Under the Hood- Maserati MC12

Welcome to Under the Hood for this week. Today, we take a look at an absolute bewinged monster from Italy- the Maserati MC12.

Beneath a MC12 on the street, is the running gear from a Ferrari Enzo. The engine and drivetrain is a reminder of why the MC12 was created- because the Enzo wasn’t aerodynamic enough. It sounds weird, but the MC12 was made to go racing, where aero is important. It’s much bigger than an Enzo (5143*2096*1209mm compared to 4702*2035*1147), and this actually proved an issue in the US where the cars were given a weight penalty for being too big. The entirely carbon fibre exterior was shaped in a wind tunnel to make the car even more aerodynamic. However, despite the race pedigree, the road cars’ interiors were full of luxury features and leather, as well as a feature called ‘Brightex’ which was apparently too expensive even for the high end fashion industry.

Obviously, it featured the 6.0L F140 V12 engine common to the Enzo, and it produced 621 horsepower. It could hit 100kmh in 3.8 seconds and accelerated all the way to 330 kilometres per hour. It also featured a carbon-nomex monocoque, another race-bred feature. But, while 50 road cars were produced, and they are exquisite beasts, it’s real splendour was on the track. This is one of the VitaPhone Racing cars:

This car (along with the other Vitaphone car) dominated the FIA GT Championship (teams and manufacturer’s title) in 2005, with Vitaphone and sister team JMB Racing having four drivers in the top five- development driver Andrea Bertolini, ex-F1 driver Karl Wendlinger, multiple champion and ex-F1 reserve driver Michael Bartels and future DTM and WRX champion Timo Scheider. However, they finished 2-3-4-5, being extraordinarily pipped by the inferior Ferrari 575 of Gabriele Gardel. They didn’t retain the Manufacturers title as JMB didn’t compete in 2006, but the team’s championship was retained and Bertolini and Bartels tied on 71 points for the driver’s championship. JMB returned in 2007 as an amateur-only team, with Scuderia Playteam joining the Pro fight and Vitaphone won overall from Playteam, with JMB winning the amateur Citation Cup. Thomas Biagi won the Driver’s Championship as well and Maserati the Manufacturers, sweeping the season for the first time. For the next two years, Bertolini, Bartels and Vitaphone dominated wining two more championships.

The JMS Racing Maserati

It wasn’t the only high-performance car based on the Enzo, though, nor was it the most different. Here’s a few of the other cars:

Ferrari FXX

Ferrari P4/5 Pininfarina

Maserati Birdcage

It was even upended by its more track-focused brother, the MC12 Corsa:

But the car is still a brilliant engineering masterpiece. And, despite the claims that homologating a Ferrari Enzo was cheating when the main competition was Aston Martin DBR9s and Ferrari 575s, you still need to be good enough to win. It was.