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Deltawing takes out second ad targeting Nissan amidst design lawsuit

Don Panoz isn't a guy shy away from a fight. Since December, Panoz's Deltawing Technologies has been in a lawsuit with Nissan over alleged intellectual property violations with the design of the Zeod RC. The situation went public several weeks ago when Deltawing bought an ad in The Tennessean, a paper near Nissan's US headquarters, and the industry trade, Automotive News, aimed squarely at company CEO Carlos Ghosn.
Now, Deltawing is trying the tactic a second time with an even more scathing ad in The Tennessean on July 11 and in Automotive News on July 14 that calls the Zeod's design out directly. The bulletin puts the two racecars side by side and asks readers compare their similarities.
According to Deltawing spokesperson Gary Fong, the idea for these ads started after mediation between the company and Nissan broke down earlier this year. "We were trying to bring them to settle it amicably," he said to Autoblog. When that didn't happen, Deltawing wanted to fight the misconceptions in the public about the program and lawsuit. The strategy actually worked, too. "We've seen an opinion change," said Fong. He estimates that before the advertisements the attitude was "90 percent against Panoz," but there has been more support since them.

Nissan Patrol modified for backseat drivers

The McLaren F1 is most famous for holding the production-car top-speed record for over a decade, but it also made a name for itself by being one of the only production cars with a central driving position, a feature that's extremely rare. But in the world of custom cars, anything can happen. We're not sure if Dubai-based shop King of Customs was inspired by McLaren or is poking fun at backseat drivers (perhaps the builder or the commissioner just has quite the imagination), but its custom fifth-generation Nissan Patrol (the foundation of the Infiniti QX80 in the US) sports utility vehicle takes the term "central-driving position" to the next level. In the Patrol's case, "central" means that the driver's seat and controls are located in the second-row seating area.
It's a pretty clean conversion - if pointless - and we have to wonder how safe it is to drive such a vehicle. The front seats are now passenger seats, and the front airbags have been taken out and replaced with screens, according to King of Customs' Facebook page. So if the driver's view outside is impaired and the SUV is involved in a crash, you'd better hope nobody is up front. The screens on the backs of the front-seat headrests at least provide views from the side-view mirrors via cameras, the shop claims.
Watch the video below, marvel at the extreme impracticality of it all and see the thing drive.

Nissan Juke to get higher-performance Nismo RC model

It's hard to find more giggles for your crossover dollar than the Juke - regardless of how you feel about the way it looks, the singularly styled nichemobile from Nissan is very entertaining to drive. Yet we've always felt that the platform had more in it, and evidently its Japanese parent agrees, having recently bracketed the googly-eyed turbocharged CUV with a new Nismo model and the barking mad built-to-order Juke R. At present, neither the Juke Nismo or the GT-R-powered Juke R are sold in North America, but the former has already been confirmed for sale here.
Even when it does reach our shores, there will still be a heck of a lot of whitespace between the mild performance upgrades of the standard Nismo and the half-mill R model, and to hear the UK's Car tell it, Nissan has plans to plug that gap, too. According to its report, the automaker will shortly offer a Juke Nismo RC that will have roughly 20 horsepower more than the basic Nismo (which itself has 197 hp, nine more than the base Juke). The RC will apparently feature a lower, stiffer suspension, upgraded brakes and a unique exhaust and intake for a snarlier soundtrack. Both front-and all-wheel drive models are planned, as are manual and CVT transmission choices.
No word yet on the RC's pricing or even North American availability, but the regular-strength Juke Nismo is expected to arrive shortly, and Nissan is also said to have big plans for its performance nameplate, so we wouldn't rule it out.