1991 Nissan 240sx Base Hatchback 2-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Nissan working on bringing bizarro BladeGlider to dealerships?

It's a rare thing for pie-in-the-sky concepts to make production relatively unmolested. Edges are usually softened, mirrors made bigger and wheels shrunken into something that will be less backbreaking and easier to see out of on public roads. And while the essence of many concepts can still find their way into production, the wackier parts found in their concept forms often end up as nothing more than flights of fancy.
That makes news of the strange Nissan BladeGlider being considered for production rather interesting. You'll recall that the BladeGlider Concept debuted in November at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, featuring a McLaren-esque three-seat V layout, an electric drivetrain and a narrow front track like the DeltaWing and ZEOD RC. Understandably, perhaps, Nissan has been touting it as "reinventing the performance car." Everything about it screamed "concept."
Now comes word from Car in the UK that the car may actually make it to production. Quoting Nissan vice president Andy Palmer, "It's in our mid-term plan." "Our intention is to do it," he says. Now, Palmer has plenty of sway, but this should hardly be taken as an absolute confirmation that the triangle-shaped car would be coming. It is, however, a very promising sign. Palmer evidently sees the BladeGlider as a way to cajole young people into becoming car enthusiasts, which suggests Nissan might try to make it inexpensive. Alternatively, the BladeGlider could form the basis of a small-volume racecar, but it isn't clear what racing organization would have it.

NHTSA investigating 200,000 Sentra, Versa models over brakes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a second investigation into Nissan in May. The first covered inaccurate fuel gauges in the 2007 Quest minivan. The latest affects the Sentra and Versa from the 2013 and 2014 model years and the 2014 Versa Note, because of complaints of long brake pedal travel. If NHTSA finds a problem, it could affect an estimated 200,000 vehicles.
At the moment, this is still only a preliminary evaluation "to asses the scope, frequency and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect," according to the report, but it could lead to the full recall. NHTSA is still trying to find whether or not there are accidents, injuries or fatalities related to the problem. At this time, much of the data in the document is still marked Confidential or TBD. Nissan told Reuters in a statement that the company is working with the agency on the investigation and supplying the regulator with further information.
According to NHTSA, its Office of Defects Investigation has received eight complaints about long pedal travel in these models. They allege that the brake pedal goes all the way to the floor when pressed in some cases and doesn't sufficiently slow the vehicle. Autoblog has contacted Nissan for its reaction to the investigation. We will update this story when we receive a reply. Until then, scroll down to read the current investigation report.

Tesla about to sell 50,000th Model S

Nissan sold its 50,000th Leaf a total of two years and two months after introducing the EV to dealerships. Tesla isn't as established as Nissan, and its Model S - with its higher levels of luxury and performance - costs multiple times more than the Leaf. Consider the Tesla's starting price of $70,000-plus (and easily much more with a bigger battery and a few upgrades), and compare that to the Leaf's base MSRP of just a bit over $30,000 before its 2013 price cut. It would make sense, then, that it would take the Model S longer to hit 50,000 unit sales. But, no. The Model S could meet the 50,000 sales milestone before the end of October (in fact, it may already have done so). This is just two years and three months after it launched in late June 2012. The Model S could meet the 50,000 sales milestone before the end of October. Tesla hasn't released its sales report for the third quarter, but the Palo Alto-based automaker sold 39,128 units of the Model S through June. Previously, Tesla estimated it would have 7,800 third quarter sales (putting it at 46,928 through September), other independent estimates put Tesla at 50,000 sales in late October. The Model S may not have beat the Nissan Leaf to 50K, but it's not hard to see how this is a win for the California automaker. Arguably, this is a case where we all win. Anytime some buys an EV instead of a traditionally powered vehicle - regardless of marque - that's less energy consumed while driving, fewer emissions and an example set to others who have yet to make the switch. It's hard not to be impressed by Tesla's relative success. Furthermore, Tesla coming so close to Nissan in selling 50,000 EVs is, above all, a testament to the desirability of the Model S, despite the Leaf's clear advantage in terms of attainability.