Guide: Final Flourish - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the BMW Nazca C2 Spider Ital Design
BACKGROUND
Unfortunately, owing to poor trading conditions caused by a global economic recession, over the winter of 1991-1992 BMW elected to abandon its plans for an M1 successor after Ital Design had created two alternate versions of its Nazca supercar for consideration: the M12 and C2.
From a commercial point of view, BMW undeniably made the right call; McLaren and Bugatti lost vast sums of money on their extremely expensive F1 and EB110 models which, like the Nazca, were similarly based around a state-of-art carbonfibre tub. Even the likes of Ferrari had a tough time of it during the first half of the 1990s, but fortunately their F40 flagship had been launched sufficiently early that the majority of cars produced were delivered before the market crashed.
Although there was no longer any prospect of the Nazca going into series production, the project had nevertheless yielded much good publicity for both Ital Design and BMW who did go on to approve one final iteration of the theme.
The resultant Nazca C2 Spider broke cover at the Monaco Grand Prix in May 1993, 18 months after the C2 Coupe had made its salon debut in Tokyo during the back end of 1991.
As the moniker of this latest machine suggested, it was an open top version of Ital Design’s stunning fixed head original, but below the revised skin there were some fairly significant mechanical updates as well. The most significant were a bigger, more powerful engine and a six instead of five-speed gearbox, both of which were imported from the flagship 8-series launched in late ‘91: the BMW Motorsport-developed 850 CSi.
CHASSIS
Like both previous iterations of the Nazca, the C2 Spider was based around a state-of-art carbon composite monocoque with tubular subframes at either end to support the suspension, engine, gearbox and other ancillary equipment. A 2600mm wheelbase was retained.
Double wishbones were used at either end with single spring / damper units at the front and two per side at the back. Body control was enhanced with an anti-roll bar for both axles.
The brake system employed Bosch ABS with 355mm ventilated discs all round.
Like the C2, handsome centre-lock five spoke alloy wheels with a 17-inch diameter were fitted. The 9.5-inch wide fronts rode on 235/45 ZR17 tyres and the 13-inch wide rears on 335/35 ZR17 tyres.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Instead of an Alpina-tuned version of BMW’s Type M70 B50 engine of the type fitted to the original C2, the C2 Spider ran an enlarged S70 B56 motor from the 850 CSi.
As usual, this was another 60° V12 with an aluminium alloy block and heads, single overhead camshafts per bank, two valves per cylinder and wet-sump lubrication.
Aside from a redesigned intake manifold to allow for its ‘exposed to the elements’ position in the C2 Spider, the engine was left completely standard.
The transition from M70 B50 to S70 B56 trim saw the cylinder bores enlarged from 84mm to 86mm and stroke lengthened from 75mm to 80mm which yielded an additional 588cc (5576cc as opposed to 4988cc).
BMW Motorsport added lightweight aluminium pistons, more aggressive valve timing, a forged crankshaft, a separate engine oil cooler and the latest Bosch DME 1.7 engine management. Compression was hiked from 8.8:1 to 9.8:1. An uprated exhaust system was installed with larger diameter pipes and a pair of trick catalytic converters reduced back pressure.
Also new was an electronic engine performance control system (EML) which, via a central control panel-mounted toggle switch, enabled the driver to choose between two modes (Comfort and Sport) that varied throttle sensitivity. EML also managed the CSi-specific gear-dependent rev limiter (6400rpm in first and second, 6200rpm in third, 6100rpm in fourth and 6000rpm in fifth and sixth) along with the adaptive idle point detection.
As a consequence of these changes, peak output went from 295bhp at 5200rpm to 380bhp at 5300rpm and 332lb-ft at 4100rpm to 406lb-ft at 4000rpm.
Transmission was through a six-speed manual Getrag Type E gearbox, a single-plate clutch and a limited-slip differential with CSi-specific oil cooler.
BODYWORK
Aside from a trio of subtly enlarged inlets above the chin spoiler, all the C2 Spider’s new external features were found behind the windscreen.
Most noticeably, the original domed cockpit lost its single-piece rear window which left the engine on full view. There was also a basket handle-style body coloured rollover hoop behind the cabin which was connected to a matching T-bar. The door windows, which when in place opened in Gullwing fashion, were detachable and could be stored in the rear-mounted luggage compartment when not in use.
The engine itself was set within a vented matt graphite shroud on a completely re-profiled rear deck that incorporated a more pronounced tunnel effect between the rear fenders.
As before, the C2 Spider’s front end featured light clusters housed in cutaways adjacent to the trademark BMW kidney grilles, below which was a wraparound chin spoiler. Further up, a large cooling vent was carved out from between a pair of arrow-like ribs that swept from the nose all the way back to the tail.
Down each flank were smoothly integrated intakes ahead of each rear wheel.
The handsome back end featured a bridge spoiler above custom tail light clusters adjoined by a Nazca-branded reflective strip. The four outlet exhaut system exited centrally through an opening between the lift-up rear clam shell (hinged at the rear) and the fixed body coloured rear apron.
Body panels were fashioned exclusively from carbonfibre.
INTERIOR
Inside, little was changed in the transition to Spider trim in what was an exceedingly well executed and seemingly production-ready interior.
Switchgear and instrumentation was sourced from BMW.
Located directly behind the three-spoke steering wheel was a primary binnacle with large analogue read outs for road and engine speed and smaller dials for water temperature and fuel. Fully integrated with the main binnacle was a central control panel heavily angled towards the driver that housed the onboard computer, audio system and ventilation controls.
Ital Design fitted carbonfibre bucket seats with body coloured backs. The seats were trimmed in leather to match the dash, transmission tunnel, door panels and sills.
WEIGHT / PERFORMANCE
The transition to Spider trim saw the C2 gain 41kg which took it to 1041kg.
The 0-62mph time was officially unchanged at 4.1 seconds but top speed increased from 180mph to 185mph.
RECEPTION / PRODUCTION
Although Ital Design would most likely have been open to building a small batch of C2 Spider copies for VIP customers, no commissions were forthcoming and the car displayed at Monaco in 1993 remained a one-off. Disappointingly, no further iterations of the Nazca were theme were produced either.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ital Design - http://www.italdesign.it
