First Drive: 2025 Ferrari 12Cilindri

Editor’s note: First published in the Vicarious Winter 2024 issue, this story is a reminder that nothing cuts through the cold quite like a Ferrari V12 at 9,500 rpm. Subscribe today and never miss an issue!

Look, I’m sorry to say this but it’s spectacular. It’s even better than you imagine. It’s like driving a bolt of golden light thrown by Zeus himself across the surface of the Earth. For us mere mortals it’s a sublime experience. It’s pure and beautiful, and I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. It’s not what I wanted to write. These stories are more fun when the cars are crap. Please know that I take no pleasure in telling you a $554,439 Italian coupe that only a handful of people will ever get to enjoy is, actually, quite good. But it is.

That the 2025 Ferrari 12Cilindri might never have existed, or that it might be the last of its kind, only makes it that much sweeter.

Like the very first Ferrari in 1947, this one is a front-engine, rear-drive machine powered by a V12 engine that’s unencumbered by turbochargers of heavy hybrid systems. Sadly, there’s no gated-manual gearbox — only an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic — but even the most obnoxious #savethemanuals zealots will forget about the lack of a clutch pedal when this engine enters the upper half of its rev range. This sort of engine — a 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 that revs to 9,500 rpm and puts out 819 horsepower — was supposed to be a dying breed, killed off by the urgent need to clean up our transportation sector and reduce climate-change causing emissions. Even the gasoline-loving people at Lamborghini paired their latest V12 engine with a hybrid system. McLaren and Aston Martin shifted to turbochargers for their big engines. Every decent mass-market automaker made the switch long ago.

But Ferrari knows exactly which regulatory loopholes to drive through just as well as and the brand knows its customers. Ferrari does sell a twin-turbo V6 hybrid sports car, and it’s very nice. The Italian firm also offers an SUV and will soon unveil its first all-electric car. But the customers who want to drop over half-a-million dollars on a Ferrari grand-tourer are looking for a particular sort of experience; they’re looking to mainline pure Ferrari and that’s exactly what the 12Cilindri delivers.

As Jacopo Marcon, Ferrari’s product marketing manager for the 12Cilindri, said, “with this model we’re keeping our purist tradition alive, addressing those clients for whom Ferrari means the most.”

It rained in Luxembourg the night before my drive and the roads here are still wet and greasy, covered with leaves, and 819 horsepower deserves respect. It’s not that the rear end tweaks sideways faster than you can think — if you’re foolish enough to ask for too much power driving out of corners — it’s how much of the 819 horsepower get down to the road that’s truly surprising. The old 812 Superfast was the same way. In part that’s due to clever electronics, but it’s also due to the extremely linear nature of this V12’s power delivery. It builds and builds and builds and keeps building long past the point where you think it’s time to grab another gear. Compared to the 812, the engine’s noise isn’t quite as spine-tingling, but let this V12 run above 5,000 rpm and it can still inspire awe.

The extremely quick-ratio steering seems to rear your mind. The rear-wheel steering system (which is now able to adjust the angle of each rear wheel independently) makes the car freakishly agile. That takes some getting used to because your eyes simply can’t believe it. Looking out over the endless hood your brain is telling you it should handle like a yacht, but it’s more like a jet-ski. Press the bumpy-road button on the steering wheel and you could use this car like a yacht though, taking a quick jaunt along the Riviera from Cannes to Nice. Like all modern Ferrari’s it’s more comfortable than it has any right to be. I could do without the extra screen in front of the passenger and those touch-sensitive controls on the steering wheel are finicky but these issues are minor.

Simply looking at the 12Cilindri is exciting. Its designers were inspired by the sci-fi drawings of Syd Mead and 1970s futurism and, obviously, the Ferrari Daytona of the late 1960s. Seen outside in the sunshine the 12Cilindri looks utterly original, not to mention low and long. Make up your own mind, but I think it’s much better-looking than the 812 Superfast or any other front-engine Ferrari since the 550 Maranello.

Driving this golden lightning bolt is a reminder of why we all like cars and driving them in the first place. It’s part power-fantasy, part senseless infatuation with all things mechanical and well-made, part skill and part monkey-brain thrill-seeking.

Again, I’m sorry, but the new Ferrari really is spectacular.