When the BMW Nazca M12 was unveiled on the 1991 Geneva Motor Show, he not only turned his heads – it fully stolen the spotlight. While the production models from mainstream car manufacturers filled the show floor with reasonable updates and evolutionary changes, the NAZCA M12 looked like something that was shone in by another planet. And for many observers it felt as if the long -awaited spiritual successor to the legendary BMW M1 (E26) had finally arrived.
This assumption was not without reason. The designer of the M12, Fabrizio Giugiaaro, was the son of Gorgetto Giugiaaro, the man behind the legendary wedge of the M1. The design DNA reflected this connecting bad, medium-sized and unapologist table exotic, but the Nazca pressed things even further.
Carbon fiber dreams
The statistics alone sounded more like a Le Mans prototype than after a street car: 4.37 meters long, almost 2 meters wide and only 1.10 meters high. But it wasn’t just the proportions that were stunned. The entire body was made from carbon fiber, a material that has been removed years from becoming a mainstream in street cars. As a result, the weight of the M12 was reduced to just 1,100 kilograms, which contributed to an amazing resistance coefficient of 0.26 – a number that would still envy most sports cars today.
And then there was the canopy. Access to the cockpit was delivered via a two-part door system: a conventional lower door and an upper window in the Gullwing style, both hidden under a huge leaf curved glass, which offered a 360-degree visibility. It felt less like a car and more like a feather jet for street legal. Or at least something that was developed for a trail on Mars.
V12 power and not realized promise
Behind the two seats were BMW’s silky M70 V12, from the 750i and 850i coupé. It displaced 5.0 liters, made 300 hp and sent electricity through a six-speed manual transmission. Thanks to the low weight and the clean aero of the car, the Nazca M12 was able to sprint towards 297 km/h (184 miles per hour) – just a hair that is shy from the magical 300 km/h brand. But in 1991 this type of performance was not only impressive – it was borderline mythological.
It looked and sounded like a green light that was waiting to happen. But this light never came. Despite all the presence and its promise, the M12 remained a unique concept car.
Evolution: C2 and C2 spider
The story did not stop here. A few months later, BMW and ItaltDesign revealed the Nazca C2, a development of the M12 with subtle aero reinforcements and a more production-friendly look-obstacle. In 1993 the NAZCA C2 spider was followed, which offers the roof for an open-air experience and offers even more power over Alpina-defined V12 performance capacity.
Despite all this development work, none of the three Nazca variants ever made it into production. BMW, careful and cross-business as always, knew the market for a carbon-body super sports car-limited and shrank in view of the emissions and the economic pressure. According to at least one example, it was reported to be the way into the hands of the Sultan of Brunei, but the rest was limited to concept halls and presskits.
From the concept hall to the museum floor
At the end of the last month, the Nazca M12 fell quietly in the BMW Group Classic in Munich, where she was sitting for a few days among other legends. We were lucky enough to film it there. Today you can see it yourself in the BMW Museum in Munich, where it is now part of the Belle Macchine exhibition.
