The Tokyo Auto Salon kicks off in a couple of weeks. Nissan will be there with a plethora of vehicles, including production models, race cars, some concepts, and a strange five-door Z station wagon.
Students from the Nissan Automobile Technical College designed the wagon and two other cars as part of their studies. While they’ll be exhibited at the show, these are one-offs with no intent for production. Since we’re fans of education and creativity and have no desire to crush the dreams of youthful minds, we’ll just present the cars for your consideration and leave it at that.
Z Lealia:
Photo by: Nissan
We have to start with the Z wagon, simply because it’s an answer to a question nobody asked. It’s built on the second-generation Nissan Stagea platform, hence the squarish sides and four-door layout. The face obviously comes from the new Z, but the oddly proportioned backside comes from a Nissan Leaf. To make it all fit, the Stagea was cut up, widened, welded, and finally given a coat of Ikazuchi Yellow for a proper Z flavor.
Photo by: Nissan
Photo by: Nissan
The weird wagon was built by fourth-year students at the Kyoto campus studying auto maintenance and customization, who describe it as a “sports station wagon for family journeys.” There’s no mention of the powertrain, but being a Stagea underneath the custom bodywork, we’ll assume a VQ35 V-6 is driving the rear wheels.
NEO Skyline
Photo by: Nissan
Look closely (if you can) at this blue coupe and you just might see an Infiniti G35. It’s based on the V35 Skyline from the mid-2000s, which came stateside as the Infiniti, but the bodywork is a blending of past and present Skylines. The flat nose and kinked side pillars are straight from the 1970s, but we’re not so sure what’s happening at the back. It sort of resembles the 1973 Skyline 2000GT, with the body lines arcing over the rear fenders. It extends rearward to form a reverse wedge, which, apparently, represents the present, according to Nissan.
Photo by: Nissan
Photo by: Nissan
This car also comes from fourth-year students at Kyoto. The name stems from this car being a combination of past and present, bringing nostalgia to older buyers while still being exciting for younger audiences. It certainly has an interesting presence, for better or worse.
Bluebird Kiwami
Photo by: Nissan
The boxy U11 Nissan Bluebird shares its bones with the first-generation Maxima, and this one emphasizes those proportions with a widebody kit that would make Rocket Bunny jealous. At a glance, it looks like this four-door sedan gets the anti-Z treatment, cutting it down to just two doors. But look above the rear wheel arches and you’ll see handles for the back door, incorporated into the flared backside. The other cars featured here look…intriguing. But this 1980s widebody sedan is undoubtedly cool as hell.
Photo by: Nissan
Photo by: Nissan
It’s the product of third-year students at Nissan’s Aichi campus, studying auto body repair. Considering the extensive bodywork that went into this build, it’s a very appropriate project to display their skills.
These cars and more will be on display at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, running January 10-12.
