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The V12 Engine - The Technology, Evolution and Impact of V12-Engined Cars: 1909-2005

Author: Karl Ludvigsen
Publisher: Bentley Publishers
Pages: 590

We've certainly come a long way since the first cars with their single-cylinder motors, but many might not realize that engines with twelve-times the cylinder count came along not so long after. In The V12 Engine - The Technology, Evolution and Impact of V12-Engined Cars: 1909-2005, author Karl Ludvigsen chronicles and delves into almost a century?s worth of history and development of the V12 as used in automobiles, but also in a few alternative applications such as airplanes and boats.

This tome is a large one, much like many of the engines it documents, but all those pages are put to good use. Filled with the author's crisp and detailed prose as well as copious cutaway drawings, engineering cross-sections, and photographs in both black and white as well as color, approximately half the book focuses on the Pre-War development and usage of the V12, predominantly by American, British, French, German and Italian manufacturers. To the author's eternal credit, rarely is there an engine written about which is not also backed up by either a cutaway or photograph, essentially "putting a face with the name," except this time with engines.

After the Second World War came to an end, the popularity of this engine type once again exploded and the author documents the engine's declining usage in aeronautics with the advent of the jet engine, while at the same time notating the soaring popularity in both passenger and racing models by a host of manufacturers such as Ferrari, Maserati, OSCA, Matra, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Volkswagen/Audi/Bugatti, as well as Toyota, Mazda, and Honda. Grand Prix race engines in particular get extensive coverage in the latter part of the book.

Aside from a storied career in the motor industry, Ludvigsen is an acclaimed writer of more than two dozen motorsports books, so one knows going in that this one will be both thoroughly researched and well-written. There have been an astounding number of V12 engines produced over the past century, and the author illuminates both well-known examples, as well as more than a few obscure and unique ones which might not be.

More importantly, while there is a lot of information provided, the author's approach to writing about these engines is more "biography" than engineering study, which makes for a more relaxed read for those less technically-inclined. One nitpick is the lack of an index at the end, but that is minor; this is an excellent book for anyone interested in the engines that powered some of the most legendary cars in history.

Who doesn't love a V12? It's just more…of everything.

Review from and courtesy of Petrolicious

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