The Only Gas Engines Left by 2068 Will Probably Be V12s
Aston Martin is building a new V12. Looks like Ferrari is coming out with a new V12 car. What is going on?
Good news enjoyers of gas engines with as many cylinders as there are months in a year: Ferrari is keeping the V12 alive. The Italian supercar maker took to social media on Thursday with a video celebrating the V12 and teasing what is surely a successor to the 812 Superfast. This comes just days after Aston Martin's announcement that it would *checks notes* build a new V12 in 2024.
In contrast to practically every automaker under the sun singing about how they'll be all in on electrification by 20whatever for what feels like the past decade, seeing the recent backtracks has been, well, a sight to behold. The recommitment to the snarling, fuel-gargling V12 of all things at the top of the exotic car pyramid is admittedly quite a cool cherry on top of this cake.
In the midst of this V12-extravaganza, this got me thinking. What if, like, 50 years from now, the only internal combustion engines still around are indeed V12s? The thought came to me as a joke in the beginning but the more I think about it, the more I feel like there may be some merit in the prediction.
Once EVs truly become mainstream and take hold—it may not happen any time soon or as quickly as lawmakers and OEMs currently say it will, but I do believe it will happen eventually—the only gas engines people will want will be the fun ones. No one is passing up instant, silent electric torque for the unbridled romance of a Nissan Rogue's 2.0-liter four-cylinder.
An itch electricity can't scratch, however, is the unironic unbridled romance of a supercharged American V8, screaming V10, or, y'know, a 12-cylinder Ferrari or Aston Martin. As internal combustion engines become a rare luxury, I think we'll see them mimic what happened with the manual transmission or vinyl records. Toyota isn't making a manual Camry anymore because that car would serve no one. It is, however, making a manual Supra because it is awesome.
See you all in 2068, where the only gas-engined cars still being made are, hilariously enough, V12s.
Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach him here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com
