Nissan Virtual Future Supercar
Consider the Batmobile. In its early iterations–from, say, the 1966 Batman Coloring Book–it was ahead of its time in design to the point that it was even a little ridiculous. Yet, in later years, these early designs would eventually serve as inspiration for later vehicles, including the Corette, Firebird, and even our own Nissan Z-Series. The point is this: although it started as merely a cartoon, this design was extremely influential. And now, we might be seeing the same with Nissan’s virtual future supercar.
Under the name “Concept 2020”–a year, maybe?–the Nissan supercar has been introduced as part of the now-available Gran Turismo 6 video game. It will be featured among other concept cars from automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Mitsubishi, and virtual gearheads will be able to “drive” the Nissan supercar in July as the “Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo.” So why is this important, you ask? Because this might represent a potential shift in the way that concept cars are introduced. If you think about it, the design of concept cars is among the riskiest endeavors a car company can undertake; they work for months (or years, god forbid) tweaking a deal that’s core mission is to stoke curiosity and introduce future possibilities. But what happens if one of these cars is received poorly or goes the way of “The Homer” from The Simpsons? All of that work, all of that money, gone. This offers a better, more cost-effective option; they can “build” the car conceptually prior to tangible construction, gauge the response, and cut out much of the guesswork. Een the early views of the car are undeniably Nissan. The heavily accented fenders and the rear-swept posture both look a little too close to the GT-R than our discerning eyes can ignore. The Concept 2020 is certainly futuristic but clearly grounded in classical Nissan design. So are we looking at the GT-R from a few years out? We at Robbins Nissan don’t dare to speculate. However, you can soon do just that–Gran Turismo 6 is now available for PlayStation 3, and the Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo will be available as an add-on in July.
