The difficult to grasp Nazca M12 is finally tangible, provided you are ready to pay the BMW Museum a visit. This carbon fiber stunner is part of the Belle Macchine exhibition, which celebrates the Italian design and its connections to BMW. The spaceship on wheels, designed by Goriortetto Giugiaro, the extremely talented man behind the M1 styling in the 1970s, remains a breathtaking sight 34 years after his debut.
Fabrizio Giugiaro was only 26 years old when he wrote the Nazca M12, his first autodesign. He was inspired by the racing cars of Formula 1 and Group C, and although the vehicle may seem to have had mowers doors, this was not the case. The doors opened traditionally, since only the windows rose separately and were removable for driving with open air.
Officially, the Nazca M12 never reached production. Despite the existence of two follow-up cars: the C2 and C2 spider. However, legend says that at least one car was sold to the Sultan from Brunei. In fact, pictures have appeared on social media that show a black example of the right hand. I remember that I turned to BMW Classic when the pictures came up, but without success. Unfortunately, the company had no information about the mysterious vehicle.
BMWS M70 is located under the curved glass, which comes from the 7 Series (E32 750i) and the 8 Series (E31 850i). Alpina also used it for the B12 5.0 based on the E32. In the Nazca M12, the long-mounted, naturally sucked 5.0-liter V12 300 hp was sent to the rear axle by a six-speed manual transmission. That may not sound impressive today, but it is worth noting that the Supercar only weighed 1,100 kilograms (£ 2,425) or about E30 m3.
The car is only 1.1 meters tall, but extends from almost 2 meters, so there is a command. Despite what the pictures could suggest, it is relatively short. At just 4.37 meters (172 inches) it is about as long as E30. The elegant body achieved an air resistance coefficient of only 0.26, a remarkable performance in 1991 and even decades.
Even BMW admits that it was a “shame” that the Nazca M12 never made it to production. And in 2025 we are still waiting for a spiritual successor to the M1 …
Photos: BMW / Instagram
