Best of the V12 series episode 1 – The first one (Twin Six Packard)

Dubbed the V12 OG, the Twin Six Packard was one of the first road legal cars to have 12 cylinders beneath the hood. You’ll have to wind the years back all the way to 1916 to marvel at this ingenious assembly, which Packard’s Chief Engineer, Jesse Vincent, oversaw.

It was a time when the V12 was just emerging on the scene, taking inspiration from the 1913 racing car ‘Toodles V’, which then packed 200 ponies at 2,400 rpm and weighed 340kg.

Engineering superiority

Two banks of 6 L-head cylinders set at a 60-degree angle made up the Twin Six engine. This arrangement allowed accessories to be bolted just below the frame, protecting them from road hazards, while keeping the valves accessible.

Now, car enthusiasts have widely regarded the 6 cylinder engine is to be in perfect motoring balance. This is due to the equal and opposite forces of one piston perfectly neutralising the vibratory forces from another.

In order to achieve this immaculate ‘cancelation of forces’, Packard would have needed to tie them together really strongly using a heavy crankcase, crankshaft and a rigid flywheel. This is really where we see the beauty of the 12 cylinder.

The result

The ‘12’ would achieve this perfect neutralisation in a smoother way with lighter crankcase, crankshaft, flywheel and pistons. The result? An awesome 85 horsepower at 3,000 rpm, with a better power-to-weight and torque-to-weight ratio than a six cylinder for greater performance and power.

Contrary to some of the wailing V12s of the modern era, the Twin Six was actually fairly low key, which was one of the things that Vincent praised it for. If only he could hear what a V12 sounds like today…

It was definitely considered superior to Cadillac’s 1915 4-cylinder V8 and lasted a remarkable 8 years with minor changes.

That’s episode 1 of the best of the V12. Find out what car will make the cut in episode 2, releasing on 2nd July 2020!