Who among us hasn’t dreamed of of designing and building their very own car, muscle-, super-, hyper- or otherwise? Sasha Selipanov, ex-Koenigsegg, Bugatti, and Genesis designer, is living that dream for all of us who (probably, you never know!) won’t achieve that goal.
Today, Selipanov unveiled the Nilu, a completely bespoke hypercar of its own design. and it’s as analog as just about anything else made in the car industry today.
Unveiled as part of Monterey Car Week, the Nilu, a combination of the names of Selipanov’s daughters Nica and Lucia, is an ode to classic supercars of decades past. It features a 6.5-liter V12, a seven-speed manual gearbox, and a manual hand brake.
The experience of driving is paramount to the design decisions throughout this car, according to Selipanov, and form follows function to an almost brutalist degree. That includes the interior, with its many extrusion-like shapes and deep, three-dimensional round gauges with actual needles sweeping past the numerals, not digital simulacrum. Also notable in the above image is what you don’t see: an infotainment screen. The Nilu’s sole electronic screen is the rearview mirror, a completely understandable cave to camera technology given the lack of rearward visibility typical of hypercars.
The Nilu’s commitment to an analog experience goes far beyond eschewing screens. There are no driving modes, there is no “Sport” button, and you won’t find a “Comfort” setting either. In the entire 1,339-word press release you won’t find the words “speakers,” “infotainment,” or “AI” anywhere. In fact, this car is so experience-focused that Nilu27, the brand behind the self-titled Nilu hypercar, doesn’t quote exact performance figures or profess that it’ll be the fastest or quickest anything.
That omission of performance figures may not entirely be a nod to purity, and could in part be because the car is still not in full production. Selipanov says the brand will build 15 units initially with an unannounced price tag. There’s no word on when production begins either. That’s still a large hurdle to clear, but Nilu27 appears prepared to produce the machines and says it’ll build the 15 non-street-legal units first and then homologate 54 examples for on-road use. Production is slated to begin at Aria Group in Irvine, California. Again though, nothing is guaranteed.
Let’s Talk About That Engine
Nilu27 is targeting 1,070 horsepower from its new and unique V12. The 6.5-liter beast is a bespoke creation built by the folks at Hartley Engines in New Zealand. It’s known for high-end JDM engine work and is very familiar with V12 platforms. Nilu27 refers to the engine as a “Hot-V” design, which typically refers to a configuration with the turbo (or turbos) placed between the cylinder banks, but in this case the engine is naturally aspirated and it’s the exhaust headers that are placed in the valley of the 80-degree V, a design that is said to allow the exhaust manifold to extract heat more effectively. It also serves as a visual flourish, and Nilu and Hartley call the 12-into-1 manifold the “snakepit.”
Nelson Hartley, founder and CEO of Hartley Engines, said,
“We’ve been quietly working on the design and layout of our own engine for the last few years, taking inspiration from late ’80s and early ’90s Formula 1 cars. We strove for the kind of engineering that’s raw, endearing, emotional, and sometimes a little crazy.
“With Sasha’s wishlist for NILU, we finally found the perfect project to dedicate our time and were able to adapt our development into his Hot V configuration, designing the engine around his chassis layout.
“Make no mistake; this is not an OEM engine from another manufacturer converted to the Hot V; this is a bespoke, large bore, short stroke monster. It’s got aggressive cams, aggressive port flow, lightweight components and exotic materials. We want to get a cold sweat every time the V12 starts and revs. It’s fair to say, we’re very excited!”
This engine will rev to 11,000 RPM and feature a bit over 600 lb-ft of torque. To put things simply, it’s likely to be a handful for the very few people who have the pleasure of driving it.
From Thought To Reality
Selipanov opened up to The Autopian about the most difficult part of the process and it had little to do with the car itself.
[The] hardest part in this project wasn’t designing the car but starting a company and walking towards a sustainable and successful business. The car has been in my mind for almost two decades. Just super rewarding seeing it in the flesh after all these years.
The body and monocoque are carbon fiber but they combine with aluminum alloy tubular subframes. The suspension employs a double-wishbone pushrod setup and then leverages Brembo brakes and Michelin tires to complete the connection to the road.
My path in the industry has never been about following rules and sticking to norms. I was never afraid to follow my intuition or chase my dreams. Breaking conventions is simply a byproduct. The same is true for NILU – a hypercar that discards current trends and conventions in pursuit of an elevated automotive experience.
Unveiling NILU to the world is a dream come true; a moment so profound it is hard to express in words. The vision was the result of a decades-long search, sleepless nights, years of overthinking and overanalyzing. I was fortunate to learn from and contribute to the industry’s best; now my team and I are thrilled to put all this vision and knowledge into action.
He opened his design firm Hardline 27 a year ago and sort of teased the car without saying it out loud. Take a look at the silhouette of the car under the cover in the brand’s press release.
Selipanov openly admits that this is a car that’s been kicking around in his head since 2006. He tells us that he even published images of it on his own AngryCarDesigner blog years ago.
Just for an expert perspective, I asked our very own Adrian Clarke to chime in on the Nilu. Here’s what he had to say.
“Oh look, another multi-million dollar plaything to be locked away and never driven – ironic considering this is supposed to be about the analog driving experience, a phrase that’s now so overused by the purveyors of limited run cars it’s rendered completely meaningless. Me scratching my balls is an analog experience. That being said, I quite like this. It brings to mind a sci-fi Pagani designed by Daniel Simon. Some of the lines feel a little soggy, particularly around the front vents, which contrast a little awkwardly with the sharp lines elsewhere. The rear looks a little too Pagani for me, and I’m not sold on how the geometric pixel layout of the taillight in the organic shape surrounding them, but overall it feels fresh and modern. Shame it’s going to be about eleventy billion dollars though”
Again, Nilu27 hasn’t announced pricing, but eleventy-billion sounds right on the money though Top Gear says it’ll cost $3.7 million and that the planned road-going version will have a price closer to $2.8 million. So, a bargain then? The car gets its official private unveiling in the flesh tomorrow, August 8, and then its public debut on August 15 at Pebble Beach.
It’s great that it’s mostly analog, it’s just funny that the only screen is the rear view mirror. I didn’t need a mirror for the chipper truck that I used to drive/operate (along w/ all semi’s) even though it actually had one which was hilarious! I can back up most all trailers, but the chipper was the hardest since you can hardly see it. I’m sure it still comes in handy on a supercar if anything to see the cars you beat in the rear view!
Rear view cameras are required on cars sold in the US as of MY 2018. May have influenced that decision.
Those seats look designed to drain away urine.
Am I the only one getting GT90 vibes?
I sure share Sasha Selipanov’s love of the Honda RA273 exhaust, though that was an even more tangled up snakepit than this. Looks great though!
Impressive! They’ve managed to give it styling that’s a bit different and interesting. And the whole analog thing is of course great, i just wonder if mere mortals will enjoy it with that much power
Exactly my thoughts. It doesn’t look exactly like every other hypercar on the market. The rear is very Porsche 917.
Hot Vs are hot.
One thing I’m appreciating about the electric car era is that the electrics are so absolutely brutally fast and so absolutely soul-crushingly boring that it’s forcing people to re-evaluate why it is we get behind the wheel in the first place – this is a billionaire’s plaything, but it’s definitely part of a trend towards passionate cars, instead of just fast cars, that I’m really hoping works its way down to normal cars.
I’ve got an ’04 3-series, which is not a fast car by modern standards (a new Camry will give me a run for the money off the line), but it’s So Much Fun to drive and I can actually lean into it and let the car dance – I rented a newer 5-series a couple months back, and (aside from the steering being frighteningly disconnected) I couldn’t do anything with it without winding up dead or in jail. I kept it in “Eco” mode because it was just too numb and too fast to try anything in Sport.
We’re well past the point of diminishing returns for a road car, let’s get back to something with some soul.
With exception to the front end, I rather like this. Given how uninspired modern auto designs are, I like seeing some imagination at work, even if it doesn’t always work well and is on something I could never dream of affording.
That car looks like the Cody Coyote mixed with this:
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/026/475/clark.jpg
Everyone keeps reporting this as having a 12 into 1 exhaust manifold but the renders show each bank has a separate collector prior to merging.
Yes.it looks like 12-2-1-3. I dont think it will have the high scream of a 12 into 1,but of course i hope im wrong!
Knowing how Hartley do things, it’s definitely going to scream. The GMA T50 has 12-4-2 and it definitely has a high scream.
I love the design philosophy behind this. Take what we knew from 1995, and just put modern engineering advancements underneath it.
The rear end is amazing, despite what Adrian says. Having the square taillights in the rounded openings is very much an early ’90s design trend and calls back to cars like the Venturi Atlantique or the Jaguar XJ220 where there were hard polygonal shapes set into the otherwise very rounded rears of the cars.
It very clearly takes cues from the Peugeot Quasar concept with the open rear deck and the exhausts centering over the engine and the roofline being just a canopy that dips into the hood. The sides scream Lamborghini Canto concept, with the top mounted and very rearward canted vents that become a continuous visual tunnel to the taillights. The interior is a liiiittle too 2003 to fit with the rest of the car, though. It very much reminds me of the 2001 Ford EX concept, or the later production 2005 Ford Mustang. I still like it very much, and the steering wheel’s great to see, but it’s just incongruous with the ’80s and ’90s cues of the exterior.
I see a lot of Peugeot Quasar in it too, I guess it’s going to be the Peugeot supercar we never got.
It’s weird that it’s calling itself analog because for most of us the only experience we’re going to have with it is through Forza or Gran Turismo or similar.
I echo Adrian Clarke’s sentiments on it being another stupidly rich person’s plaything, but it is fresh and interesting though.
Potentially hot take:
If you buy engines from someone else rather than design and build them in house, the resulting product is no longer a super or hypercar, but a kit car, regardless if you’re a startup like this guy or Aston Martin buying V8s from AMG.
Small companies have been using other peoples engines for decades. It’s not always economic to tool up your own. Even Gordon Murray went to BMW and Cosworth.
Ah yes, just like the infamous McLaren F1 kit car
I mean by that logic the Lincoln Mark VII Diesel was a kit car.
Ok this one is funny
Does that make the GMA T50 a kit car? Cosworth designed it. They also designed the Valkyries engine. Are new Land Rovers/Ranger Rovers kit cars as they use a BMW V8?
This isn’t exactly an off the shelf crate engine.
Like a getting Lamborghini to do an engine for a Dodge?
Or that Corvette with the Lotus engine.
Are slower examples still kit cars? Any Toyota with a Yamaha 2ZZ?
Many “Toyota” engines were designed/built by Yamaha, I used to joke that Toyota’s ‘engine development dept’ was just a guy in a small room with an old bakelite phone on his desk with a direct line to Yamaha.
That was before they wisened up and realized they could comission the whole car from Subaru or BMW.
It’s not just Toyota and Yamaha, there’s a whole industry that quietly designs engines for OEMs.
Sometimes they outsource an engine with a new technology to catch up, and sometimes they outsource something boring so their own engineers can work on new technology.
Yes, but “sometimes” is the key word here. No one has done it at the sheer scale and for as long as Toyota with Yamaha, where calling Yamaha was the default choice for engine design.
What about Pagani and AMG?
Look forward to the Lego speed champions set of this. That will be some build 🙂
That exhaust manifold is quite the work of art.
Actually*, if you are using your fingers to scratch your balls, which I think is pretty safe to assume, then it is very much a digital experience.
* “Actually” is my son’s favorite word. He just loves correcting people. I guess he just did become a “Dr.”, by getting a PhD in Mathematics. Is it bad that I want to smash his face into the floor, every time I hear him say “Actually”????
Get him to say “au contraire” instead, much more annoying.
Well, those are certainly styling choices.
Was the front end designed while still coming down from nitrous, so all they could do was chuckle at how they looked with cheek retractors in?
At least you can’t see it from the driver’s seat.
I can’t look at it without seeing Wallace
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z079LvaWqz0/maxresdefault.jpg
I knew I had seen that somewhere. Thanks for that!
I was thinking the exact same thing! “C’mon Grommit, this’ll get us to the cheese shop in no time flat!”