The Man Behind the Chiron & Huracán Built His Own Car Company • Sasha Selipanov | MotoMan Podcast #012

In this episode of the MotoMan Podcast, Sasha Selipanov shares the story behind some of the most important modern performance cars — and why he ultimately left the biggest automotive brands to start his own company. From growing up in 1990s Russia and sketching cars as a kid, to shaping icons like the Lamborghini Huracán and Bugatti Chiron, Sasha reveals the tension between engineering and design inside major OEMs, the creative realities of studio life, and what he learned working with Ferdinand Piëch and Koenigsegg. The conversation then shifts to Sasha’s next chapter: founding Nilu and creating the Nilu 27 — a car built around analog driving, a manual transmission, and a philosophy that challenges the industry’s shift toward automation and AI. If you’re interested in how iconic cars are created — and what it takes to build a new automotive brand from scratch — this is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:01:50 - Cars that became real 00:05:06 - Sketching Lamborghinis 00:06:46 - Formative Years 00:09:46 - Collecting Bullets 00:11:55 - Art center 00:12:40 - Meeting Inna 00:14:14 - Sketching Cars as kid 00:17:11 - 90's living in Russia 00:20:35 - From Volkswagen to Koenigsegg 00:21:59 - The Huracan 00:23:41 - The Chiron 00:28:11 - Studio vs Big Car Company's 00:29:37 - Ferdinand Piëch 00:35:56 - Engineering vs Designing 00:37:47 - Going into Genesis 00:42:22 - Koenigsegg 00:45:30 - Committee approach or dictatorship 00:47:27 - His experience at Koenigsegg 00:48:59 - Car production in Sweden 00:50:52 - Koenigsegg Gemera and CC850 00:54:02 - Sketches vs Reality 00:55:38 - Sketching thinking on a production level 00:57:18 - AI in the Automobile industry 00:59:47 - Life after Koenigsegg 01:02:15 - Starting a car company 01:05:08 - Getting Investors 01:07:45 - Throwing back to basis 01:12:35 - Nilu Engine Manufacturers/Hartley Engines 01:14:09 - Nilu 27 01:21:52 - Nilu's Manual transmission/Cima 01:24:27 - Challenges 01:28:07 - The Nilu Reception 01:31:09 - The choices he made 01:33:36 - Final Thoughts #MotoManPodcast #SashaSelipanov #CarDesign #Hypercar #Nilu27 #Koenigsegg #Bugatti #Lamborghini #AutomotiveDesign #ManualTransmission #Supercar #CarDesigner #CarPodcast #MotoManTV #NILU27 #CarDesign #BugattiChiron #Koenigsegg #V12 #ManualTransmission For driving adventures & car reviews, before sure to visit us @ https://www.youtube.com/@MMTVCars Download the MotoManTV Podcast @ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motomantv-podcast/id1836304387 https://open.spotify.com/show/0V4AKzLYrZc6rNCF23kwOt https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/90ba9b31-fe69-4baf-817d-cb3816a33c21/motomantv-podcast Connect with our Short Form content here: https://www.instagram.com/motomantv/ https://x.com/MotoManTV Proudly shot on Sony’s Cinema line of Cameras