‘AT FERRARI, WE LIKE TO SURPRISE,’ SAYS marketing boss Enrico Galliera at the unveiling of Maranello’s latest supercar, the 12Cilindri. But how much of a surprise can this be? We know there’s a V12-engined two-seat GT – the replacement for the 812 Superfast – lurking under the red silk cover before us, but as it’s pulled off, there are gasps in the room. The car beneath looks like a Daytona. Not the modern Icona-series SP3, but an original, plexiglass 365 GTB/4 with its visor-style headlights and vented clamshell bonnet. Ferrari doesn’t usually do retro, and this isn’t what we were expecting.
It feels like we’ve been predicting the deathbig, naturally aspirated V12s for a decade, but noise and emissions regulations haven’t swallowed them up just yet. Ferrari knows just how much customers love their 12-cylinder cars (the Purosangue is sold out for years), so it’s jumping through all the necessary legislative hoops to keep them alive – and in the case of the new, €395,000 (c£340,000) 12Cilindri, make them faster, more exciting and even more dramatic.
