Ferrari's Boxer Twelve

  • Thread starter exigeracer
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I have got a friend who owns a 1989 Ferrari Testarossa, which has been seen on GTP before part of another photograph thread. The cold weather has since rolled in and the car has had multiple kilometres put on it, so it is in the shop for the winter. Taking advantage of the rest, my friend decided to have the engine pulled for some replacement and general cleanup. The boxer twelve is having new belts put on, replacing the clutch, alternator rebuild and a new more liberal cat being installed. I was invited down to the garage to take a look at everything and take some photographs of the ordeal. Here's what I got.

The black Testarossa is one of the 6 cars in this particular garage being held over the winter. There are 3 other Testarossas, one of which has 400 original kms on the clock, a brand new F355 (with 7 total km's from the factory), and a 1980 BB512, whose motor precedes the Testarossa's boxer twelve. Here is a shot of the motor in that car.




In the wrkshop, the Testarossa's twelve was on the table, in the midst of the belt change.






































All images avalable at any size up to 3872x2592. Enjoy.
 
*Pedantic Mode* The Testarossa's engine was a 180 degree V12. Not a boxer. *Pedantic Mode*
bb121vs2.jpg

:drool:
bb104qa5.jpg

:drool::drool::drool:
Those two, please.
 
That's how they..uh...change the belts in...uhh...my mom's Accord. Right. Yeah.

That's awesome, very cool to see. Thanks.
 
Wow, I've seen plenty of Honda B series and RB26 engines in parts but its certainly cool to see something of that calibre.
 
Nice pictures, I love how when the mechanicals are seen like that they lose their "Ferrari Aura" and look much like any 1980 dirtyish engine that needs a service.
 
Tor - It is two banks of six cylinders arranged like a V12, you're right, but Ferrari themselves refer to it as a boxer-style motor, so that's what I use as well.

Yeah, I was sort of thinking the same thing VIPER. I've seen all sorts of Nissan motors on blocks, but you could tell that this was something special. Just look at the mass of metal it is.

Here are the requested images.

 
Classic, beautiful Ferrari. Your friend is a very privileged person. Hope all goes well with the work and roll on the spring when he can grace the roads with it again!
 
ehh... thats what a boxer (horizontaly opposed) engine is.

The Testarossa's engine is set up so that opposing cylinders share the same crank pin, and thus move in the same direction at the same time (<< then >>). Meanwhile, a boxer engine provides a crank pin for each cylinder individually, so that opposing cylinders move in opposite directions (<> then ><).

A Subaru's 4-cylinder and the Testarossa's 12-cylinder are both flat engines, but the Subaru's is a boxer, and the Testarossa's is a 180-degree V.
 
I was under the impression that the 512 BB (boxer berlinetta) used the same engine as the later 512 TR just updated and more powerful. If Ferrari called it a boxer thats good enough for me.
 
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