By Steve & Tamami Laser
Nissan offers cars, trucks, vans and SUVs of every shape and size imaginable. Yet what if Nissan decided to explore the winter sports equipment market and build something crazy like…a bobsleigh?
Tossing conventional wisdom out the window, the hypothetical Nissan Bobsleigh would seat seven (instead of the traditional two or four) inspired by Nissan’s own X-Trail crossover. (X-Trail is similar to the U.S. market Nissan Rogue.)
To bring this dream to life, Nissan worked with bobsleigh experts to transform a traditional four-man sled into an X-Trail inspired “world’s first” seven-seater capable of reaching speeds of over 60 mph pulling a G-force of 4.5G.
Darryl Scriven, Design Manager for Nissan Design Europe (NDE), teamed up with expert bobsled manufacturer Diego Menardi and sport expert Ian Richardson to morph car design with Olympic aerodynamics.
The seven-seater was developed using sketches and computer-aided design (CAD). Nissan says the detail on the bobsleigh’s nose was crafted to express the X-Trail’s V-motion grille and capture the sculpture of the hood character lines.
The bobsleigh mimics X-Trail’s design, with a distinctive front aspect, headlights and seven-seater option. It also gives passengers a 360-degree, bird’s-eye view to capture all of the action like X-Trail’s own Around View Monitor system.
The X-Trail Bobsleigh was handcrafted by Menardi (above) with structural lengthening of the cabin to accommodate seven passengers.
Director at European bobsleigh factory El fòuro in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Menardi started working on bobsleighs in 1979. Since 1985 he has built competition sledges for national teams, including Canada, Italy and the Principality of Monaco.
Menardi and Richardson have more than 50 years of combined experience in the industry, delivering Olympic track experiences and sleighs to winning teams across the globe.
Former Director of Sport for the British Bobsleigh Association, Richardson is the founder of IceSpeed Ltd, providing bobsleigh related consultancy and events. He also sits on the Membership Committee of the newly formed British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association.
Like the bobsleigh, X-Trail’s sophisticated ALL MODE 4×4-i system helps the driver keep control even in ice and snow.
X-Trail Bobsleigh pilot Sean Olsson has represented Team GB in three Winter Olympic Games. Sean made his debut in 1992 in Albertville, France. Two years later, he competed in Lillehammer before claiming a bronze at the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. He was the Head Coach to the women’s GB Bobsleigh team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. He has been British Champion 20 times (in two- and four-man bob) and was the Army and Interservice champion for ten years.
News source and photos courtesy of Nissan Europe
Story (commentary) © 2016 CarNichiWa.com