The five best sounding V12s of all time

Not all V12s are reliable or powerful, and for environmental reasons and so on the V12s place on this earth might be limited. But to hear a V12 is, almost certainly, going to be a pleasant experience.

But which V12s do noise best? Well narrowing it down to the five best sounding V12s of all time is difficult, but we’ve given it a go…

Ferrari 1995 412 T2

Where else could we start but with a Ferrari V12? The last V12 Ferrari Formula 1 car, the 412 T2 used a 75-degree 3.0-litre, naturally-aspirated V12, an engine that weighed just 132kg but put out 690PS (680bhp) at 16,800rpm. It is far from the most successful engine in terms of race wins (Jean Alesi took his one and only F1 victory in the 412 T2 in Canada, 1995), but it has to be one of the best sounding. A more intense aural experience you won’t have today. 

Pagani Zonda

The Mercedes-AMG V12 that powered the Zonda had to be here. From the very early Zonda C12s all the way through to the later Tricolores, this beautiful V12 powered them all. Known within Mercedes as the M120, it began life as a 6.0-litre and was later expanded to 7.0- and 7.3-litres. It is, in a word, glorious.

McLaren F1

Gordon Murray designed the McLaren F1 with a naturally-aspirated V12 in mind, and at first it was Honda who he’d planned to work with. As the design process rolled on, however, talks moved from Honda to Isuzu (yes, them) and finally BMW. The engine BMW created, known as the S70/2, was a masterpiece, a 6.1-litre, all-aluminium monster that gave Murray exactly the power (627PS), torque (617Nm) and weight that he required. What’s more, it sounded pretty spectacular too, and pushed the McLaren F1 GTR to victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1995.

Matra-Simca MS670

There are some sweet sounding V12s in this world, and from time to time we get to hear them at Goodwood. Back at the 76^th Members’ Meeting we got to relax at the side of the track and listen as Rob Hall blasted past us in a Matra-Simca MS670. Our ears will never be the same again. A 3.0-litre, 60-degree V12 with around 450PS (444bhp), it revved to 10,500rpm. We like this engine. We like it a lot. The car wasn’t bad either, winning 15 races (including three Le Mans 24 Hours) driven by the likes of Graham Hill, Henri Pescarolo, Jacky Ickx, Chris Amon, François Cevert and Bob Wollek to name a few…

Minardi-Lamborghini 191B

We’ve written about this car and engine combination before, fairly recently, in fact, and for good reason: it’s beautiful. The 191B was built by Minardi for the 1992 Formula 1 season and used a Lamborghini V12 known as the LE3512. A 3.5-litre, 80-degree V12, it threw out 710PS and loved to be revved. Turn up the volume. This is a good one.