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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.

Asking price for Paul Walker's GT-R from Fast & Furious nearly triples [w/video]

The German owner of the only Nissan Skyline GT-R to survive filming Fast & Furious (a.k.a., The Fast and the Furious 4) has put his car up for sale following the death of Paul Walker, Yahoo Autos reports. The original sale price was reportedly an already hefty 300,000 euros ($412,110), but it has since been raised to 1,000,000 euros ($1.37 million).
Despite many well-intentioned efforts, the Skyline GT-R was (and still is) illegal to import for street use in the US, so this R34-generation GT-R and seven others were shipped here without engines and classified as kit cars to sidestep federal law. Once here, the engines were installed, and seven street-legal GT-Rs proceeded to be destroyed during the filming of F&F. But one car, the "hero" car for sale here, was driven by Walker in non-violent scenes and thus is the only GT-R that survived filming.
Then, in July 2009, the federal government cracked down on importers of these cars, seizing almost 50 GT-Rs, including this one, telling owners to export them or risk having them destroyed. The hero GT-R was therefore exported, and its whereabouts have been unknown until recently, when the current German owner allowed it to be featured in a review (watch the German-language video below). You can see the online ad (also German) of the heavily modified GT-R here, where it sits proudly with its sky-high price tag.

Nissan to take over for Renault in Formula E

Formula E has generated a lot of news lately, even in the off-season, as major automakers continue to either join the series or express interest in participating. The inclusion of a number of European rivals makes the series particularly interesting. One thing missing from the lineup is a Japanese automaker. That will change, though, as Motorsport reports that Nissan will be taking over its Alliance partner Renault's spot on the starting grid. It's not confirmed when the switch will happen, but with the Renault e.dams Z.E. 17 (seen in testing above) already having been unveiled for next season, it's likely the switch will come in for the 2018/19 season when the series moves away from the practice of swapping cars mid-race. Renault has been a successful part of Formula E from the very beginning, providing (with partner Spark) the cars each team used in the first season, and scoring the series' first Team Championship in 2015, and then again in 2016 and 2017. Nissan, though, has the globally popular Leaf EV, and has been eyeing an entry into Formula E for some time now. Joining the series will not only boost the visibility of Nissan's electrification strategy, it will do the same for its Nismo arm as well (and, as we've already learned, there could be a Leaf Nismo offered in the future). The change would also free up resources for Renault to focus on its F1 efforts. As Motorsport also reports, Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag has said of the Japanese brands Nissan, Honda and Toyota, that "one of those three, maybe two, will end up" in the electric racing series, without elaborating further. Nissan isn't expected to confirm its Formula E entry soon, but it could happen at the Geneva Motor Show next year. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: MotorsportImage Credit: Formula E Green Motorsports Nissan Renault Green Culture Electric Racing Vehicles Formula E nismo fia formula e championship