Aston Martin injects new life into V12
Aston Martin's history of V12s is a case of (much) delayed gratification. Way back in 1954, Aston Martin actually built a beautiful engine with 12 well-syncopated pistons. Unfortunately, it was a one-off prototype, for a DB115 race car and, despite developing more than 300 horsepower, it was jettisoned, the result, no doubt, of one of Aston's not infrequent economic malaises.
Fast forward more than half a century and, ironically, it was the then king of low-cost automaking, Ford, which actually brought Aston's dream of powering its topflight sports cars with a V12 to reality.
Fast forward another 25 years and Aston is massively upgrading the AML V12. According to a recent missive, Gaydon is doubling down on the now twin-turbocharged beast, not only turning the boost up to a whopping 824 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque, but rebuilding the engine from the ground up.
Not just a case of turning up the “turbo boost” — though there is much of that — the big V12 gets a strengthened block to handle all the increased shenanigans and tougher connecting rods for the same reason.
The cylinder heads are all new, with a different interior shape and even a repositioned spark plug location to match the updated intake and exhaust ports.
Look for the new, more powerful V12 to debut in an as-yet undisclosed model later in 2024.