My trip to Italy last autumn really did offer some of the best the country has to offer in terms of cars. The week began somewhat unexpectedly with me literally walking straight into Bacchelli & Villa on my Sunday walk after arriving at the hotel north of Modena. This led to a spontaneous visit, plenty of material for an article and great contacts for the future. After that, there was a booked visit to Maserati and the article about my test drive that day by GranCabrio Folgore you can read on this page. The next day, Ferrari was on the schedule and it is from that day that this article comes. On the menu, in addition to pasta for lunch of course, was the twelve-cylinder Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider. To drive a great-sounding Ferrari in this class the day after enjoying one of the best electric convertibles on the market is hard to beat. The next day, by the way, another V12-equipped hypercar was waiting, but I'll keep that story going for a while longer.

My visits to the Ferrari factory go way back. All the way back to the time when the F40 was new and still being produced. I was there with my father, Bengt Ason Holm, when he collected material for the Cars Collection book series. Later I have returned on my own and had to take out Ferrari models for test drives. Last year, in 2024, I drove Purosangue and before that it was 812 Superfast which I had to borrow. That time was 2020. You can also read about the Ferrari models GTC4 Lusso, F12 Berlinetta and California. And my tribute article on Ferrari Testarossa which celebrated 40 years last year.

Photo: Bengt Ason Holm

The Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider is the open-top version of Ferrari's new V12 GT platform, taking over from the 812 GTS and previous front-engined V12 models. The design is cleaner, more classic and clearly inspired by Ferrari's GT models from the 1960s. At the same time, the car feels modern and takes a direction that is unusual in today's car world. This is one of the very few newly produced cars that still offers a completely untouched V12 engine without electrical support. This makes the model even more special.

Driving the Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider is largely about the engine, its character and above all the sound. The 6.5-litre naturally aspirated engine responds instantly, revving up with a lightness that feels almost unreal. 830 horsepower at just over 9,000 revs is impressive in itself, but it's the feeling behind the wheel that stays with you. With the roof down, or better still in a tunnel, the cabin fills with intake noise and mechanical life as soon as you touch the throttle.

The gearbox is Ferrari's latest 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox and it suits the engine perfectly. When driving slowly it works surprisingly smoothly, but when the pace picks up the shifts become lightning fast, keeping the revs where the engine is most alive. The combination of the big V12 engine and the fast gearbox gives the feeling that the car always wants a bit more without ever becoming difficult to handle.

The chassis is built from aluminium and despite the Spider's lack of a fixed roof, it feels surprisingly stiff, even on bumpy roads. Aerodynamics are carefully developed and the car feels stable at higher speeds. The active elements do their job in the background and the whole looks more like a sophisticated GT car than a raw supercar.

The figures speak for themselves. 0 to 100 kilometres per hour takes around 2.9 seconds and top speed is over 340 kilometres per hour. But in an open V12 Ferrari, performance figures become almost secondary. It's the sound, the vibration, the response and the sheer mechanical presence that make the 12Cilindri Spider so alive. This is where the car really shines.

After my day behind the wheel, as I rolled back through the gates at the factory to return the car, the feeling remained in my whole body. There's something special about a car like this. It offers not just performance but an experience that feels almost timeless.

The Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider is more than a new model in Ferrari's V12 heritage. It's a reminder of why we love cars that are built on emotion, sound and pure mechanical experiences. For me, this day was another memory from Maranello that I will carry with me for a long time. It's experiences like this that make my work with carscollection.com so incredibly inspiring and worth every second I spend. Here I will continue to share my test drives, factory visits and encounters with the automotive world. Don't miss the next article, because there is still a lot to tell from my trip to Italy last autumn and especially the day after the day you just read about.

If you'd like to read more test drives and articles, you can find them on this page. Thank you for following along.

Ferrari 12Cylinder Spider

Price: From around SEK 5 100 000  

Engine: 6.5 litre V12  

Power: 830 hp, 678 Nm  

Gearbox: 8-speed double clutch

Drive: Rear-wheel drive  

0-100 km/h: ≈ 2.9-2.95 seconds  

Top speed: > 340 km/h  

Weight: approx. 1 620 kg  

Fuel consumption: approx. 15.5-15.9 l/100 km (equivalent to approx. 1.55-1.59 l/mile)  

Dimensions (length / width / height): 4733 / 2176 / 1292 mm