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From its beginnings as a simple design sketch, Prototype 9
reimagines what might have been for a 1940s INFINITI grand prix race car
- A journey back in time - a celebration of INFINITI's passion for design and predecessor's entrepreneurial spirit
- Fusion of advanced technology with traditional hands and hearts of hundreds of craftsmen
- Powered by prototype electric motor and battery from Nissan Motor Corporation's Advanced Powertrain Department
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. –
Nissan Motor Corporation and premium automotive brand INFINITI have unveiled a
sleek, open-wheeled electric retro roadster prototype at the 2017 Pebble Beach
Concours d'Elegance. The car, called Prototype 9, is a celebration of Nissan
Motor and INFINITI's ingenuity, artistry and craftsmanship. It represents a
reimagining of a 1940s race car with time-honored production techniques
employed to realize its retro design.
"Prototype 9 celebrates the tradition of ingenuity,
craftsmanship and passion of our forebears at Nissan Motor Corporation, on
whose shoulders we stand today. It started as a discussion: What if INFINITI
had created a race car in the 1940s? If one were to imagine an open-wheeled
INFINITI racer on the famous circuits of the era, such as Japan's Tamagawa
Speedway, what would that look like? The sketches were stunning and the idea so
compelling that we had to produce a prototype. As other departments became
aware of this, they volunteered their time to create a working vehicle."
Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design
Prototype 9 is
emblematic of INFINITI's entrepreneurial spirit and passion for stunning
design. From humble beginnings as a sketch, to the dynamic example presented at
Pebble Beach, Prototype 9 has been brought to life as an after-hours endeavor
by a passionate and enterprising team of employees from across the Nissan Motor
Corporation.
The car is
powered by a prototype electric motor and battery from Nissan Motor
Corporation's Advanced Powertrain Department. This nod to the future contrasts
with the traditional materials and techniques applied for the Prototype 9's manufacture,
including panels hand-beaten by a team of Takumi – Nissan Motor's master
artisans.
"What started as an after-hours idea grew into a fully
fledged prototype; our designers and engineers were excited by the notion of
creating a past vision, a nod to our origins. They volunteered their own time;
more and more staff became involved. Our teams have proven skills in
manufacturing, engineering, design and advanced powertrains, yet they wanted to
bring their own traditional craftsmanship to the project. They made Prototype 9
a reality, a result of their ingenuity – they recognized and realized the past,
powered by a future-centric electric powertrain at its heart. Prototype 9
blends modern technology and hand-crafted details paying tribute to the forebears
of INFINITI."
Roland Krueger, Chairman and Global President
Prototype 9
was inspired by an emerging era of Japanese motorsport. The custom-built Prince
R380, which also will be shown during Monterey Car Week at The Quail, a
Motorsports Gathering, broke several land speed records in 1965 before taking
overall victory at the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway. Prince Motor
Company is considered to be Japan's original builder of premium automobiles,
and its legacy can be traced to INFINITI Motor Company and its current model
line. The R380 shown at The Quail is the actual Japanese Grand Prix-winning
car, believed to be the only surviving R380.
"We like to think that INFINITI, with its stunning
design, high performance capability and forward-looking technology, shares some
DNA with the Prince Motor Company, which became part of Nissan Motors.
Prototype 9 is a celebration of the artistry and ingenuity inherent in our
company."
Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design
Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design
Where existing
and future INFINITI models adhere to the company's "Q" and
"QX" nomenclature, Prototype 9 represents something different.
Echoing the company's origins, the figure "9" is pronounced
"kyuu" in Japanese – similar to the English pronunciation of the
letter "Q," which is used for all of the company's production cars.
Prototype 9: Designers imagine, "what if…?"
"We discussed the idea of ‘chancing' upon an unrecognized race car, hidden away for decades in a barn, deep in the Japanese countryside. We wanted to explore what this looked like, what it would have been made of. Open-wheeled racers of the age were beautiful machines, elegant and powerful and with a wonderful purity of purpose. It's an automotive fantasy, but the notion captured our imaginations enough to put pencil to paper."
Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design
"We discussed the idea of ‘chancing' upon an unrecognized race car, hidden away for decades in a barn, deep in the Japanese countryside. We wanted to explore what this looked like, what it would have been made of. Open-wheeled racers of the age were beautiful machines, elegant and powerful and with a wonderful purity of purpose. It's an automotive fantasy, but the notion captured our imaginations enough to put pencil to paper."
Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design
The starting
point for bringing Prototype 9 to life was a conceptual sketch: an
interpretation of an INFINITI race car, inspired by roadsters and aircraft of
the era yet molded in new materials and advanced technology. From this moment
Prototype 9's transformation from sketch to reality was inevitable.
Albaisa
created a sketch of the vehicle, with sleek lines, and aeronautically-inspired
bodywork crafted in bare sheet metal. Initially shared only with close
colleagues, the idea soon spread among INFINITI's design team members – with a
number enthusiastically calling for the vehicle to be brought to life. The
sketch triggered a domino effect – each person who saw it felt it deserved more
attention, and soon there was a burgeoning desire within INFINITI to take it
beyond the drawing board.
More designers
at the INFINITI Design Studio in Atsugi, Japan, began making their own detail
contributions – the shape, design and materials that could feature in the
cockpit, for example. Chasing a passion for beautiful vehicle design, the team
moved to bring the sketch into the physical world.
The vehicle
was transformed from a daring idea into scale design studies in clay. Full-size
models were soon formed. Although still a secretive "passion project"
at this point, word seeped into other parts of INFINITI Motor Company and
throughout its parent company, the Nissan Motor Corporation. People noticed
something a little different was taking shape at the design center.
INFORMATION FROM INFINITI
BRUCE HUBBARD
BRADLEY HUBBARD
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