People who have a bankroll that can choke a hippo can buy any new car they want. But do you know which new car they can’t get their hands on? One with a naturally aspirated V12 and a manual transmission (unless you count the one-off Aston Martin Victor). The Nilu27 Nilu hypercar that recently appeared on “Jay Leno’s Garage” aims to change that.
My colleague Diego Rosenberg and I told you about the Nilu on the Drive the Bid podcast back in May of 2024. Now there’s a prototype, which company co-founders (and husband and wife) Sasha and Inna Selipanov brought for Leno to see up close. Nilu27 may be the new kid on the block of hypercar manufacturers, but it has plenty of pedigree. Before the Selipanovs established their company, Sasha was a designer for Lamborghini and Bugatti, and the head of design for Koenigsegg. As a result, the Nilu—a portmanteau of Nica and Lucia, their daughters’ names—has an exotic, curvaceous body with a fighter jet-like canopy. Its carbon fiber construction helps the Nilu tip the scales at 1,200 kilograms (2,645 pounds).
Sasha wasn’t the only Bugatti designer involved in the creation of the Nilu; his former colleague Etienne Salomé designed the interior. The 1990s F1-inspired steering wheel has a small diameter to increase road feel, and sits in front of analog gauges. Between the two seats is a metal ignition key (remember those?) and a gated shifter for the Cima seven-speed manual gearbox. One thing you won’t see is a lot of gizmos or a giant touchscreen because the Nilu was made to be an analog machine.
Something else you won’t see is a cover over the 6.5-liter V12 built by Hartley Engines of New Zealand. In keeping with the analog theme, the 80-degree “hot-V” design doesn’t have any turbos. Even without power adders, the engine cranks out 1,070 horsepower at a stratospheric 11,000 rpm and 634 lb-ft of torque at 7,000 rpm.
Given its unusual mix of characteristics, the Nilu is an exotic among exotics. Perhaps the next time the Selipanovs visit Leno, they’ll have a car he can drive so we can see and hear what is a truly unique creation.
