Guide: BMW Nazca C2 Ital Design
Background
Although Ital Design’s original Nazca M12 concept was well executed and fully operational, BMW were not sufficiently convinced and failed to sanction a production version.
The M12 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1991. It had been commissioned by BMW as a potential replacement for the M1 supercar, production of which had ended back in 1981.
As certain aspects of the M12’s styling left BMW underwhelmed, they requested a subtle redesign.
For this second iteration, the opportunity was also taken to enhance the original car’s relatively pedestrian engine.
Seven short months after the M12 was presented, BMW and Ital Design took the wraps off its successor at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1991.
Chassis
Like the M12, the Nazca C2 was built around a state-of-the-art carbon tub with a 2600mm wheelbase.
Tubular spaceframes were fitted at either end to carry the independent double wishbone suspension and engine / gearbox. Single spring / damper units were used at the front with two per side at the back.
Bosch ABS was installed along with ventilated discs all round.
Handsome new five spoke alloy wheels were fitted to the C2. They now had 17-inch instead of 18-inch diameter but were considerably wider than before: 9.5-inches at the front (up from 8) and 13-inches at the rear (up from 10).
Track dimensions expanded accordingly.
Bodywork
Although the M12 and C2 shared many design characteristics, everything bar the domed cockpit was tweaked for the new car.
The re-profiled nose featured lights concealed behind wraparound grilles. There was also a flatter, more aggressive chin spoiler.
The smooth flanks were subtly flared to accommodate the wider wheels and the radiator intakes behind each door were now more neatly integrated.
New door handles were moved from the top of the doors to the sides. Like the M12, cockpit access required the doors to be opened conventionally and then the windows to be raised separately in Gullwing fashion.
Ital Design left the handsome back end largely intact. The previously enclosed upper section of the tail fascia between the lights was opened up to improve ventilation and a spoiler was added.
A neater rear apron was also fitted to match the new version installed at the front.
Overall, the C2 was 95mm wider and 630mm longer than the M12.
The drag coefficient was a drastically reduced - 0.26 compared to 0.31.
The C2 also proved a far better looking machine with the front-end restyle a particular success.
Interior
Few changes were made to the cockpit.
Other than some minor switchgear and instrumentation updates, the most significant alteration was a pair of leather-trimmed carbonfibre buckets in place of the M12’s well-padded and comparatively luxurious seats.
Engine & Gearbox
Whereas the M12 was equipped with a standard 295bhp Type M70 B50 five-litre BMW V12 (as fitted to the 850i), BMW opted to install an Alpina tuned version for the C2.
These modified units had originally been developed for the B12 5.0 which was Alpina’s ultimate super-saloon based on the E32 7-series.
Displacement was an unchanged 4988cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 84mm and 75mm respectively.
However, Alpina’s tweaked motor featured bigger valves, high-lift camshafts, a compression ratio hiked from 8.8:1 to 9.5:1 and re-mapped Bosch Motronic engine management.
The power output went from 295bhp at 5200rpm to 350bhp at 5300rpm.
There was also a useful torque gain with 347lb-ft at 4000rpm compared to 332lb-ft at 4100rpm.
Mounted longitudinally in the chassis, the engine was coupled to a five-speed manual Getrag 560G gearbox.
Weight / Performance
Thanks to the more widespread use of lightweight materials, the C2 dropped from 1098kg to just 1000kg.
Top speed was once again quoted as 180mph, but the 0-62mph time was now 4.1 seconds as opposed to 4.5 seconds.
Launch
When the C2 was unveiled in October 1991, the recessionary mood that blighted the M12’s reception had worsened. Unfortunately, things did not improve for another couple of years.
Throughout this period, BMW kept the C2 programme on ice.
It was clearly a good promotional tool though and, to that end, in 1993, a small series of C2 Spiders (covered separately) were produced for use as course cars at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ital Design - http://www.italdesign.it
