Small engines tend to be a little uninteresting for all but the geekiest of gearheads. After all, small engines tend to mean small power, and that means low speeds. But make that tiny engine a V-8, and things get a whole lot more interesting.

DON'T MISS: The Internet Brings Us Another Tiny (Awesome) V-8 Engine: Video

By definition, a tiny V-12 engine should be more interesting still. The 12cc unit developed by Spanish engineer Patelo might be nothing new--Gizmag featured it two years ago--but the recent spate of tiny but awesome engines has renewed interest in the concept.

12cc actually makes it much smaller than the 45cc V-8 we recently featured, or the supercharged 100cc Stinger 609 V-8 we saw last year. As such, it doesn't really have any practical purpose, but who says these things need to be useful? It's a freaking 12cc V-12 engine, and possibly the coolest desk toy ever.

ALSO SEE: Stinger 609: World's Smallest Supercharged Four-Stroke V-8 Enters Production

All the V-12's workings can clearly be seen, from its pushrod-actuated tappets to the reciprocation of the connecting rods, thanks to a perspex window in the crank case. The video is fascinating even before you get to the running engine, documenting Patelo's entire design and construction process. Assembling the V-12 is a fiddly tweezers and magnifying glass-assisted process and the attention to detail predictably stunning.

With 1,220 hours of work into the engine though, we doubt Patelo is making many more tiny V-12s. Even if we'd love to see an expanded version powering a moped or chainsaw...

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