History of the Ferrari 512M

The Ferrari 512M is the name that is given to several race cars in the Ferrari line. The most famous is probably the Ferrari 512T which is the Testarossa. The name of the 512 shows the displacement of the V12 engine, which would be around 5,0 liters. This is not always the case as Ferrari has strange systems of designating individual cylinder displacement for the V12 engines they use.

The designers of the Ferrari 512M started work in the late 60's to make a more trimmed down and powerful version of the 512S. This is why there is an M at the end of 512, which means Modificato or modified. The newer modified version, the 512M, now gave 620 bhp and weighed only 815 kg. The 512 also was made to have a sharper nose that was wedge-shaped. There was a large airbox that was mounted to the top of the engine as this forced air into the intake-trumpets. Ferrari modified the 512M further and it included bodywork on the rear of the automobile and the spyder option was not available any more.

The next big Ferrari 512M was the modified Testarossa. Released in 1994 the power now could produce 440 hp. The newer version of the Ferrari 512M it was Ferrari's last mid-engined 12-cylinder automobile, except for the Enzo supercars and F50's. It also featured Ferrari's last flat engine. The Testarossa made its debut at the Paris Motor Show in 1984 and the name comes from the 1957 Ferrari 250 GT that had a 60 degree V-12 engine that won many endurance races. Testarossa in Italian means "red-head" as many in the line of 512M were produced in red.

The last of the Ferrari M line was produced in the mid 90's and was one of the better cars Ferrari ever produced. The size of the engine was 301.56 cubic inches and had a manual 5-speed transmission. The automobile had a lot of power with 428.00 PS (315 kW or 422 HP) @ 6750 RPM and 500.00 Nm (51.0 kgf-m or 368.8 ft.lbs) @ 5500 RPM of torque. It had a fuel injection system and disk brakes and four valves per cylinder. The 2005 512M weighed 3,207.7 pounds and the length of the automobile was 176.8 inches.

The Ferrari 512M had many changes throughout the years in style and engine modifications. The 512M was always a high performance automobile that Ferrari is known for producing.