Minotto V12

Sometimes you just have to drag yourself away from the autonomous electrical stuff and remind yourself why you love cars again. The Dutch Minotto is a wildly screeching trip from the dull points to the roots of your senses

It’s a Monday morning in June and we find two emails in our inbox. The first is a press release from a technical university entitled ‘Less motion sickness in self-driving cars through mobility lab’. Or: how you can summarize everything we currently find boring about the car world in one sentence. Technological solutions for technological solutions for some kind of robotic utopia that we are presented with. And then that term ‘mobility’ – our neck hairs stand on end. Get rid of that deadly crap, we want to drive. (Sorry, like we said, it’s Monday.)

The second email is from Hans Teijgeler. He has spent the past eight years designing, building, getting on the road and ready for limited production his own lightweight two-seater. His creation bears the name Minotto – indeed: ‘my car’, but in Twente-Italian – and he contacted us earlier for an appointment and a test. Our eye falls on the specifications of the car: Ferrari-V12, manual gearbox, no electronic watchdogs, less than 1,000 kilos. 2:00 PM is fine. Let’s meet at Hilversum airport. Enough quiet roads in the area’, is his email.

1/1

Help, my husband has a hobby

To better understand the idea behind Minotto, you need to get to know Hans a little. “I’ve been building things for as long as I can remember,” he says soberly but with a twinkle. At fourteen it was surfboards – first for personal use, then for friends. Then it was planes. Quite a step if you ask us, but makes perfect sense to Hans. “If you’re looking for something specific and you find it doesn’t exist, why don’t you just make it?”

With that in mind, the engineer threw himself into the idea of ​​developing his dream car eight years ago: not on an existing basis, but according to his own design and construction. Because it would take a lot of effort to get such a machine approved for the public road – ‘it didn’t seem much more difficult than with airplanes, but I was terribly mistaken’ – Hans’s intention from the beginning was start building a limited number of production versions right away. He engaged a skilled colleague, moved into a shed and got started.

Get rid of that new clutter. Or yes, just do a little

Today the result is in front of us: the very first Minotto, with Dutch registration and all. Hans deliberately kept the project under the radar until he had a driving prototype. “There’s already too much bullshit in this world,” he says. ‘We wanted to put something down first before drawing attention to it.’ His love for Italian race cars from the 1950s, a few Mille Miglia entries and an aversion to the modern synthetic driving experience were at the heart of the Minotto. The design came out when he “threw ten different favorites in the blender”: cars like the Maserati 300S and Aston Martin DBR1, as well as the Ferrari 250 GT Lusso.

The basic shape is still most reliant on the Ferrari 860 Monza, albeit adapted to the current times. Wider, with larger hips and equipped with contemporary elements: bright lights, large-sized wire wheels and modern materials. The body is made entirely of carbon fiber (weight: 26 kilos) and the paintwork is so thin that you can see the structure through it, just like on the Ferrari F40. You also come across a lot of aluminum – in the wheel arches, on the floors. The car had to be up to date, says Hans, but still retain the charm and feel of its sources of inspiration.

The perfect mix between new and old

Walk briefly around the Minotto and you can’t help but be impressed. The design, finish and attention to detail are astonishing. The small, feather-light doors hang from delicate hinges and click shut securely. In the rock hard bucket seats you are surrounded by bare pieces of frame, and you move the pedals, not your seat, so that your position in the car always remains optimal. The dashboard, which has not yet been finalized in terms of design, is dotted with toggle switches without designation. In the production version, the frame will be 5 centimeters wider on both sides to give you just a little more legroom.

‘THE MINOTTO HAD TO BE MODERN, BUT WITH THE CHARM AND FEELING OF THE EARLIES’

The Ferrari V12 almost bursts out of the engine compartment

When asked, Hans explains with every little detail how and why it came about. He designed and built everything in house, except for the basic technology – engine, transmission, differential – and parts such as the lighting, which are difficult to assemble yourself in terms of regulations. There are a number of smart and surprising things to discover about the Minotto, but the most striking and most important can be found under the hood. There lies, snug and cramped, the flawless V12 from a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.

‘580 hp,’ Hans indicates, ‘on a total weight of 980 kilos.’ For self-protection, he mounted a button on the dashboard that can limit the power via the throttle to 150 or 400 hp. He never gets higher than that last mode. “It’s totally insane,” he shakes his head. That, and the fact that Ferrari V12s simply don’t grow on trees, caused him to resort to Alfa Romeo’s acclaimed Busso V6 for the production version. After interventions by the skilled British tuner Autodelta, that engine, enlarged to 3.8 liters, should deliver 330 horsepower. ‘That’s for this car the sweet spot‘, says Hans.

This first – and therefore forever only – version with V12 is for sale at Louwman Exclusive, the official Minotto point of sale, for the same 249,000 euros (excluding taxes) that the production models will soon cost. Hans hands us the key transmitter (yes, there is keyless go) and set the power button to 150 hp just to be sure.

The Italian/Dutch masterpiece

Starting the V12 is enough to turn any skeptic into a stunned admirer. The exhaust system – also Hans’s hand, down to the winding manifolds – has two positions, but is clearly wide open at the moment. The shrill and clattering sounds from the four pipes make you stiffen for a brief moment. If you give it a tap on the accelerator, you’ll see the classic Jaeger gauge snatching for revs and the shivers run down your spine.

The ZF six-speed gearbox is easy to insert, the heavy clutch engages predictably, but we struggle with the throttle dose. If we turn off after a bit of a moment and a bit difficult stop & go-traffic turning the switch to 400 hp, the sticky behavior disappears and the Minotto wakes up for good.

This is what it feels like to drive a Minotto V12

There is a predominant sensation of danger. Not only are we on the road with someone’s unique life’s work, that life’s work contains nothing to keep us from our own enthusiasm. When we have some space after a roundabout and only press the accelerator halfway, we feel the rear axle clattering for traction. As we push on and the V12 continues to wind up, gulping air loudly at the intake, we feel like we’re about to take off.

‘WHEN THE V12 WINS IT’S LIKE WE’RE GOING TO TAKE OFF’

Beyond 3,000 rpm, the soundtrack changes to that of a classic F1 car: howling, howling, groaning. And saying the Minotto is fast is like claiming that Kaley Cuoco looks pretty nice. Like a feather in a gust of wind we are helplessly carried along, while we laugh out loud as we search for balance on the wave of twelve-cylinder violence. It’s terrifying, visceral, a real zest for life.

There is always room for improvement

No, the Minotto doesn’t drive quite as it should yet. Hans is not yet satisfied with the brakes, which feel distant and non-progressive (the power assistance did not fit directly behind the pedal – later with the V6 it will).

They are discussing the suspension with Intrax, and this specific limited-slip differential from BMW is no longer made, so they will switch to a General Motors example for the production car. It also gets quite hot in the cabin, but the day after our ride Hans indicates that the insulation at the central tunnel, where the exhausts run, is now in order.

In any case, the fascinating combination of old and new that Minotto strives for, is absolutely clear with this prototype. The thin Moto-Lita handlebar, which feels old-fashioned in the hand but provides light, modern direct responses, is the biggest contributor to this.

We wonder if Hans can agree with the current range of boats

There are still a few obstacles to overcome for series production, but Hans sees that process with the same optimism with which Minotto developed this first example. ‘It will work anyway. I’m stubborn,” he assures us. ‘It can be tiring though. Sometimes I wish I had just taken up fishing as a hobby.’

We’re glad he didn’t. The Minotto is a mind-boggling creation and a bright spot for fans of old school drive a car. It is the essence of our hobby: a machine born of dreams, wishes and hard work, which goes back to basics with the volume at eleven. You can contact us with mobility labs harassed, but the fire that this Minotto is igniting is unstoppable.