Some great news out of Japan is word that Nissan are going to be building the IDx concept cars seen at the recent Tokyo Motor Show. At least one of them any way.
Hands down the CAR team’s favourite concept cars from the show, the two IDx cars – the Freeflow and the NISMO – are attention-grabbing, retro-futuristic fusion concepts that hark back to the legendary Datsun 510.
Both concepts are rear-wheel-drive with the IDx Freeflow said to have an engine displacing between 1.2 and 1.5 litres and (somewhat disappointingly) a CVT gearbox. The IDx NISMO, clearly the sportier of the two, has a more powerful turbocharged 1.6-liter engine but again, has a CVT ‘box, though this one comes with paddles for virtual manual shifting.
For most of us it appeared to be a case of “very cool concept cars, pity we’ll never see a production version” until Nissan product chief Andy Palmer made this comment to Go Auto website at the North American International Auto Show currently on in Detroit: “One of those two will go into what we call our midterm plan. Now whether we do both remains to be seen. I am not saying that we won’t do both, but we definitely will do one of them.”
He wouldn’t reveal any more details, but this could well be the one to fill the entry-level sports car void Nissan/Datsun has left empty for far too long.
