Cars & Motor

The throbbing heart of Lamborghini

Quelle: AUTOMOTOTV (Glomex)

The naturally aspirated V12 engine has been at the heart of Lamborghini's most prestigious model series since 1963. In fact, only two versions have been produced for the super sports cars to date. The first engine, effectively a racing unit, was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini. It made its debut in the first Lamborghini, the 350 GT, after being tuned more "civilian" for road use. The second engine was a completely new design, although the technical concepts remained unchanged, and was introduced in the Aventador, which was launched in 2011. It represented a huge step forward for the company in technological terms and set new standards in terms of performance and reliability. Naturally, the first engine was modified and developed several times during its lifetime to increase performance and, later, significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Between 1963 and 2010, it was installed in every conceivable way: first as a front-mounted engine in the 350 GT, 400 GT and Espada. During development, aluminum was used for the cylinder heads, crankcase and pistons to reduce its weight to 232 kilograms. It was then installed in the Miura as a mid-engine rotated 90 degrees in the transverse direction. Later, starting with the Countach, it was rotated another 90 degrees to a longitudinal position in the rear to improve weight distribution