Bmw V16 Sports Car

Like the V16, prodigious thirst remains the engine's bugbear, but its W-configuration makes it more compact, lending its host car dynamic and packaging advantages. Alfa Romeo was one of the car makers to experiment with 16-cylinder engines, trialing the first such unit in its Tipo V4 race car. Back in the '80s, when BMW didn't keep its engineers on a short leash, a V16.

But throughout history there have been a handful of cars with cylinder counts that almost defy belief. Today we're talking about sixteen. Not long after Bugatti announced its next car would be fitted with an all-new V16, BMW has surprised attendees of the Techno.

While they were developing the company's first production V12, BMW engineers also developed a V16 and squeezed it into a long. Few engines in automotive history inspire as much awe as the mighty V16. Synonymous with engineering brilliance and extreme exclusivity, the V16 has powered only a select handful of the world's most remarkable cars.

These extraordinary machines represent the ultimate pursuit of luxury, performance, and technical mastery. Their thunderous powerplants weren't just feats of mechanical art. If we're talking about production cars, the 16-cylinder club is a small one.

Cadillac sold the V-16 between 1930 and 1940, Cizeta began production of the V16T. Conceivable were a mid-engine sports car with a transverse engine, just like the Cizeta unveiled in 1989, or a super luxury limousine that would come above the 7-series in the range. That model finally debuted in 2003 as the Rolls-Royce Phantom, which was developed under BMW's leadership as a competitor to Daimlers Maybach.

BMW had made its name with small- and medium-sized sports cars in the 1970s and early '80s, but it was looking into developing larger V12 and V16 engines for its luxury cars. In 1990, BMW made a secret one.