This is the 2001 Volkswagen W12 Nardó Record Car by Italdesign! In the year 1996, Former VW CEO Ferdinand Piëch collaborated with Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son, Fabrizio, in order to have Italdesign create an intriguing body to be fitted around a 5.6-liter W12. The first iteration, known as the W12 Syncro, was presented during the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. Volkswagen followed up in 1998 with a W12 Roadster. In 2001, Volkswagen introduced their most powerful iteration yet, known as the W12 Nardò. This example also featured a 12-cylinder, except this time with 6.0L and a whopping 591 horsepower. On October 13th of 2001, Volkswagen set out to the 7.8-mile Nardó track with this highly modified W12, and clocking an average speed of 183.5 mph (295.23 km/h) over 4,402 miles, they absolutely shattered the 24-hour speed record. The team set 9 other records during this run, including 500km (307.63 km/h), 500 miles (308.80 km/h), 1,000km (311.08 km/h), 1,000 miles (311.56 km/h), 5,000km (295.44 km/h), 5,000 miles (291.86 km/h), 1 hour (310.98 km/h), 6 hours (311.58 km/h), 12 hours (297.74 km/h). A Nardó was later introduced to the public during the the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show with orange paintwork. In February of 2002, this W12 Nardó managed to take the world record for all speed classes over 24 hours at Nardò yet again, where the car covered a distance of 7,740.576 kilometres (4,809.8 mi) at an average speed of 322.891 km/h (200.6 mph). A total of 11 other records records were broken as well, including 6 hours (325.58 km/h), 12 hours (324.87 km/h), 1000 miles (325.86 km/h), 5000 miles (323.03 km/h), 5000 km (324.85 km/h), 1 hour (328.16 km/h), 100 km (322.46 km/h), 100 miles (325.59 km/h), 500 km (324.67 km/h), 500 miles (327.39 km/h), and 1000 km (325.28 km/h). Between 2001 and 2002, the test car was piloted by Dieter Depping, Jean-Francois Hemroulle, Marc Duez, Mauro Baldi, Emanuele Naspetti, Giorgio Sanna and Raimund Baumschlager.
How many made? 5 total W12s across all variants.
Engine: 6.0L W12 with 591 hp
Debut: October 13th, 2001, Nardó
Top Speed: around 221.8 mph (357 km/h)
0-60mph: around 3.5 seconds
Photo credit: @innocent_foxxo
Research: @rarecarsonly