Interview with Vesuvius Designer Nick 'The Maestro' Scianna
Why Vesuvius Rejects the Modern Hypercar
Interviewer: The automotive world seems obsessed with adding more technology every year. Bigger screens, more driver aids, more software. Why did you decide to go the opposite direction with Vesuvius?
Nick Scianna: Because I don't think technology is the problem. Technology is incredible when it has a purpose. What I question is when technology starts replacing the experience instead of enhancing it. For years we've been told that the future of performance cars means more software correcting more driver inputs. My question has always been... What did we lose in the process?
Interviewer: What do you think we lost?
Nick Scianna: The driver. I've spent decades around some of the world's greatest exotic automobiles—not just looking at them, but understanding how they were engineered, why they worked, where they fell short, and why certain cars leave a permanent impression on you. As the years passed, I watched supercars become astonishingly fast. But I also watched them become increasingly isolated. Computers started making more decisions. Drivers started making fewer. At some point, I realized that wasn't progress. That was surrendering part of the experience.
Interviewer: Is that where Vesuvius began?
Nick Scianna: Vesuvius was never designed to compete in the race to have the most electronics. Instead, we asked a much simpler question. What if every single piece of technology had to justify why it existed? If it genuinely made the automobile better...It stayed. If it simply existed because modern cars are expected to have it...It didn't belong.
Interviewer: So that's why you chose a naturally aspirated V10?
Nick Scianna: Absolutely. Nothing delivers the immediacy, sound and emotional character of a high-revving naturally aspirated engine. You don't experience it through speakers. You don't experience it through programming. You experience it mechanically. The same philosophy led us to a gated manual transmission. People often ask why we didn't use a dual-clutch gearbox. Because no computer has ever replicated the satisfaction of executing a perfect shift yourself.
Interviewer: One thing people may not expect is how much attention you've paid to the cockpit.
Nick Scianna: That was actually one of the biggest priorities. Historically, exotic cars have often treated
the driver as someone who simply has to fit inside whatever space was left over. I never accepted that. If you're asking someone to become completely connected with the machine, then the cockpit has to fit the human being—not the other way around. We engineered the composite tub, seating position and controls around an unusually broad range of drivers. Someone six-foot-six, wearing a helmet, can have the space, visibility and control they need, while a woman barely five feet tall can achieve the same proper driving position without compromising comfort or confidence behind the wheel. And that thinking goes beyond simply reaching the pedals. The adjustability, seating, visibility, ingress and egress, storage and luggage capacity were all considered around the reality that the person buying and driving Vesuvius isn't necessarily a six-foot male enthusiast. Women represent an enormously important part of the luxury and performance market, yet exotic cars have traditionally done a poor job of designing around them. We weren't interested in doing that. Vesuvius needed to be a car that a woman could genuinely choose for herself, drive properly, travel in comfortably and enjoy every bit as much as anyone else. Mechanical precision begins with ergonomics.
Interviewer: Yet underneath, the engineering is anything but old-fashioned.
Nick Scianna: Not even close. People confuse analog with outdated. Those aren't the same thing. Our electrical architecture uses the same philosophy you'd expect in top-level motorsport and aerospace.
Mil-Spec Tefzel wiring. Raychem high-temperature sleeving. Motorsport connectors. Systems designed
to outlast the car itself. We embraced advanced engineering. We simply refused unnecessary complexity.
Interviewer: So where does technology belong?
Nick Scianna: Technology should serve the automobile. It should manage the engine with precision. Monitor the health of the vehicle. Provide reliability. What it shouldn't do is replace judgment. Or timing.
Or skill. If software determines every important decision, eventually the driver becomes a passenger with a steering wheel. That was never the car I wanted to build.
Interviewer: Only sixty-two Vesuvius models will ever exist. Why such a small number?
Nick Scianna: Because extraordinary things should remain extraordinary. Scarcity isn't a marketing strategy, it's part of preserving the significance of the automobile. Every car deserves the attention it requires. Every owner deserves an experience that feels personal. Each of these cars are hand built.
That attention to detail simply isn't possible if you're building hundreds of cars.
Interviewer: If someone asked you to summarize Vesuvius in one sentence, what would you say?
Nick Scianna: I'd say this...Progress doesn't require less technology. It requires technology with purpose.
And sometimes...the most advanced decision an engineer can make...is knowing when to let the driver take over.
The First Six
Interviewer: The first six cars are being introduced differently than most manufacturers. Why?
Nick Scianna: Because this isn't simply about purchasing a car. It's about beginning a relationship. The first six Vesuvius commissions represent the foundation of Black Horse Cartel. Those chassis numbers can never exist again. Rather than announcing them publicly, we're delivering six individually numbered presentation cases by private courier. Inside is a metal Allocation Card with encrypted credentials. Those credentials unlock the confidential engineering file, build allocation details, and direct access to schedule a private one-on-one technical briefing with me. From the moment the case is delivered, the recipient has exactly seven days to activate their credentials. If they choose not to proceed, the invitation expires, the credentials terminate, and the allocation moves on. The invitation isn't a promise of ownership. It's an invitation to decide whether Vesuvius belongs in your collection. Six cases. Six decisions.
And it all begins with Invitation 001.
That is Vesuvius.
A Perfect 10. A Visceral Savage.
Related Reading