Colombo Engine
Famous Enzo Ferrari quotes:
“Aerodynamics are for those who can’t build good engines”
“I build engines and attach wheels to them”
“I married the 12 cylinder engine and never divorced it”
“I don’t sell cars, I sell engines. The cars I throw in for free since something has to hold the engines in”
“Just as many people had predicted our 12 cylinder turned out to be the crowning glory of my ambitions, the basis of all Ferrari engines”
History
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The 250 GTO. The Daytona. The California Spyder. The 275 GTB/4. The 250 Testa Rossa. The 375 America. The 160 MM. The 330P4.
They are some of the most famous Ferraris ever produced, spanning multiple eras of the marque’s storied history. Their collective value would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And the one thing that they all share is that they all contain as their beating hearts a variation of Ferrari’s legendary Colombo V12 engine.
When Enzo Ferrari established Ferrari S.p.A in 1947 to build the first road and racing cars to bear solely his name, he knew that the engines would be the single most important factor to his brand’s success, and he also knew exactly who he wanted to design them. An engineer he had greatly admired at his former employer and soon-to-be rival Alfa Romeo, a man named Gioacchino Colombo. The engine Colombo presented would lay the groundwork for all of Ferrari's future fame: an aluminum, water-cooled power plant whose 12 cylinders were placed in a 60° V, allowing for a lower center of gravity and better balance than traditional 90° or 180° configurations.
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The first iteration had a relatively miniscule displacement of just 1.5 liters, and would power a car called the 125 S, named for the cubic centimeters of each of the engine’s 12 cylinders. Despite its size, it would prove an immediate contender, winning 6 of the 14 races it entered in the 1947 season. Continuous modifications were made, and by 1949 the engine featured dual overhead camshafts and a two-stage supercharger, boosting power from an original 116hp to 276hp, and resulting in five grand prix victories.
Despite the on-track success, Colombo and Ferrari soon abandoned supercharging and concentrated on increasing naturally-aspirated displacement and the 2 liter 166MM would go on to win the Mille Miglia, 24 hours of LeMans, and Spa 24 Hours in 1949.
In 1952, a 3 liter V12 was introduced, and in keeping with the tradition of naming the cars after the cubic centimeters of each individual cylinder, it would now be 3,000 / 12= The Ferrari 250. Powering the 250 MM, the 250 Monza, 250 Testa Rossa, the 250 GTO, the 250 P, and the 250LM on the track and the 250 Europa GT, the 250 GT Coupé bodied by Boana/Ellena/Pinin Farina, the 250 Berlinetta TdF, the 250 GT Series I and Series II coupe and cabriolets by Pinin Farina, the 250 GT California Spyder, the 250 GT Berlinetta SWB, and the 250 GT/E over the next 12 years, this version of the Colombo V12 is arguably the most famous. Though displacement remained the same across all models, powers ranged from 230hp-300hp due to a relocation of the spark plugs on the latter versions, would allowed for the fitting of 6 Weber carburetors vs the standard 3, with this higher performance version appearing in models such as the 250 GTO.
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Displacement would grow to 3.3 liters in 1964 with the introduction of the 275 model range. Road and Track referred to the 275 as “The most satisfying sports car in the world” upon its initial review, and the 1966 model year added two additional overhead cams for a total of 4 in the 275 GTB/4 and 275 GTB/4S NART Spyder models.
The 4 liter Colombo V12 found in the 330 series of cars marked the biggest deviation from the original design yet, abandoning a 58.8mm stroke for the first time in nearly twenty years in exchange for a 71mm stroke that had first been used in the 400 Superamerica and adding an alternator in place of a generator. This resulted in a peak of 450hp in the 330 P4, which, combined with its lightweight body and frame, allowed it to reach a top speed of 320 km/h.
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A 4.4 liter variant first appeared in the 365 California in 1966, and would go on to power the 365 GTC, GTC/4 and GTS, the 365 GT and GT/4 2+2, the 365 GTC/4, and 365 GTB/4 and 365 GTS/4 Daytona. The Daytona achieved a 0-60 time of 5.3 seconds, equal to that of the Ford GT40.
The final and largest versions of the legendary Colombo would exclusively power 2+2 cars, being found in a 3.8 liter guise in the 400 and 400i, before receiving one last push to 4.9 liters in the 412i from 1986-1988.
Over its 40+ year run, the Colombo V12 engine and the cars it was powered cemented Ferrari’s reputation as a one of the worlds best brands in any arena. It rightfully belongs amongst the list of the greatest engines ever built, and while we’re unabashed fans of any Ferrari, there’s something that much more special about those whose hearts were designed by Gioacchino Colombo.
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