SHARP Drives: The Ferrari 12Cilindri Gives the V12 An Encore

Matt Bubbers July 21, 2025

Pretty quickly into a three-hour drive of the Ferrari Cilindri across Luxembourg’s rolling hills, it dawned on us that this car is special. Not just special in the way all Ferraris are special, but special in a transcendent, timeless, triumphant sense.

The Ferrari 12Cilindri — pronounced properly in the original Italian as “dod-ee-chuh chil-in-dree” — is a two-seater that replaces the 812 Superfast as Ferrari’s big V12 coupe.

In fact, this may be the last front-engine Ferrari powered by a pure V12, one that’s unassisted by turbochargers or hybrid-electric systems. Many industry watchers (including us) thought engines like this could no longer exist due to tightening emissions laws around the world. Lamborghini added a hybrid system to its latest V12 supercar, and McLaren long-ago switched to smaller turbocharged and/or hybrid motors. But not Ferrari. The 12Cilindri is the latest in a long line of front-engine, reardrive V12 machines dating back to the brand’s very first car in 1947. This is a direct descendant of Enzo Ferrari’s original vision.

The 6.5-litre V12 creates 819 horsepower at a sky-high 9,250 rpm, with peak torque of 500 lb-ft arriving at 7,250 rpm. It’s a marvel of modern mechanical engineering, quite happy to loaf along in a high gear until there’s enough empty road to let it sing. Do that and the car shoots forward like a popped cork. The feeling is effervescent, ethereal, addictive.

Officially, the 12Cilindri is rated for 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and a top speed over 340 km/h. But, if you think this car is about the numbers, you couldn’t be more wrong.

The 12Cilindri contains a multitude of opposing qualities — flattering yet thrilling, agile but never jumpy, comfortable yet precise, usable but never boring — and wraps them all up in a beautifully balanced package. It feels intuitive and analog, despite the vast array of computer-controlled systems working behind the scenes. Obviously, with 819 horsepower tearing at the rear wheels it should be terrifying on Luxembourg’s wet, narrow roads, and yet it is the opposite. The 12Cilindri can make even a hack feel like a hero.

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And then there’s the sound. Okay, yes, it seems emissions regulations may have muted Ferrari’s latest V12 a bit, but the noise is unmistakable. Above 5,000 rpm it gets serious, building to a skull-filling multi-layered crescendo by around 9,000 rpm. Sitting in the driver’s seat, planting your foot, and listening to Ferrari’s 6.5-litre V12 go about its business is one of life’s great experiences.

Driving the 12Cilindri is like dropping into an alternate universe, one where EVs never existed and combustion power has been perfected. Given that this could be the last of its kind, how spectacular it is to drive, how glorious it sounds, how usable it is day-to-day, and how stunning it is to look at — yes — we’d say the 12Cilindri is on track to become the greatest front-engine GT car in Ferrari history. The catch? The 12Cilindri coupe starts at $554,439, if you can get an allocation, but it’s a small price to pay for greatness.