The
W12 Coupe was an evolution of Volkswagen's W12 Concept launched
in 1997. The W12 coupe was shown at the 2001 Tokyo Motorshow.
The
W12 Coupe broke the world 24 hour endurance record at the Nardo
test track a week before the Tokyo show. An unmodified W12 drove
for 24 hours at an average speed of 185.45 mph (295.24 km/h)
beating the old record by 7.5 mph (12 km/h ). The total distance
covered by the W12 was an impressive 4402.8 miles (7085.7 kilometres)
.
The W12 coupe uses a 12 cylinder engine configured in a 'W'
arangement, basically it is two V6 engines side by side at a
72 degree angle with a joint crankshaft. This configuration
allows the engine to be more compact than a traditional V12.
Unfortunatley Volkswagens stunning W12 coupe was not approved
for production and remains shelved, however the 'W' configuartion
engine lives on in a comparable supercar, the Bugatti Veyron.