9 1994 Ferrari 412T1 V12

Enzo Ferrari is supposed to have once said: “I married the 12-cylinder engine and I never divorced it.”

Ferrari racing engines over time have come in many forms of course, but we know that there is something about a Ferrari V12. And this growling V12, that raced in Formula 1 in 1994, had plenty about it.

At the broadest level it represented the last of an F1 engine-sound panacea. Already by 1994 this engine stood alone as an F1 V12, as the trend to the V10 continued. Even Ferrari would convert two years later. For 1995, 12 cylinders remained but the unit’s size was down from 3.5-litres to 3.0. The exhilarating, surrounding, animalistic scream was never bettered after ’94. F1 would never be the same again.

What’s more, the engine was effective. Its 75-dgeree version introduced mid-year – maxing at 820bhp at 15,800rpm – was thought without equal on top-end grunt. On power tracks it tended to be untouchable; Ferrari locked out the front rows at Hockenheim and Monza. And it was at the former of those power tracks that Ferrari ended its win drought, an important stepping stone for the Jean Todt-led team to eventually dominate the category.

Fans would flock from every pocket of the country to hear Andy Burton’s Peugeot 306-Cosworth sing through the forests until it was outlawed in 2011.

No rally car has, or likely ever will, generate such a cult following. What Herefordshire farmer Burton did was fit a Cosworth V6 from an

Opel DTM car into a Peugeot 306 body to create a mid-engined rocket ship.

As you can imagine, revving an engine up to 11,000rpm did take its toll so it was frequently rebuilt and evolved throughout the car’s 14 seasons too. But that distinctive howl always remained, particularly up against the dull-by-comparison WRC cars of the era.

It wasn’t just a treat for the ears though: it was fast. Burton took several British ANCRO and BTRDA Gold Star titles right until the car’s shelf life expired; winning five of eight rallies in 2011.

Anyone who heard this car would have placed it top of their personal list; it had the note of a purebred racing engine, which was only enhanced as it bounced off the trees with just its beautiful sound to listen to.

The fact number four on this list is a shed-build and not mass produced speaks volumes of just how special this car was and how much we miss it.