Totem Automobili Moves Beyond The Restomod With Tiziano, A Proprietary V12 Platform
Totem Automobili arrived at The Quail during Monterey Car Week with something more ambitious than a new model: a proprietary platform of its own design. Called Tiziano, the carbon-fiber modular architecture is the foundation for the upcoming T12 Series and represents the Italian boutique builder’s formal step away from restomod territory into fully independent manufacturing.
The announcement, made in California in August 2026, signals that Totem intends to design its own monocoques, subframes, suspension systems, and powertrains from scratch — no donor cars, no pre-existing architectures. Three distinct T12 variants will emerge from the same technical core, with a rolling chassis reveal planned for 2027.
A Carbon-Fiber Core Built For Creative Freedom
At the structural heart of Tiziano is a carbon-fiber central monocoque joined to two aluminum subframes. An upper tubular structure mounts to the monocoque and is designed to accept both open and closed body configurations without touching the structural core beneath. That separation — engineering on one layer, bodywork on another — is the platform’s defining idea.
Totem describes Tiziano not as the chassis of a single model but as an independent technological system: structure, engine, transmission, suspension, steering, brakes, and primary auxiliaries all integrated within one cohesive architecture. The bodywork, in theory, can be interpreted freely on top of it. The company says this grants designers the freedom to produce automobiles with profoundly different proportions and design languages from the same underlying DNA.
Race-Car Suspension Engineering In A Road Car Package
The chassis engineering draws directly from motorsport. Tiziano runs double-wishbone suspension on both axles, with spring-and-damper units actuated through a pushrod-and-rocker system — the same configuration found in purpose-built racing cars. The arrangement moves the mass of the springs and dampers closer to the center of the car, reducing unsprung weight and sharpening the chassis response to load transfer.
Suspension components are machined from 7075-T6 ERGAL aluminum, and damper calibration is electronically adjustable from the cockpit in both compression and rebound. Adjustable anti-roll bars are included. Braking comes from Brembo, with six-piston fixed calipers up front and four-piston units at the rear; carbon-ceramic discs are available alongside the standard ventilated steel setup. Target weight distribution is 45 percent front, 55 percent rear.
Three T12 Variants, One Mechanical Core
The T12 Series will be the first application of Tiziano, and Totem is clear that Corsa, Lunga, and Turismo are not trim levels — they are three independent automobiles that happen to share a platform.
T12 Corsa is the most extreme: taut surfaces, compressed volumes, and technical elements deliberately exposed, sitting at the intersection of racing machine and mechanical sculpture. T12 Lunga reimagines the long-distance sports car, pairing functional aerodynamics with elongated proportions and muscular volume. T12 Turismo is the most sculptural of the three, chasing a balance between sensuality of form and performance — a nod to the era when great Italian cars each carried an unmistakably individual personality. All three will be revealed alongside the rolling chassis during 2027.
A Naturally Aspirated V12 First, With More Powertrains To Follow
The T12’s launch powertrain is a naturally aspirated Italtecnica V12, paired with a six-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip differential, and a hydraulically operated twin-plate clutch. Final specifications have not been released — the engine is still in development — but Totem frames the V12-and-manual combination as a deliberate philosophical choice rather than nostalgia: a direct, mechanical connection between driver and car.
Tiziano has been engineered from the outset to accommodate two additional powertrain paths: a twin-turbocharged V6 and a fully electric drivetrain. Each is described as a different interpretation of the driving experience rather than a hierarchy of options, giving the platform a long runway for future models beyond the T12 Series.
Tailor-Made Taken Literally
Totem’s customization philosophy goes well beyond a digital configurator. Lighting elements, air intakes, exterior components, materials, colors, finishes, and interior configurations are all open to reinterpretation for each client. The company describes the process as a shared creative dialogue between client, designer, engineer, and craftsman — with the goal of making every car effectively a one-off within a limited series.
The 2027 rolling-chassis reveal will present the V12, carbon-fiber monocoque, and full suspension system entirely exposed — the mechanical architecture as the centerpiece rather than something hidden beneath bodywork. It is, in Totem’s framing, the clearest possible demonstration that the platform itself is the product.
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