They have often chosen the V12 engine layout, with two banks of six cylinders sprouting at an angle from a common crankcase. The economy and emissions benefits – at least on official tests – of having an engine with fewer cylinders and one or more turbos instead mean that the V12’s days appear to be numbered, but the layout has fallen and revived in the past and may do so again.

Here is a selection of ‘real’ V12s covering just over a century. Flat 12s and W12s are not included to avoid offending the purists…