Nissan Automotive College Students Create Pike Car
Founded in 1983, as well as showcasing new talent, Tokyo Auto Salon is one of the top motor shows globally for modified and tuned cars. The show returns to Makuhari Messe from the 9th to 11th January and features projects created by students of the Nissan Automotive Technical College. This year students have gone for a retro theme with their own versions of an R30 Skyline sedan, a Sunny Skyline and also a Figaro inspired car.
As mentioned on Japanese Nostalgic Car, the students from the Kyoto campus have created a modern Pike Car in the spirit of the Be-1, Pao and Figaro – the so-called “Eloura” uses a Nissan March (Micra) as its base…
In this case, it’s a K13 March rather than a K10, and the retro aspect was inspired by a 312 Bluebird. The project took six months to complete, and the biggest challenge was combining the narrow face of a Bluebird from the early 1960s to the wider body of the March
We can’t help but notice the resemblance of the “Eloura” to our own beloved Figaro. We of course know from past interviews with the designers of the Figaro, that the car was inspired by a number of other cars already in existence. Perhaps the creation of this car will inspire the next generation of Nissan designers to be further inspired by the Figaro, as other cars did that preceded it!
And, of course, the photo of the team of designers is very evocative of the original design team back when the Figaro was created.
Nissan themselves will also be in attendance, showcasing some of their own designs. During the show, Nissan will unveil a special NISMO concept model, feature several displays including upcoming vehicles, customized cars and more.
Images courtesy of Nissan. See the full image of the car in the gallery below.
We are very grateful to member Mike Evans for bringing this to our attention.
