Just like Deep Purple sang in Soldier of Fortune, I feel I’m growing older. Not only because of the receding hairline (or what’s left of it, anyway), the back-aches or my firstborn being less than a year away from high school, but also because BMW has just informed us that its creamy V12 has being powering the top versions of the 7-Series flagship saloon for no less than a quarter of a century.
Some of you may point out that other engines, like Porsche’s flat-six, have been around for much longer, while others may wonder what the big fuss is all about. Hopefully, not too many of you reading this article prefer Justin Bieber to Ritchie Blackmore and David Coverdale.
No matter; on February 1987, seven years before the inexplicably successful young singer was born, BMW released the technical specifications of its then brand-new V12 engine that would power the range-topping 750i and make its debut a month later at the Geneva Motor Show.
