Volkswagen W12 Syncro

Vehicle Overview

The Volkswagen W12, put into development in 1997, has a fairly concise history compared to the standards of similar cars. In the case of the W12, it all came to fruition within four years, a relatively short period, especially in light of the complexity of the project, which was very ambitious and characterized by refined technical solutions outside the usual framework. Also to be considered is the fact that at the time Volkswagen, known as the “people’s car,” did not have the necessary know-how to make such a performance and exclusive car. Until then, in fact, the Wolfsburg carmaker was operating in much less elite market segments and was dealing with brands such as Audi, which had indeed managed to make a comeback after years of oblivion, but which did not yet have a premium positioning, and such as SEAT and Škoda, which at the time did not enjoy a good reputation among motorists in terms of reliability, comfort and performance. The W12 was thus intended to give the German company the necessary experience in the luxury super sports car sector, since the Volkswagen Group at that very time was preparing to absorb brands such as Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini. In 1997, the first prototype of the W12 lineage was born, called the W12 Syncro, which was unveiled at the Tokyo motor show in a garish yellow color scheme. As the name suggests, the car was powered by a 5,600 cm³ W-engine, in which the cylinders are housed in four banks arranged in pairs like two V-engines, side by side in a single block; the unit could deliver 420 hp. Drive was four-wheel drive, while the body design was entrusted by Ferdinand Piëch to Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign, who would later also style all future evolutions of the prototype.

For the Volkswagen W12, Ferdinand Piëch, chairman of the Volkswagen group was responsible for commissioning Italdesign Giugiaro to take on a project aiming to enhance the performance of the new engine developed in Wolfsburg. “For once – explained Giorgetto Giugiaro – I did not concentrate on the body when designing this prototype: I put together a casing, a shell around the central engine, which I left on view to emphasise its importance and enhance performance levels“.