The Sbarro Super Twelve was a two-door, 2+2-seat high-performance small car built by Franco Sbarro's manufacturing operation in Grandson, on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created for the 1982 Geneva Motor Show, the first held at the new Palexpo exhibition centre near the airport, and like most Sbarro creations it was built as a one-off to a customer's order rather than as a true concept car.
The car continued a "engine doubling" approach that Sbarro had pursued for a decade. In 1972 the SV 1 (Safety Vehicle No. 1) had used two coupled NSU Ro 80 rotary engines, followed in 1978 by the Sbarro Royale, which combined two Rover V8 engines into a V16. The Super Twelve, styled with a bulky appearance comparable to the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo, used what was likely the first inline-twelve-cylinder configuration achieved this way, although the two engines did not share a common crankshaft. Instead, two water-cooled Kawasaki Z-1300 A six-cylinder OHC motorcycle engines, mounted transversely ahead of the rear axle, were joined on a common axis. Each unit displaced 1286 cc and produced 120 hp at 8000 rpm, giving a combined 2572 cc, 240 hp at 8000 rpm and 231 Nm of torque at 2650 rpm.
Each engine retained its own five-speed gearbox, operated by a single shift lever but with two separate transmission paths, sending power via chains to the wheel on the corresponding side. A V-belt and pulley connection between the two engines/gearboxes acted as a differential brake, allowing the car to continue moving on one engine alone if needed. With a kerb weight of around 800 kg, about 60 percent of it over the rear wheels, the power-to-weight ratio of roughly 3.3 kg/hp was claimed to exceed that of the Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari BB 512i and Lamborghini Countach LP 400 S. Sbarro quoted a 0-100 km/h time of 5 seconds and a top speed of 200 km/h.
Construction combined a monocoque with a tubular roll and side-protection cage, covered by polyester body panels, plus a central tube linking front and rear axles to absorb acceleration and braking loads. Rear suspension used trailing arms formed by the chain-drive housings together with MacPherson struts. Vented disc brakes were fitted at the front, with Pirelli P7 tyres (195/50x15 front, 235/50x16 rear) on Gotti wheels. The cabin featured leather and velvet trim, Recaro seats, a Panasonic music console, and space behind the seats for two children or one adult passenger seated sideways. The car measured 3150 mm long, 1750 mm wide and 1300 mm high on a 2200 mm wheelbase, and was priced at around 100,000 Swiss francs. A related model, the Super Eight, appeared at the 1984 Geneva show using a transverse Audi Quattro turbo engine, though it was actually built on a modified Ferrari 308 GTB base.
