Ferrari Unveils the 12Cilindri: A Fusion of Heritage and Innovation

Ferrari has spent years turning its Tailor Made program into a serious business pillar, not merely a personalization exercise. The latest expression of that strategy is a one-off 12Cilindri created exclusively for South Korea, a project that frames customization not as indulgence, but as cultural capital. Rather than treating the car as a showcase for optional finishes, Ferrari positioned this Tailor Made 12Cilindri as a collaborative platform. The company’s Styling Centre worked alongside New York-based design publication COOL HUNTING®, while five South Korean artists—Daehye Jeong, Hyunhee Kim, GRAYCODE, jiiiiin and TaeHyun Lee—contributed ideas rooted in craft, material research and contemporary Korean culture. Development took nearly two years, underscoring the operational reality behind ultra-high-end personalization. Translating regional cultural references into Ferrari’s design and engineering standards required new materials, new suppliers and extensive coordination between styling, R&D and external partners. The most immediate signal of that ambition is the exterior paint. Known as Yoonseul—a Korean term describing the way light reflects off water—the finish shifts between green and violet with blue highlights depending on lighting conditions. The color draws from the muted tones of celadon ceramics while subtly referencing Seoul’s high-energy urban landscape. MORE FOR YOU Inside, the emphasis moves from visual impact to material innovation. Textile artist Daehye Jeong, winner of the 2022 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, adapted horsehair weaving techniques into a three-dimensional fabric developed specifically for this project. The material appears on the seats, floor and interior soft surfaces, marking its first use in a Ferrari. Her influence extends to the glass roof, which features a screen-printed version of her pattern designed to interact with natural light inside the cabin. Most notably, a handwoven horsehair artwork—produced using Mongolian horsehair sourced from certified suppliers—is integrated directly into the dashboard. It is an unusual move in an industry where art is typically referenced rather than embedded. Artist Hyunhee Kim contributes a quieter but equally strategic layer. Known for reinterpreting traditional Korean objects in translucent acrylic, her work explores memory, preservation and material fragility. Elements influenced by her practice introduce a sense of lightness and restraint to the interior, counterbalancing the technological density expected of a modern V12 flagship. Sound, rather than heritage graphics or racing references, became the starting point for the 12Cilindri’s exterior livery. South Korean duo GRAYCODE and jiiiiin—artists whose work sits at the intersection of electronic music, performance and digital technology—were tasked with translating the car’s naturally aspirated V12, into a visual language. Their contribution centers on data rather than decoration. The sound signature of the 12Cilindri’s engine was analyzed and converted into a graphical composition, effectively turning acoustic performance into a visual pattern. That artwork was then applied to the bodywork by Ferrari’s craftsmen in Maranello, requiring close coordination between the artists, the Styling Centre and the paint specialists responsible for execution. To achieve depth without overwhelming the form, Ferrari employed a variation of the same transitional Yoonseul paint used on the exterior, rendered in a slightly darker tone. The layered effect introduces movement and dimensionality as light shifts across the surface, while maintaining visual restraint. It marks the first time Ferrari has used this tonal variation technique within a single transitional paint system, underscoring how Tailor Made projects increasingly function as testing grounds for new design and production methods. Underneath the bonnet, beats Ferrari’s new 6.5-liter naturally aspirated 830CV V12 that revs to 9,500 rpm. It’ll accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in three seconds and top out at 340 kph (211 mph).