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From V12 icons to V8 brutes, here are seven glorious machines proving that when it comes to engines, bigger still means better.
Turbochargers might rule the modern spec sheet, but there’s something magical about a big (usually, but not always) naturally-aspirated engine doing things the old-fashioned way. No artificial soundtrack, no electric torque fill, just pure displacement.
With that in mind, I’ve picked out seven thumping brutes from the stock of our dealer partners, ranging from a measly six to a colossal 8.4 litres to satisfy the need for cc’s, and remind us why there’s still no replacement for displacement.
2012 | 19,500 Miles | £79,995
There’s something gloriously unhinged about shoehorning a 6.0-litre V12 into the baby Vantage’s snug little chassis, and it’s what makes the V12 Vantage, particularly in manual guise, one of my favourite driver’s cars. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the most characterful cars the brand’s ever built: a manual, naturally-aspirated little pitbull of a car that growls, snarls, and goes with proper old-school aggression. Later S models handled better, but come with either a single-clutch flappy-paddle box or the rarer seven-speed manual. This original model at Hilton & Moss is the purist’s spec with the more logical six gears, three pedals, no nonsense. Values of manual cars are already on the rise, too, and even our expert friends at TheCarCrowd agree, putting their money where their mouths are with a manual V12 Vantage as one of their latest investment syndicates.
2009 | 9,793 Miles | £1,649,990
Yes, the Veyron is turbocharged (four of the things to be exact), but with sixteen cylinders and eight litres of displacement, it more than earns its place at this table. The Veyron wasn’t just a car, it was a flex: like Concorde for the road. Many of us don’t seem to be blown away by the Veyron like we used to be. Maybe it’s because it’s uncluttered and understated, maybe it’s because a Ferrari SF90 has just as much power, and even the new baby Lamborghini is there or thereabouts. But, we should be blown away by it, because when it came out, over 20 years ago, it was game-changing. The competing hypercars from Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche had a mere 60% of the Veyron’s mammoth power, and it delivered those 1,001 horses with the level of refinement and usability of a Mercedes E Class.
2021 | 16,000 Miles | £77,980
In some ways, the C8 Corvette has gone a bit European with its mid-engined layout and sophisticated chassis. Chasing the Ferrari 458 vibe ruffled a few feathers in the States, but whilst the engine is now behind your head, it is still unapologetically American — and all the better for it. The C8 Stingray packs a 6.2-litre V8, which puts out 500hp and a shedload (637Nm) of torque, and most importantly, has lost none of the old-school muscle-car bravado thanks to its muscular power delivery and thunderous V8 rumble. It’s old-school muscle with a chassis to rival the Europeans, and even though the Corvette is officially sold in right-hand drive in the UK now (like this example), they’re still a rare sight here.
2014 | 37,650 Miles | £99,950
Ferrari has offered its fair share of big-engined grand tourers over the years, but the FF may well be the most intriguing, and certainly looks like mega value at under £100k. At the time, ditching the usual curvy coupe styling of the 456 and 612 for a big hatchback shape was controversial, but I think it’s aged well, and it's super practical to boot (pun intended). Most importantly for this list, it features a wailing naturally-aspirated 6.3-litre V12 with 660hp, and for the first time in a Ferrari, four-wheel drive. Screaming supercar, grocery-getter, grand tourer — few cars so diverse are quite so desirable.
2016 | 6,800 Miles | £334,990
The smallest engine Lamborghini ever put in a car was 3.5 litres, and even that was a V12, so there had to be one in this list. I considered original LP700 Aventadors, but the spec of this SV, and the way it so boisterously represents what Lamborghini is all about sold it to me. The SVJ is a better car, but nothing quite matches the SV for drama, as Supercar Driver member Mir, who has owned both, told me recently. Just 6.5-litres of Italian fury, mated to an equally furious single-clutch gearbox. Noisy, wide and wild, the SV (especially the Roadster) is theatre on wheels, and the V12 steals the show.
2012 | 19,000 Miles | £119,950
Back when AMG was still a bit mad, they gave us some glorious cars. Instead of four-cylinder hybrids and full-electric luxury cars, they were busy shoehorning a 6.2-litre V8 into the C Class, and a twin-turbo V12 related to the Pagani Huayra into the S Class, with enough torque to blow its gearbox to smithereens. They also gave us the SLS, a machine built from the ground up to be a snarling brute, and to recapture the style of the iconic 300SL. The Roadster model doesn’t get the iconic doors, but it does get the all-important 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8, more rarity, and a much cheaper price point. I drove one last year, and for the money, it’s a special thing that you’ll wish you bought in years to come.
2017 | 7,100 Km | €299,000
We’ve saved the biggest until last, and surprise surprise, it’s from Murica. This car is so special, I gave it its own feature a while back, which you can read here, but in a nutshell, the Viper ACR is what happens when a track-weapon meets a bomb factory. With 8.4 litres of naturally-aspirated V10 under that mile-long bonnet, it is a truly wild experience which you’re in total control of through the manual ‘box. It looks like it wants to punch you in the face, and honestly, there’s every chance it will. Not for the faint of heart, but strap your big-boy pants on, and this is one of the most memorable cars I’ve ever driven.
