Volkswagen W12


The Volkswagen W12 Coupé was a concept car created by Volkswagen Passenger Cars in 1997. The car is portrayed in games, such as Gran Turismo, Asphalt 8, Project Gotham Racing 3, GTI Racing, World Racing 2 and the Test Drive series. This car also featured in a 2013 April Fools joke as the new Volkswagen LeVanto.

Initial conception

At the request of then Volkswagen Group CEO Ferdinand Piech, Giorgetto Giugiaro and his Italdesign team was tasked to design a Volkswagen sports car, with instructions that it had to accommodate a 12-cylinder engine in a W configuration, be mid-engined, and also be able to be configured with Volkswagen's Syncro four-wheel drive system.
Another reason for its conception was to prove to the world that Volkswagen Group can build a supercar and can build a large and reliable engine for its luxury cars and sports cars, including the popular lineup of their cars, the Volkswagen Phaeton, and its sport utility vehicle, the Volkswagen Touareg. In fact, the W12 engine featured in the eponymous Volkswagen W12 is closely related to the engines found in the Volkswagen Phaeton, Volkswagen Touareg, Audi A8 and Bentley Continental GT. The W12's engine is also an ancestor of the Bugatti Veyron's W16 engine.

The concepts

W12 Syncro (1997)

In 1997, at the Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen debuted their first sports car concept, a bright yellow W12 Syncro with a 5.6-litre W12 engine producing with Syncro four-wheel drive. This, and the W12 concepts after it, were all designed by the Italdesign firm in Italy. The W12 Syncro had the following specifications:
It is an open topped version of W12 Syncro with red body colour, rear-wheel drive.
The vehicle was unveiled at the 1998 Geneva Auto Show. It had the following specifications:
In 2001, at the Tokyo Motor Show, Volkswagen Group released their most powerful W12 sports car concept yet, in bright orange. The engine was rated at and of torque; it could accelerate from a standstill to in about 3.5 seconds, and had a top speed of, weighing. It was created by Charlie Adair.

Motorsport

On 23 February 2002, a Volkswagen W12 coupé took the world record for all speed classes over 24 hours over the Nardò Ring at Lecce, covering a distance of at an average speed of.

Gaming

The W12's first appearance was in Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva, it has been featured in the series ever since, except for Gran Turismo Sport.
The W12 also appears in Test Drive: Unlimited and World Racing 2 from Synetic. In Test Drive: Unlimited, the car appears in both Coupe and Spyder form as bonus cars for completing races and missions in-game, where upon completion you unlock the car, which can be purchased at no cost to the player.