The Man Behind the Chiron & Huracán Built His Own Car Company

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Published Feb 26, 2026

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 College of Design
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

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