Sasha Selipanov has cut his teeth at prestigious firms such as Genesis, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and Koenigsegg. Now the car designer has ventured out on his own to create the Nilu hypercar. The company’s first creation takes inspiration from sources such as ’60s F1 and Le Mans racers, classic Italian design houses, the Bauhaus “form follows function” philosophy, old school American muscle, drift cars, mathematics, and avant garde metal music. That is quite a list of inspiration.

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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. 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.
Sasha Selipanov, Nilu founder

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V12 Power

A bespoke carbon-fiber monocoque passenger cell carries aluminum-alloy subframes front and rear. These feature double wishbone suspension at both ends. The Nilu hypercar is said to weigh just 1 200 kg. Nilu has partnered with Hartley engines of New Zealand to produce the car’s engine.

The powerplant is a 6,5-litre V12 pure ICE, ie it has no electric assistance. The naturally aspirated engine produces 787 kW and 860 N.m of twist effort. Peak power is achieved a dizzying 11 000 r/min. Nilu27, the name of the automaker, says its new charge is limited to 400 km/h top speed. In a complete turnaround, the V12 has its exhaust manifold inside the ‘V’ of the block. This makes for an interesting aesthetic (see pic below).

Nilu hypercar

Nelson Hartley, founder and CEO of Hartley Engines, said “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!” 

The V12 is mated with an open-gate, seven-speed manual transmission. The steering wheel, pedal box, headrest, door mirrors and other adjustments are deliberately manual. This was intentional to provide owners with tactile feedback from cold-touch, machined billet controls, manual levers and switches.