Not via email 3 days before a major holiday and when some of the team had to hear the news on the web.
While I won't miss the looks of the NISMO, I think the loss of any major manufacturer in a series is unfortunate. And, that's disappointing. It certainly means less competition for spectators and competitors, but does it say anything else about the economics, BoP or design constraints? Possibly. Regardless of my feelings about it, I wanted to see if they could make it a success. Too bad, but this story has played out many times before. A major commitment from a manufacturer to compete at the highest levels is rare these days. So, for that, I'm sorry to see them bow out. CW
Another curious aspect of Nissan's return to top level prototype racing was that when the program was originally announced, illustrations of what the car would look like emerged along with the official PR release. IIRC, there was some buzz about this on the F-Chat forum at the time. The car was to be more of a traditional P-1 car and was impressive looking enough for me to keep the images. Had to do some digging to find them but this is what Nissan NISMO originally planned. Then, somewhere along the line, what actually emerged was something completely different. BHW Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yeah, that looks prettier by today's standards, with better proportions, etc... Even better looking than a Porsche 919 or an AUDI R8 Quatro. But you mentioned in one post that on the GT-R Nismo, the drivers could barely see over the front wheels; but have you seen these ones???
Yes, some of the testing reports had it that due to the way the cockpit sat so far aft the engine, along with the length and height up the frontal area, drivers were having issues seeing the lines, etc. properly. Seems as though it was mentioned a couple of times during the testing phase. This same thing came up when Audi went with the same size wheels all round on the R18 TDI quattro. As the drivers sit so low in the cockpit and the extra height needed to accommodate the larger front wheels was causing some vision problems, particularly in the turns at night when drivers could not see their apexes properly. Audi remedied this with an innovative lighting system which threw light sideways outward (if you will). Of course, we've seen cars with these elongated front end noses before, the original Ford GTP and the Ponoz Roadster P-1 cars for example but those were all a few years ago now. BHW
Don't forget that the exhaust also exited on the hood...which leads to blinding explosions in the limited view you do have at night. Honestly though, the view doesn't look *that* bad - certainly no worse than a modern indy or F1 car. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Kzazvcc98[/ame]
Interesting. I may betray my age by saying that back in the early 60s, there was a regulation in sportcar racing (Le Mans, Monza, etc...) which stipulated that "no part of the bodywork ahead of the cockpit, is to be higher than the bottom line of the windscreen". Obviously this was to ensure good visibility to the drivers. I am surprised that over the years, the legislator has allowed lower and lower cockpit and driving position, resulting in a severely restricted vision. Maybe somebody will re-examine that one day and bring back some much needed common sense.
They already have risen the cockpit a bit two years ago. BTW, I've "driven" the Nissan in a computer game and the visibility is horrible indeed.
Oriol Folch Garcia. Same artist who did the Ferrari LMP1 concept and others. KarayaOne (Oriol Folch Garcia) - DeviantArt
Sorry, no - but the fact that he adorned at least one rendering with a Nissan logo and blurb sure made them look official!
Alright, well that is interesting as the images came out at the time the program was announced. Too bad, because the renderings of the fantasy car looked far better than what Nissan/ NISMO actually produced. In any case, thanks for the heads up. BHW
Interesting that it's that intact. Japanese manufactures have a habit of crushing their former racing cars which is a great pity as there would be so many more great vintage/historic racing machines out there were it not for this. BHW
I had the opportunity to meet Toyota historian Shin Yoshikawa on a couple of occasions and he's got some really interesting stories on Toyota racing cars. During the height of the CanAm era in the late 60s, Toyota developed what they claimed was the first carbon fibre bodied car to take on McLaren, Lola, et.al. The car was years ahead of the technology at the time but unfortunately in a high speed test session at a Japanese track, the car took off and had a horrible crash killing the driver instantly. Rather than continue as Japan was still recovering from WWII and out of respect for the lost driver, Toyota decided to pull the plug on the program and in Japanese tradition (related to copyright laws) crushed the remains of the car. Another such instance was the Acura NSX GT. Acura collaborated with chassis builder John Thompson to create a GT contender to take on Porsche at Le Mans and building about a dozen of the cars. These cars featured a carbon fibre tub bonded to an aluminum chassis, again way ahead of its time and they competed somewhat successfully in international sports car racing. After the run of the NSX GTs, in the late 90s, early 00s, Acura took most of the cars back, and crushed them. It seems almost criminal but such is the way this Japanese law works. A couple of the NSX GTs remain, one right here in Florida that competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2000 which is now at Wire Wheel in Vero Beach, minus the engine. BHW
Very interesting and pretty cool (at least the NSX GTs were). Nissan seems to be a company that has kept a few of their racing history (Nissan Heritage Museum), but I know at least one of the Prince / Nissan race cars is a replica
