilindri.
Q: How does it feel to receive the Luxury Car of the Year award for the 12Cilindri, and what does this recognition mean for Ferrari as a brand?
A: It is always a pleasure to receive awards, and the whole team that worked on the 12Cilindri is proud that this car received the Luxury Car of the Year award. For our brand, it is yet another certificate that repays our work and shows us that the direction we are taking with the 12Cilindri is the right one.
Q: Can you elaborate on how the design of the 12Cilindri was influenced?
A: The 12Cilindri is inspired by the concept of the Gran Turismo cars of the 1950s and 1960s, capable of winning endurance races but also elegant, luxurious and versatile. The styling, however, embraces new, tauter forms that develop from a dihedral section and great geometric precision. It is characterized by references to worlds only close to automotive. The aim was to give the car a style that expressed elegance, sportiness and sobriety.
Q: How would you describe The 12Cilindri team chemistry/camaraderie?
A: From the very first weeks, a very good feeling was immediately created between everyone and this is our main strength. Every day, to develop products like 12Cilindri, we have to face complex challenges, and the fellowship that exists among all the team members helps us to face them with the right attitude and with the collaboration that then leads to the results we can see on 12Cilindri. In addition, the fact that we are all close and can talk to each other face-to-face within the company helps us to always be ready and quick to respond to any difficulties.
Q: What feedback have you received from early adopters or test drivers regarding the 12Cilindri’s driving experience?
A: The thing that honestly impressed me most was seeing the smiles on the faces of the test drivers and journalists who tested it at the end of the drive experience. Those smiles, I think, are worth a thousand words …
Q: In light of increasing environmental concerns, how does Ferrari address sustainability within the development of high- performance vehicles like the 12Cilindri?
A: Sustainable materials have been used extensively throughout the Ferrari 12Cilindri, opening up new combinations. In fact, most of the standard interior trim for the car was sustainably produced: the fabric roof lining is recycled polyester, the carpet is made from polyamide recycled from fishing nets retrieved from the oceans, and there is the newly formulated Alcantara, also derived from recycled polyester. Like the [2024 Ferrari] Purosangue, the Ferrari 12Cilindri uses a special version of Alcantara made of 68% of post-consumer recycled polyester. For this version of the material, Alcantara obtained the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) certification from ICEA, a leading international standard that verifies recycled material and tracks it from the source to the final product.
Q: What specific influences or philosophies were the guiding pillars that led to the creation of the 12Cilindri?
A: We wanted the Ferrari 12Cilindri to embody the soul of a V12 Ferrari Berlinetta: a sporty, elegant and versatile car. We also wanted to give it a new style, and I think the result is satisfying.
Q: What specific advancements in performance and comfort can drivers expect from the 12Cilindri compared to previous models?
A: The 12Cilindri is a completely new car: the 830 hp V12 now reaches 9500 rpm and an impressive 128 hp/litre, it has a new chassis with a shorter wheelbase than the 812 Superfast, even more emphasised by the four independent steering wheels, an eight-speed gearbox that reduces shift times by 30% compared to the seven-speed mounted on the 812 Superfast, and it has a 270-litre boot (14 more than the 812 Superfast). It is a car with the performance and excitement that our V12s know how to give, but versatile and usable in all conditions, with a new and captivating style.
