Lamborghini’s V12 has a history like no other supercar engine. The evolution of the world’s first mid-mounted powerplant has continued for more than three decades.
Although Lamborghini’s first sports car was the front-engined 350GT, it was in the beautifully styled 1966 Miura that the Lambo V12 earned its great fame. Mounted transversely behind the cockpit so that the clutch gearbox and differential could be installed in the lower half alongside the crankcase, each bank is topped off by a cylinder head with two chain-driven camshafts operating two valves per cylinder.
In its original form, the 60-degree V12 displaces 3929cc, is fuelled by four triple-barrel carburettors and produces 350bhp.
In the Miura’s successor and subsequent mid-engined Lambo supercars, the engine is mounted longitudinally, just as it is in the Murcielago The V12 has grown to displace 6496cc, is fuelled by Lamborghini’s own electronic fuel injection, has 48 valves in its two cylinder heads and develops 631bhp in standard spec.
With each new model of the V12-powered supercar, the engine underwent detailed improvements, but retained the original architecture and basic design because Ferruccio’s team got it right from the start.
