Learn The Fascinating History Of The First Lamborghini V12

This is the last year of the famed Lamborghini V12 as we know it. Before long, the brand that came to define the V12 in the eyes of many will be hybridizing it. Whether or not you think that’s sacrilegious is another matter. For now, Sant’Agata simply wants to celebrate the history of it, before the successor to the Lamborghini Aventador arrives.

The first Lamborghini V12 can trace its roots back to engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, who originally wanted to build an engine for use in Formula 1. Eventually, Bizzarrini met up with Lamborghini, and the company offered him a now-famous deal: a cash bonus for every 10 extra horsepower he was able to extract from the engine he was contracted to build. Lamborghini wanted 350 hp out of this V12, and Bizzarrini delivered: his V12 engine made 360 hp at 9,000 rpm.

Fast forward to the introduction of Lamborghini’s first car, the 350 GT, and engineer Paolo Stanzani. Back in 1964, his job was, in essence, to detune Bizzarrini’s V12 for road use in the 350 GT. While the engine’s performance was altered, its basic structure wasn’t. That meant the engine could later be bumped up to produce more power with little to no modification. Of course, we all know it was. By the time Stanzani was done, the GT’s 3.5-liter engine made 280 hp at 6,500 rpm, which made the 350 GT good for a top speed of over 155 mph.

One of those cars eventually went on to belong to Italian drummer Giampiero Giusti. The example he owned is now the oldest Lamborghini in existence. The car has since been restored by Polo Storico, Lamborghini’s restoration arm.

Another musician owned a GT-series Lamborghini as well. Paul McCartney bought a red 1968 400 GT, the successor to the 350 GT. This one was powered by a derivative of Lamborghini’s original V12, bored out to 3.9-liters, now producing 320 hp at 6,500 rpm. That car would go on to appear in the video filmed during the Beatles’ last concert at 3 Savile Row in London.

Lamborghini says the first V12, which was largely used up until the 1990s, served as a benchmark for many years. The brand is right. The last version of Lambo’s first V12 engine saw use in the Murciélago, displaced up to 7 liters, and made 661 hp in its final iteration, the extraordinary Super Veloce. After the Murci’s production ended, a new one was built for the Aventador. That engine will carry the Lambo V12 into the future, whatever it may hold.