The Falconer V-12 is an American V-12 performance racing engine engineered and built by Ryan Falconer Racing Engines. The engine was first brought to market in 1990, and has roots in small block

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

engines. It is available in multiple configurations for a variety of applications; primarily designed for high performance purposes including automotive, custom, racing, marine and aviation use. The engine is built to order and has a range of available configurations in both engine volume and accessories.

History

Developed in the 1980's, the engine aimed to target large-vehicle applications like boats and planes, however, the engine has seen much use in various sports cars like the

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

ZR12. The engine was revealed at

SEMA Sama (; ) is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. Sama means "listening", while dhikr means "remembrance".During, J., and R. Sellheim. "Sama" Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition. Ed. P. Bearman, T. B ...

in 1990 where VorTech Superchargers, during their debut, gave the engine a place in their booth, which drew massive crowds. The engine is still being produced.

Applications

Chevrolet Corvette ZR12 (Concept)

The

ZR12 Concept was built to combat the Dodge Viper SR I. During development, the ZR1 matched the Viper in power, but had 8 cylinders compared to the Viper's 10. Chevrolet decided to make a concept car with 12 cylinders to compete. They sourced the Falconer V12 engine for the car because they did not have experience making anything more than a V8 with their

big-block A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, and ...

series engines. The engine bay of the ZR1 was not large enough to contain the engine, so they contracted SportsFab, based in Wixom, Michigan, to extend the engine bay by 8.8 inches. The ZR12 was complete, but it was too expensive to attract many customers and the original ZR1 was sold instead. The unique car is now at the

National Corvette Museum The National Corvette Museum showcases the Chevrolet Corvette, an United States, American sports car that has been in production since 1953. It is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, off Interstate 65's Exit 28 and near General Motors' Bowling G ...

Papa 51 Thunder Mustang

The P-51 Thunder Mustang was built to compete in the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, or Roswell Air Races, officially known as the National Championship Air Races, are a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that took place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, ...

as part of the Unlimited Class of aircraft. (Later, the aircraft was placed in Sport Class due to classification changes) The aircraft was built with the Falconer V12 because it was one of the only viable aircraft engines. Future iterations of the P-51 Thunder mustang plan on using a turbocharged version of the engine or another engine entirely.

Specifications

References

{{reflist
Thunder Mustang Specs

External links

Falconer Engines
V12 aircraft engines Marine engines 1990s aircraft piston engines