Ferrari 12Cilindri: a naturally aspirated V12 for the modern grand tourer

Its most important engineering decision was conservative in the best sense of the word. Ferrari did not add turbochargers or an electric motor to the 6.5-litre V12. The F140HD engine produces 610 kW (830 PS), reaches peak power at 9,250 rpm and can rev to 9,500 rpm. In an era of increasingly complex hybrid drivetrains, Ferrari chose to develop a familiar architecture rather than replace it. The 12Cilindri is therefore an attempt to reconcile this mechanical tradition with modern requirements for emissions, safety, comfort and controllability in a car with more than 588 kW (800 PS).

From the outset, the model has been offered as a closed berlinetta and as the 12Cilindri Spider with a retractable hard top. In 2026 Ferrari added the announced limited-production 12Cilindri Manuale. It does not abandon the dual-clutch transmission, but introduces an electronically controlled open-gate gear lever and a clutch pedal to create an unusual interpretation of manual shifting. That says much about the philosophy of the whole project: Ferrari is not trying to turn back the clock by several decades. Instead, it uses contemporary electronics to preserve forms of driver interaction that have almost disappeared from mainstream production.

From the 812 Superfast to the 12Cilindri

Before the 12Cilindri, Ferrari's front-engined two-seat V12 role was filled by the 812 Superfast, unveiled in 2017. It represented another stage in a lineage that had run through the 550 Maranello, 575M Maranello, 599 GTB Fiorano and F12berlinetta. Each generation developed the same basic idea: a large engine at the front, the transmission placed at the rear axle and supercar performance combined with the ability to cover long distances.

The 812 Superfast was already exceptionally quick. Its 6.5-litre V12 produced 588 kW (800 PS), while Ferrari claimed 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and a top speed above 340 km/h. Its successor therefore faced a difficult task. Merely adding power could not create a convincingly new car, especially because a rear-wheel-drive road car reaches the limits of tyre traction long before it reaches the theoretical limits of what the engine could deliver.

Ferrari shifted the emphasis. The 12Cilindri still produces 610 kW (830 PS) and has performance at the very top of the road-car market, but much of the development focused on how the driver can exploit that output. A shorter wheelbase, new rear-steer calibration, a faster transmission, a new generation of Side Slip Control and brake-by-wire were intended to make the car more predictable and less nervous than some earlier front-engined V12 Ferraris.

The powertrain decision mattered just as much. By the time the 12Cilindri debuted, Ferrari had already been selling hybrid road cars such as the SF90 Stradale and 296 GTB for several years. The company therefore had the technology to add low-speed torque, increase total system output and improve initial acceleration with electrification. It deliberately chose not to do so here. The 12Cilindri was conceived around the immediate response of a naturally aspirated engine, power that continues to build with revs and the changing sound of a V12 all the way to 9,500 rpm.

The name makes no attempt to hide this. In Italian, “12Cilindri” simply means “12 cylinders”. Ferrari rarely names a car so literally, but here the engine is the essence of the concept. The name also makes clear that the 812's successor was not meant to be just another number in a model sequence.

Miami debut and position in the range

The world premiere took place in Miami Beach in early May 2024. Ferrari revealed the 12Cilindri and 12Cilindri Spider at the same time, defining the project from the start as a complete family rather than a coupé followed years later by an open version. It was also the first world premiere of a new Ferrari road car staged by the marque in the United States.

The location was significant. North America has been one of Ferrari's most important markets for decades, and large two-seat V12s fit particularly well with the idea of a luxury grand tourer. The 12Cilindri is not a limousine or a soft touring car in the traditional sense, however. Structurally and dynamically, it is closer to a supercar with greater usability: the driving position is very low, the performance reserve is enormous, the chassis is actively controlled and there are only two seats.

At launch, the Italian price was reported at about €395,000 including tax for the coupé and around €435,000 for the Spider. First deliveries of the closed car were planned for the fourth quarter of 2024, with the Spider following in early 2025. In practical terms, the model sat clearly above Ferrari's less exclusive cars and served as the marque's flagship front-engined V12 grand tourer.

Ferrari does not publish a simple model-by-model production total for the 12Cilindri in its standard sales reporting. In corporate material covering 2025, the company described the 12Cilindri and Spider as models in the production ramp-up phase, and in 2026 as cars present in global distribution. There is no sound basis for deriving an exact production number for this particular model from Ferrari's overall delivery figures.

F140HD: developing the naturally aspirated V12

The 12Cilindri's engine belongs to Ferrari's long-running F140 family, but the F140HD version received a series of changes intended to raise engine speed and maintain high output without forced induction. It displaces 6,496 cm³, has a 65-degree bank angle, a 94 mm bore and a 78 mm stroke. The compression ratio is 13.5:1.

Peak output is 610 kW (830 PS) at 9,250 rpm, while maximum torque is 678 Nm at 7,250 rpm. The rev limit reaches 9,500 rpm. Ferrari quotes a specific output of roughly 94 kW per litre, equivalent to 128 PS per litre. At this displacement and without turbocharging, that requires high airflow through the cylinder heads, very light reciprocating parts and tightly controlled combustion.

The connecting rods are made from titanium. According to Ferrari, this reduces their mass by around 40 per cent compared with steel components of similar strength. The pistons are also lighter, while the crankshaft is about 3 per cent lighter. In a high-revving engine, such savings matter because inertial loads increase very rapidly with engine speed.

The valvetrain uses finger followers coated in DLC, or diamond-like carbon. This hard, low-friction layer reduces losses and wear where the cam transmits movement to the valve. It is not a visually dramatic feature, but components like these are what allow a production V12 to run at engine speeds that, not long ago, were more typical of much smaller engines.

The engine also uses variable intake geometry. Ferrari employs it to shape the torque curve across different engine speeds. The manufacturer states that roughly 80 per cent of maximum torque is available from 2,500 rpm. That does not mean the F140HD behaves like a turbocharged engine with a flat torque plateau. Its character still depends on progressively building force and especially intense acceleration near the top of the rev range.

A new system called Aspirated Torque Shaping is also part of the engine strategy. Electronics alter the way torque is delivered according to the selected gear, shaping the car's response without physically limiting the engine in the same way across the entire rev range. Ferrari presented ATS as its first use of this type of strategy on a naturally aspirated engine. The logic is straightforward: with more than 588 kW (800 PS) going to the rear wheels, identical torque delivery in every gear is not always desirable.

Fuel is supplied by direct injection at pressures of up to 350 bar, and the control system can use multiple injection events during one combustion cycle. The engine has dry-sump lubrication, helping maintain stable oil pressure under high lateral and longitudinal loads while allowing the unit to sit lower in the chassis. A variable-displacement oil pump reduces parasitic losses when maximum flow is unnecessary.

Emissions regulations forced Ferrari to reconcile the character of the V12 with increasingly strict standards. The exhaust system uses ceramic catalytic converters and gasoline particulate filters. Ferrari developed the engine to satisfy requirements including Euro 6e and other contemporary market regulations. This is one reason a modern V12 sounds different from comparable engines built 10 or 15 years earlier. Filters, catalysts and exterior-noise regulations remove or suppress frequencies that previously reached the cabin and the outside world with far less attenuation.

Ferrari nevertheless retained a traditional high-performance exhaust layout. The manifolds use equal-length runners, and each cylinder bank feeds a 6-into-1 arrangement. The two pairs of tailpipes are among the few deliberately classical details on the exterior.

Sound as part of the engineering

In a car such as the 12Cilindri, acoustics are not merely a by-product of combustion. Ferrari engineers the lengths of the intake and exhaust tracts with the pressure-pulse sequence in mind. A 65-degree V12 naturally has a different acoustic structure from a flat-plane-crank V8, and the high rev limit pushes dominant frequencies much higher than in a large turbocharged engine.

This does not amount to a simple return to the sound of older Ferraris. A modern road car must satisfy current noise and emissions rules, uses particulate filters and has a much better insulated cabin. The 12Cilindri can therefore be loud at full load while remaining unexpectedly subdued in gentle driving. Reviewers have noted that the V12 still has a distinctive voice, but it does not always dominate the experience to the same extent as it did in the F12berlinetta or 812 Superfast.

That distinction helps explain the difference between preserving an engine architecture and preserving every trait of an older car. Ferrari kept naturally aspirated throttle response, very high engine speed and a progressive rise in power, but had to place those qualities inside a car that meets modern regulations. For some owners, being able to use a V12 without constant acoustic fatigue is exactly what a grand tourer should offer. For others, the additional filtering is evidence that the new car is more civilised but less raw than its predecessors.

Eight-speed transmission and rear-wheel drive

There is no conventional manual gearbox behind the engine. Instead, the 12Cilindri uses an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Its transaxle location at the rear helps achieve a favourable weight distribution. Ferrari quotes 48.4 per cent of the coupé's mass over the front axle and 51.6 per cent over the rear, while the Spider is listed at 47.8:52.2.

Compared with earlier two-seat V12 Ferraris, the lower gears use shorter ratios. Ferrari states that, together with the change in wheel size, this provides around 12 per cent more torque at the wheels. The transmission calibration was also revised to make downshifts and high-rpm changes faster and better coordinated with the engine's response. More important than any single percentage is the overall purpose: the gearbox should keep the V12 in the upper part of its rev range without obvious interruptions in acceleration.

Eighth gear has a more touring-oriented role. At a steady motorway speed it reduces engine revs, noise and fuel consumption. This is a small but important part of the grand-touring character. The 12Cilindri is expected to move from violent acceleration to hours of cruising without making the driver feel that the mechanical package demands constant concentration.

Drive goes only to the rear wheels. Ferrari chose neither a front electric motor nor a mechanical all-wheel-drive system. With this level of output, that decision requires highly precise traction management and careful control of the electronic differential. It also matters to the car's personality: throttle response, cornering balance and the ability to adjust the car's line with power remain consistent with Ferrari's traditional rear-wheel-drive philosophy.

Shorter wheelbase and independently steered rear wheels

One of the more important changes from the 812 Superfast is a 20 mm reduction in wheelbase. The 12Cilindri's wheelbase is 2,700 mm. The number itself does not look dramatic, but in a car with a large V12 at the front, every centimetre affects cabin position, exterior proportions and rotational inertia around the vertical axis.

Ferrari combined the shorter wheelbase with four-wheel steering. This is not a simple system in which both rear wheels always move by the same amount. Each rear wheel can be controlled independently, allowing the electronics to influence not only effective turning radius but also the yaw moment acting on the car. At low speeds, the rear axle can assist manoeuvrability. During rapid changes of direction, the system can increase agility or add stability depending on the situation.

Coordination is handled by Side Slip Control 8.0, another generation of Ferrari's integrated vehicle-dynamics strategy. It combines information from traction control, the electronic differential, dampers, steering, ABS and other systems. A key component is a 6D sensor that measures the body's motion across six degrees of freedom. This gives the controller a more direct picture of what the car is actually doing rather than relying only on wheel speeds and steering angle.

The brakes use a brake-by-wire system. Pedal input does not have to correspond directly to hydraulic pressure in the way it does in a conventional arrangement. Electronics interpret the driver's request and can coordinate it more closely with ABS Evo and the stability systems. Brake-by-wire is sometimes criticised when artificial pedal feel isolates the driver from available grip, but road tests of the 12Cilindri were generally positive. Publications often highlighted a clear working point and the ability to meter braking force accurately.

The front carbon-ceramic discs measure 398 mm in diameter, with 360 mm discs at the rear. Tyres are 275/35 R21 at the front and 315/35 R21 at the rear. Ferrari worked with tyre suppliers on their calibration because a car with this level of output depends heavily on compound behaviour and carcass stiffness. A 315 mm rear tyre alone cannot solve the traction challenge created by 678 Nm and more than 588 kW (800 PS).

The suspension uses adaptive magnetorheological dampers. The fluid inside each damper changes its properties in response to a magnetic field, allowing damping force to be adjusted very quickly. This makes it possible to combine tight control of body movement on a circuit with acceptable compliance on the road. Independent testers frequently highlighted precisely this ability to move between those two roles.

Aluminium structure and mass

The 12Cilindri's body and underlying structure are based on aluminium. Ferrari developed a new architecture rather than treating the car as a heavily reworked 812. The same basic concept has to support both the closed berlinetta and the Spider with its large roof opening, which places different loads on the sills, floor and rear structure.

Ferrari quotes a dry weight of 1,560 kg for the coupé and 1,620 kg for the Spider. These figures assume optional lightweight components. They should therefore not be compared directly with the kerb weight of a rival whose published number includes fluids, fuel and standard equipment. The 60 kg difference between the two 12Cilindri versions is still useful, however, because it indicates the structural and mechanical cost of the folding roof and its additional reinforcement.

For the Spider, Ferrari cites a 15 per cent increase in torsional rigidity compared with the preceding open car. Aluminium connections between the roll-over structure behind the occupants and the B-pillar area help limit the additional mass while keeping the centre of gravity as low as possible.

A less visible but interesting feature is the use of a secondary aluminium alloy made from 100 per cent recycled material for the mounting towers in the transmission subframe. Ferrari presented this as the first such application in one of its production cars and claimed a reduction of roughly 146 kg of CO2 emissions per car from producing those components. That does not change the V12's high fuel consumption in use, but it illustrates that efforts to reduce the environmental impact of a new combustion-engined car do not have to be limited to the powertrain.

Aerodynamics without a dominant rear wing

The 12Cilindri does not use a large fixed rear wing. Ferrari wanted to preserve the clean silhouette of a grand tourer, so some of the aerodynamic work was moved underneath the body and into active devices. The most visible of these are two movable sections at the rear, positioned on either side of the surface around the rear glass.

Depending on speed and driving conditions, the elements can remain retracted or rise to a greater angle. Between roughly 60 and 300 km/h, the control system decides whether low drag or greater downforce should take priority. Ferrari states that in the high-downforce configuration the active devices can increase aerodynamic load on the rear axle by around 50 kg at high speed.

This figure should not be confused with vehicle mass. Downforce increases with airflow speed and exists only when the car is moving. Its purpose is to increase the force pressing the tyres against the road without adding static weight. The usual trade-off is greater drag, which is why retractable devices make sense on a car also intended for fast motorway travel.

At the front, ducts direct air toward the radiators and brakes, while the underbody uses guides and flow-management elements. Ferrari did not design the aerodynamic package independently of the styling. The black panel across the nose, the smooth engine cover and the sharply defined rear section create a visually simple body even though the airflow management underneath is considerably more complex.

Performance and its context

Ferrari's factory figures for the coupé sit where a car of this class would be expected to perform. The manufacturer claims a top speed above 340 km/h, 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds and 0-200 km/h in less than 7.9 seconds. For the Spider, the quoted figures are 2.95 seconds to 100 km/h and 8.2 seconds to 200 km/h, with the same top speed of more than 340 km/h.

These are manufacturer figures rather than universal results that can be reproduced on every surface. At this level of acceleration, a 0-100 km/h run is influenced by tyre temperature, asphalt quality, fuel load, launch procedure and weather. More revealing is the fact that the car achieves this level of performance without all-wheel drive and without electric torque filling in the first metres of acceleration.

Ferrari also quotes a braking distance of 31.4 m from 100 km/h and about 122 m from 200 km/h. These are again technical claims that depend on appropriate conditions and tyres. Brake-by-wire and ABS Evo are intended above all to provide repeatability and allow maximum tyre grip to be used without abrupt intervention.

The comparison with the 812 Superfast is revealing. Its predecessor produced 588 kW (800 PS) and was also quoted at 2.9 seconds to 100 km/h with a top speed above 340 km/h. The successor therefore has more power without attempting to prove progress solely through a shorter launch figure. With rear-wheel drive, traction remains the bottleneck in the first metres. The development of the 12Cilindri is more about how easily the driver can approach the chassis's limits in a corner and how broad the range of behaviour is between relaxed road use and full performance.

Modern homologation figures show the other side of the concept. In current European specification, Ferrari quotes approximately 15.5 l/100 km in the WLTC cycle and 353 g/km of CO2. Those are high figures even for a sports car and are a natural consequence of large displacement, no hybrid assistance and this level of performance. The 12Cilindri was not developed around minimising fuel consumption. Its engineering serves instead to keep a large, naturally aspirated V12 legal and usable as a road engine in the middle of the 2020s.

Styling: history without literal retro design

The 12Cilindri was designed by the Ferrari Styling Centre under Flavio Manzoni. The clearest historical association is the 365 GTB/4 Daytona, especially in the black band linking the front lights and in the long-nose proportions with the cabin set well back. Ferrari does not, however, present the 12Cilindri as a remake of one specific historical model.

Compared with the highly sculptural 812 Competizione, the body is more geometric. The smooth engine cover extends across much of the front wings and opens as one large panel, exposing the V12. Instead of numerous sharp creases, the 12Cilindri uses broad, calm surfaces. The cooling ducts and aerodynamic divisions become more obvious only on closer inspection.

The front deliberately avoids a single, dominant traditional grille. The black element between the headlights gives the nose a visor-like appearance. At the rear, the lamps are integrated into a dark surface below the glass, while active aerodynamic flaps operate above them. Ferrari avoided one large spoiler, allowing the rear bodywork to remain visually compact.

The proportions are a consequence of the architecture. The engine is mounted at the front but pushed rearward, the cabin sits close to the rear axle and the bonnet is long and low. This layout is fundamentally different from Ferrari's mid-engined cars even when the two categories may offer similar power. On the 12Cilindri, the long nose is not decorative styling. It follows from the V12, the intake and cooling systems and the space required for the front structure.

The design was well received by specialist juries. In 2025, the 12Cilindri won the Car Design Award in the production-car category, while both the coupé and Spider received Red Dot “Best of the Best” distinctions. Awards do not prove objective styling superiority, but they do show that design professionals recognised the car's attempt to combine historical references with active aerodynamics and contemporary proportions.

Cabin: three screens and two seats

The interior moves away from the extremely driver-focused arrangement of some earlier Ferraris. The dashboard uses a broadly symmetrical theme with separate areas for driver and passenger, while a central infotainment screen sits between them. This marks a return to a conventional centre display after a period in which Ferrari tried to move most functions toward the driver's instrument area.

The digital instrument cluster measures 15.6 inches, the central display is 10.25 inches and the passenger receives an 8.8-inch screen. The latter can show information such as speed, engine revs and media, giving the passenger a more active role in interacting with the car than in a traditional GT cabin.

A glass roof brightens the coupé's cabin, although it does not open. Ferrari offers extensive material and colour personalisation, and some trim can use Alcantara made with a high proportion of recycled polyester. The optional Burmester audio system uses 15 speakers and has a claimed output of 1,600 W. In a car whose most important instrument is still the V12, a large audio system may sound secondary, but it suits the long-distance brief.

The control interface is more controversial. Early cars used numerous touch-sensitive surfaces, including on the steering wheel. Road testers repeatedly criticised them for being less intuitive than physical switches. A driver can activate a function unintentionally or may need to divert attention from the road to confirm what a panel has done. That is particularly unfortunate in a car with such fast steering response.

The driving position itself is low, but the car does not force its occupants into a track-focused posture. The seats and suspension are intended to make long journeys possible. Ferrari quotes 270 litres of luggage capacity for the coupé, enough for soft bags for two people, although it cannot match the practical flexibility of a more conventional GT with rear seats.

12Cilindri Spider

The Spider is not simply a coupé with its roof removed. The retractable hard top requires a different rear structure, space for the folding mechanism and reinforcement to compensate for the loss of a fixed roof connecting the upper body. The RHT opens or closes in 14 seconds and can be operated at speeds of up to 45 km/h.

Quoted dry weight rises from 1,560 to 1,620 kg, a 60 kg increase, and both figures assume optional lightweight equipment. Luggage capacity falls from 270 to 200 litres. The performance penalty is small: Ferrari quotes 2.95 rather than 2.9 seconds to 100 km/h, and 8.2 rather than less than 7.9 seconds to 200 km/h.

Ferrari devoted considerable attention to airflow around the open cabin. The rear glass can be adjusted electrically and used as a wind deflector. Ferrari states that, with the system correctly positioned, normal conversation remains possible in the open cabin even at very high speed. That should be understood as a statement of the engineering objective rather than a guarantee of identical comfort for every occupant.

Independent road tests generally found that the open car does not lose an obvious amount of handling precision. In normal driving the structure remains stiff, and the additional mass does not turn the Spider into a soft convertible. Its acoustic experience is different from that of older open V12 Ferraris, however. The engine sound is more filtered, and some reviewers noted that even with the roof down they had expected the V12 to have a stronger presence in the cabin.

How the 12Cilindri drives in independent tests

The most consistent conclusion from early road tests was almost paradoxical: the 12Cilindri has more power than the 812 Superfast, yet it is less intimidating. That does not mean it is slow or gentle. The difference is in how the chassis communicates and how predictably it responds to rapid inputs.

In the 812, very fast steering combined with a long front end and enormous power could take time to understand. The 12Cilindri still responds immediately, but testers more often described its reactions as linear. The rear axle helps rotate the car into a corner, while the electronics do not wait for a large slide before attempting to correct it. The result is a car that can feel very agile despite its width and substantial body.

Comfort is equally important. The magnetorheological dampers can keep the tyres in contact with uneven surfaces without the stiffness associated with a car set up only for the circuit. In road modes, the 12Cilindri has often been described as calm and well damped, which suits its grand-touring role. It is not a luxury coupé in the mould of a Bentley Continental GT, however. The cabin, seating position, tyre noise and immediacy of the controls continually remind the driver that a sports car sits underneath the touring ability.

The engine has two distinct personalities. At low revs it is flexible enough not to require constant downshifting. Higher up the tachometer it changes character and delivers something that cannot be reproduced simply by adding turbocharged torque: power continues to build toward engine speeds close to 10,000 rpm. The eight-speed transmission can keep the V12 in this range when required, but in automatic operation it can also shift early and calm the car down.

Criticism has centred mainly on the car's size, its interface and the way some of the rawness of earlier V12 Ferraris has been smoothed away. A narrow road or tight parking space quickly reminds the driver that the 12Cilindri is a large and expensive car. Its pillars and proportions restrict visibility, while touch-sensitive controls demand more attention than a conventional button. Some drivers will see the quieter, more composed personality as an advantage; others will regard it as a move away from the wildness of the F12berlinetta or 812.

Ownership and servicing

Ferrari includes new cars in a multi-year scheduled-maintenance programme. For the 12Cilindri, manufacturer material specifies seven years of scheduled servicing, with intervals of 20,000 km or one year. This does not mean the costs of ownership end with the service schedule. Rear tyres 315 mm wide, large brakes, insurance, fuel and possible repairs outside the programme remain expenses appropriate to a car in this class.

The fuel tank holds 92 litres. At the official combined consumption figure of roughly 15.5 l/100 km, that would theoretically produce a range of about 590 km if the entire tank could be used and the homologation figure reproduced. In reality, fast V12 driving can increase consumption far beyond the WLTC figure, so this calculation is only illustrative and should not be treated as a guaranteed real-world range.

It is also important that the standard 12Cilindri is not a model with production capped from the outset at only a few hundred units. Ferrari manages availability and allocation according to its own policies, but it has not announced a total production limit for the standard coupé and Spider. A numerically limited derivative arrived later in the form of the Manuale.

12Cilindri Manuale: manual shifting without a conventional manual gearbox

In July 2026, Ferrari unveiled the 12Cilindri Manuale, a limited series of 1,499 cars. The name suggests that Maranello has returned to a conventional six-speed manual gearbox after many years. Technically, the solution is much more complex.

The car retains the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The driver instead gains a gear lever that moves through a traditional open gate and a clutch pedal. Both are electronically controlled and send commands to the DCT. Ferrari calls the system Manuale By-Wire.

In manual mode, the driver selects six forward ratios plus reverse. The steering-wheel paddles do not perform their usual gear-selection function in this mode. Seventh and eighth are used in automatic operation, allowing the car to retain low engine revs during high-speed touring. The system is intended to reproduce the need to coordinate clutch pedal, engine speed and lever movement, but it does so within limits defined electronically.

It is easy to dismiss this arrangement as artificial because there is no mechanical connection of the sort used by a traditional manual transmission. There is, however, a clear engineering rationale. Developing an entirely new manual gearbox capable of handling the torque of a modern Ferrari V12, meeting homologation requirements and working with the car's integrated dynamics systems would be expensive, heavy and difficult to justify for a small series. By-wire control allows Ferrari to keep the basic 12Cilindri architecture while changing how the driver interacts with the powertrain.

The 1,499-car total refers to the roughly 1.5-litre displacement of Ferrari's first V12. The Manuale retains the 6.5-litre engine, 610 kW (830 PS), 678 Nm and 9,500 rpm limit. Ferrari therefore does not present it as a more powerful version. Its distinction lies in the driving interface.

Italian media at the launch reported a price of roughly €590,000 and the start of deliveries in the first quarter of 2027. Because those deliveries were still in the future at the time of the announcement, the Manuale should be regarded in 2026 as an announced special series rather than a model with an established ownership record or a body of independently verified long-term experience.

Tailor Made and the Korean special project

Personalisation represents another direction for the 12Cilindri. In January 2026, Ferrari revealed a one-off Tailor Made project for South Korea, created in collaboration with COOL HUNTING and Korean artists and designers. Among its features was an iridescent finish called Yoonseul, shifting in appearance between green, violet and blue tones.

The project took almost two years to develop and was not a new mechanical derivative. Its significance lies instead in showing how Ferrari uses the 12Cilindri as a platform for extremely high-level personalisation and as a design object that can extend beyond the standard technical specification.

Cars such as this can easily be confused with factory limited editions, so the distinction matters. Tailor Made is an individual configuration of a specific car. The Manuale is an official, numerically limited derivative with a different transmission interface. The standard 12Cilindri and Spider remain production models without a declared overall production cap.

Limitations and compromises

The 12Cilindri's greatest strength is also its fundamental limitation. A naturally aspirated V12 without hybrid assistance offers exceptional response and character, but it also brings high fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. In a world of increasingly strict regulations, this architecture is harder to sustain than a smaller engine assisted by electric power. Ferrari can still homologate it today, but the long-term future of such a drivetrain cannot be treated as guaranteed.

The second compromise is physical size. The car measures 4,733 mm in length and, in Ferrari's official specification, 2,176 mm in width. Those dimensions are unremarkable on a wide open road but become much more obvious on European streets and in car parks. Rear-wheel steering helps manoeuvrability, but it cannot make the body physically narrower.

The third issue is the interface. Ferrari invested heavily in the electronics that control the car's dynamics, while some of the touch-sensitive user controls proved much less convincing. The criticism appeared repeatedly in independent tests and was not simply a rejection of digital technology. The problem is the lack of unambiguous tactile feedback at moments when the driver may be moving very quickly and should be able to operate a basic function without looking at a touch surface.

The fourth compromise is more subjective. The 12Cilindri is more settled and less nervous than some predecessors. That makes it a more effective grand tourer and may make its performance easier to exploit for a driver who is not a professional racing driver. At the same time, some enthusiasts may interpret this maturity as a loss of rawness. Modern sound filtration and stronger insulation further reduce the sense of mechanical exposure that some buyers expect from a naturally aspirated V12.

The significance of the 12Cilindri

The 12Cilindri matters not because it created a new category of outright performance. In an era of electric hypercars and hybrids producing more than 735 kW (1,000 PS), its 610 kW (830 PS) is no longer a number that can dominate headlines on its own. The model is significant for a different reason: Ferrari chose to continue developing a full-size, naturally aspirated V12 as a self-contained powertrain rather than preserve it only as a historical symbol.

Technically, the car is far from simple. Active aerodynamics, brake-by-wire, a 6D sensor, Side Slip Control, independently controlled rear-wheel steering and an eight-speed DCT are among the most contemporary systems in Ferrari's range. The central paradox of the 12Cilindri is therefore that a traditional driving experience is being preserved by a great deal of electronics.

The Manuale makes this approach particularly clear. Ferrari did not restore an old gearbox or pretend that 2026 is 1996. It created an electronic interface designed to reproduce part of the ritual of manual shifting while retaining a modern transmission. Whether that simulation feels more authentic than paddles is open to debate, but the idea is entirely consistent with the logic of the wider model.

It is still too early to assess the 12Cilindri's long-term place in Ferrari history. The car entered production only recently, the Spider reached customers more widely in 2025 and the Manuale series was announced in 2026. It is not yet known whether this will prove to be the final long-running line of purely combustion-engined, front-mounted Ferrari V12s or simply one more stage in that tradition.

What the car represents is already clear. It is an attempt to preserve a very old Ferrari idea without freezing it in the past. Twelve cylinders, a very high rev limit and rear-wheel drive remain at the centre of the experience, while almost everything around them has been reshaped to satisfy modern requirements. That tension between mechanical tradition and digital control defines the Ferrari 12Cilindri much better than the 610 kW (830 PS) figure alone.