Designer of 1,070HP manual hypercar says he made it that way because it was fun

This is the Nilu27, an internal combustion hypercar with over 1,000 horsepower and a manual gearbox designed by ex-Koenigsegg designer Sasha Selipanov.

Some people saw this as a breath of fresh air in the aseptic, all-electric car world of today.

It looks wild in pictures, and it is absolutely spectacular in the metal.

And the founder of Nilu27 told us a thing or two about this car.

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Nilu27 was designed with a no-nonsense approach to fun and speed

Nilu27 was a welcome guest at last year’s LA Auto Show.

It certainly stood out against a backdrop of mostly electric or hybrid, mostly family-oriented vehicles at the show.

Nilu27’s founder, Sasha Selipanov, also stood out.

Most founders and CEOs in the automotive world speak, act and dress corporate.

Sasha Selipanov dresses like a skater and looks like the frontman of a rock band, but he’s actually a talented and experienced car designer.

He’s worked at Bugatti, Genesis and more recently at Koenigsegg, and when we asked him why he decided to embark on this ‘mission’ with his own brand, his answer was refreshing and simple.

“I made a 1,000 horsepower car with a manual gearbox because that’s how I wanted it,” he told supercarblondie.com.

Selipanov said that while he doesn’t want to dismiss electric propulsion altogether, he believes the internal combustion engine is still the way to go for certain vehicles.

Namely, it’s the only option if you want to design a high-performance driver’s car with an engine and an exhaust system that could be exposed at the Louvre.

His no-nonsense approach is evident, and his answer to our second question couldn’t have been better worded if Hollywood’s elite screenwriters had written it.

We asked him about the process behind the car, and his answer was straightforward.

“The process is you just throw every last dollar you have at the project and pray that it works,” Selipov said.

About the 1,000 horsepower hypercar

The Niliu27 was designed by car people for car people.

It has a manual gearbox, no turbos, and no electric motors.

It is powered by a 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12, it can produce over 1,000 horsepower, 1,070 to be exact, and 634lb-ft of torque.

This also makes the Nilu V12 hypercar the world’s most powerful naturally aspirated (non-hybrid) hypercar.

Selipanov has worked on both the Bugatti Chiron and Koenigsegg Gemera but the Nilu27 looks like neither, it was designed to be its own thing.

The car was first teased in August 2024, and unveiled to the public in late 2024.

For now, Nilu27 plans to build just 15 examples of the hypercar for track use.

There will also be a future road-going version limited to 54 units, with four of them having unique designs.