The Volkswagen W12 supercar was the pinnacle of Piëch’s hubris

In the mid-1990s, it seemed strongly that Volkswagen’s chief Ferdinand Piëch was getting a bit fed up with the image of his brand. The expression ‘who was born for a dime will never become a quarter’ did not exist for him. Volkswagen should start participating in the premier league of the car world, he thought. That forced him to build models that could compete with the very best that world had to offer. With enough cash in hand and enough capable people in house, Piëch would make the world smell a poopie – including the brands from the Volkswagen Group that were already at this level.

W12 consisted of two VR6 engines

The starting point was a boy of an engine: a 5.6-liter twelve-cylinder. Piëch wanted to show the world this machine, a fusion of two no less renowned VR6 engines, under the engine cover of a super sports car. That became, at the Tokyo Motor Show of 1997, the remarkably sleek concept car Volkswagen W12. The device was painted provocatively in buttercup yellow, a popular shade for Lamborghinis of the time.

The nose of the car proudly displayed the same brand logo as the 21 million Beetles that preceded it. The contrast couldn’t be greater. Twelve cylinders, in a unique configuration of 2 x 2 x 3 units, driving all four wheels integrally. The engine output of 420 hp far exceeded that of the Ferrari F355 and, with a slightly smaller margin, that of the Porsche 911 Turbo.

With such figures, the Volkswagen W12 was initially a car that raised many questions. The most important: had Volkswagen gone mad? Geneva, barely a year later. Volkswagen once again showed a study model of a super sports car: the W12 Roadster. Yes, the same model as in Tokyo, but in Ferrari red and… topless! Was Volkswagen now completely…? Then a step of three years. The Volkswagen W12 once again makes a spectacular impression. Back in Tokyo, now in bright orange, and with 600 horsepower. the model looks martial and serious.

Another year later. The venue is now not a car show, but the 12.6 kilometer long, circular circuit of Nardò in Italy. The Volkswagen W12, born as a concept car, covers no less than 7,740 kilometers and 576 meters during a non-stop session of 24 hours, which corresponds to a record-breaking average of 322.981 km/h. Unfortunately, this achievement was not the crowning glory of the W12’s career, but a final piece. Piëch and his team were now too busy with other things. Like an even more cylinder project, The Bugatti Veyron.

And the W12 engine? We saw this in the prestige objects that did make it to the production phase, the Phaeton and the Touareg.