W12 Syncro/Roadster

During the summer of 1997, WW Group President Ferdinand Piëch asked Fabrizio Giugiaro to create a haute-couture outfit that would do justice to a "body" with exceptional features: the revolutionary 5.6 liter 420 HP W12 engine developed in Germany.

The challenge was accepted, with the constraint of "...including features and contents in the Volkswagen tradition within a product category never conceived before”. Giugiaro was fully aware of risks involved in both getting the project wrong and in missing the deadline: the moving prototype had to begin its journey to the Tokyo Motor Show by the middle of October. And so the Model Department spent the summer completing the plaster model of the W12 Syncro.

In Tokyo, the positive reaction to this automotive gem was unanimous, so much so that the German board was convinced that it should make its European debut at Turin that same year. A few months later, at Geneva 1998, the W12 Roadster made its debut, as a rear-wheel drive only evolution of the Syncro with a brand new interior.

The features of the prototypes are typical of the Group C racing models and are aimed at enhancing the central engine which is left on view, free to express its ambitions. This kind of central engine models, though uncommon for VW, recovers several styles which can be found in production cars of the Company. For example: the roof recalls the Beetle, the windows resume those of the Passat, the front and rear lights that of the Golf IV.

On February 23, 2002, a W12 model beat the world record for all speed classes over twenty-four hours on the Nardò high-speed circuit (Lecce, Italy), covering a distance of 7,740.576 km at an average speed of 322.891 km/h. Volkswagen's aim was to analyze the general potential of the chassis and mechanical configuration, but above all the robustness and reliability of a 12 cylinder engine (with capacity and power increased to 5,998 cc and 600 HP compared to the Syncro and Roadster models) with an extraordinary low weight: only 239 kg.