Ferrari Colombo engine

Colombo engine in a 1961 250TR Spider
Overview
Manufacturer	Ferrari
Production	1947–1988
Combustion chamber
Configuration	60° V12
Cylinder block alloy	Aluminium
Cylinder head alloy	Aluminium
Valvetrain	OHC, 24-valve
Combustion
Fuel system	Carburettor
Fuel type	Petrol
Cooling system	Water cooled
Chronology
Successor	Ferrari flat-12 engine

The Ferrari Colombo Engine was a 60° petrol fueled, water cooled, carburetted V12 designed by Gioacchino Colombo produced in numerous iterations by Italian automaker Ferrari between 1947 and 1988.

Colombo had formerly designed Alfa Romeos for Enzo Ferrari. These V12 powerplants ranged from the diminutive 1.5 L (1497 cc) unit fitted to the 125S to the 4.9 L (4943 cc) unit in the 1986 412i. Significant updates were made in 1963 for the 330 series featuring a redesigned block with wider bore spacing.

Enzo Ferrari had long admired the V12 engines of Packard, Auto Union, and Alfa Romeo (where he was long employed), but his first car, the 1940 Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, used a Fiat straight-8. Ferrari's first homegrown engine was a V12 designed by Colombo, with development continuing long after original designer Colombo had been replaced by Aurelio Lampredi as the company's marquee engine designer. Although Lampredi's engines were a real force for the company, it was Colombo's V12 which would be the primary motivator for the company's consumer products through the 1950s and 1960s.

The first homegrown Ferrari engine was the 125. First appearing May 11, 1947 under the hood of Ferrari's 125 S sports racer, the engine allowed the company to claim six victories in 14 races that year. The 125 S sported tiny 55.0 mm (2.2 in) by 52.5 mm (2.1 in) cylinders, the resulting 124.73 cc of each cylinder rounded up to give the engine, and the car, its name. Overall, the engine displaced exactly 1,496.77 cc (91 in³). It had a single overhead camshaft on each bank of cylinders with a 60° angle between the two banks. The engine had two valves per cylinder fed through three Weber 30DCF carburettors. A 7.5:1 compression ratio yielded 118 hp (88 kW) at 6800 rpm.