With the disclaimer that this is pure speculation, we present an image a new rear-wheel-drive Nissan 2-door sedan expected to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show this fall. The cars you see here will appear on the cover of the April 10 issue of Japan’s Best Car magazine and are claimed, audaciously, to be renderings of a production model.
We would be remiss if we didn’t warn you that Best Car is notoriously tabloidy and any rendering must be taken with a grain of salt. Also, this is not an official statement by Nissan of any sort.
That said, the images are particularly notable for what is suggested as the NISMO version, as it is decked out in the livery of Motoharu Kurosawa’s 1972 works Hakosuka GT-R.
While the most obvious comparison will go to the Nissan IDx concepts, this pair is less Datsun 510 and more Skyline with a roofline that’s pure R35 and rear haunches taken from the R34 and R35. There’s even some semblance of the surf line cutting up the rear profile.
The slit in the C-pillar acknowledges the new crop of Nissan styling cues that debuted on the Sports Sedan Concept (likely to be the new Maxima) and Murano. However, what’s lacking in this illustration — and thus lending even more credence to the theory that it’s not at all reliable — is the lack of a V-Motion grille.
The new corporate face, established by Nissan Executive Chief Designer Mamoru Aoki, was deemed so important that Nissan even retrofitted it onto the nose of the IDx Concepts somewhere between the global debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2013 and their North American debut in Detroit in January 2014.
So while we’re all excited at the prospect of a small, rear-wheel-drive 2-door from Nissan, and that remains a possibility, we’re not going to hold our breaths on the styling to look anything like this, nice as it may be.
I like that rendering better than the Idx concept.
So now Nissan’s going to do what Jeep’s been doing for the past decade – yanking people around about this great concept that ain’t gonna happen (Wrangler-based pickup)?
Technically, the “V-motion” thing could be defined by the indent around the front emblem, or in that black panel on the blue one.
Eh – whatever… They built up the excitement, then said: “Never mind,” so I’ll look, but I won’t bother getting excited.
To be fair, this is not an official Nissan image or statement.
Yeah – I’ll look at it as somebody’s art project.
Some of those automotive design students have some pretty good-looking stuff, and some of it even looks better than what the manufacturers are doing.
Haven’t decided if I agree with j_tso, or not… I’ll have to see their overall project.
YES YES YES this drawing just oozes hakosuka goodness
so, 2 litre NA l6 and a similar luxury treatment to the alfa romeo 4c (no luxury at all)
try to keep the weight under 1100 kg and a new era of sport coupes is born 😉
too bad all i just said will probably never happen
Hey, I just realized – due to Ben’s “deemed so important” link – its grille slots are proportionally very similar to the 240SX in that posting!
The “Surf Line(?)” is somewhat reminiscent of that on the early ’70s Skyline.
Maybe 1.6 for the base; 2.0 for the Sport; 1.6 or 2.0 Turbo for the top performance line.
Scale the whole thing to the ’70s Celica/Galant (Colt, in U.S.).
Let’s run with this!
Already kicking around a couple of ideas…
The vent on the front fender could have the LED repeaters in the strake (black on Sport; chrome on LX).
The vent in the rear bumper side is not likely REAL, so, red reflector(s) recessed in, with red LEDs on smoke-black-tinted strakes (chrome on the LX).
Even got to thinking about the engines – maybe a VERY small V-6 or V-8? Not an engineer, so I don’t really know the requirements for cooling passages, etc.
Yup, that’s where Aoki got the inspiration from the V-motion grille. I’d probably prefer if he stuck with that more subtle one on the 240SX, but that’s not the way car design is going these days…
I thought Nissan officially closed the door on this?
Please no,the idx concept is better, its different than any thing out there, this render looks too much like a jetta in my opinion.
Huh…
Oh, so now you’re back…
Able to sit yet from all the pitchforks about the no-go on the IDx?
Just yankin’ your chain, man! 🙂 How’s it goin’?