The Nazca C2 Concept – A crazy 90s car with a crazy 90s design

In the early nineties, Italdesign was itching to enter the supercar market. The first prototype they completed was the Italdesign M12. This RWD car featured a version of the 5.0 liter V12 engine found in the BMW 750i and 850i with 300 HP and a 5-Speed Manual.

Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italdesign’s founder was responsible for the styling, and before the car went into production, he wanted to make it more radical. In late 1991, Giugiaro restyled the M12 into the car that became known as the C2. The look was more aggressive: the track was widened, the front-end redesigned and the wings and spoiler were made more complex to emphasise the feel of the racetrack. The front spoiler was lowered while three spoilers were added at the back to keep the car firmly glued to the road. Underneath, the car was very similar to the M12 except the newer C2 featured an Alpina-tuned Neuromotion FC6 V12, making 380 HP and reaching a top speed of 311 km/h (193 mph) and a 0-100 time of 4.2 seconds. The car’s aesthetic features included Semi gull-wing doors, full glass top and all carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer construction . Three cars were built.

In 1993 Italdesign released a new, slightly redesigned version of the C2 called C2 Spider. This version featured a T-Top and was fitted with a more powerful engine than the C2: a BMW 12 cylinder unit offering 5660 cc and 380 hp, the same one developed for the BMW 850 CSi. The high power required the adoption of a sturdy 6-speed gearbox.

The car was intended as an official replacement for the BMW M1 super car from the ‘70s - ‘80s, but BMW was hesitant at producing another mid-engined super car after the M1 flopped, so they pulled the plug. BMW allowed ItalDesign to use their name and grill solely on the 3 concept cars built.

What do you think of this car?