Nissan Gripz Concept Plays Encore in Tokyo, Hints at Next Juke
Next-gen Juke set to arrive in mid-2017.
Though we saw it already in Frankfurt, Nissan's Gripz crossover was one of the better concepts at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show. Oh, there's plenty of samurai-slash in the detailing, but Nissan design chief Shiro Nakamura's team has at least allowed the surfaces to breathe. In a show littered with Ginza-by-night weirdness, the Gripz looks edgy, striking, muscular, and modern. And that's a good thing, because what you're basically looking at is the design for the next-generation Nissan Juke.
Nissan's quirky little crossover has been a surprise hit worldwide, and Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has no intention of letting the momentum slide. "We will not be complacent in this segment," he says. Look past the Gripz' auto show eye candy -- monster wheels, shaved roofline, hidden door handles -- and it's clear he means what he says.
Link text....Scheduled to debut in mid-2017, the Gripz-inspired Juke will be built off Nissan's highly flexible Global B platform, though it will be slightly bigger than the current model in almost every dimension.
Though the next-gen Juke will feature conventional powertrains, the Gripz' underpinnings show how Nissan could leverage EV skills developed via the Leaf across a variety of small cars and crossovers. The Gripz concept is presented as a series hybrid, which means the electric motor drives the wheels at all times, and the on-board internal combustion engine is used to generate electricity to help power the electric motor or top off the battery. The electric drive motor is the same as that used in the Leaf
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by cars. My father was a mechanic, and some of my earliest memories are of handing him wrenches as he worked to turn a succession of down-at-heel secondhand cars into reliable family transportation. Later, when I was about 12, I’d be allowed to back the Valiant station wagon out onto the street and drive it around to the front of the house to wash it. We had the cleanest Valiant in the world.
I got my driver’s license exactly three months after my 16th birthday in a Series II Land Rover, ex-Australian Army with no synchro on first or second and about a million miles on the clock. “Pass your test in that,” said Dad, “and you’ll be able to drive anything.” He was right. Nearly four decades later I’ve driven everything from a Bugatti Veyron to a Volvo 18-wheeler, on roads and tracks all over the world. Very few people get the opportunity to parlay their passion into a career. I’m one of those fortunate few.
I started editing my local car club magazine, partly because no-one else would do it, and partly because I’d sold my rally car to get the deposit for my first house, and wanted to stay involved in the sport. Then one day someone handed me a free local sports paper and said they might want car stuff in it. I rang the editor and to my surprise she said yes. There was no pay, but I did get press passes, which meant I got into the races for free. And meet real automotive journalists in the pressroom. And watch and learn.
It’s been a helluva ride ever since. I’ve written about everything from Formula 1 to Sprint Car racing; from new cars and trucks to wild street machines and multi-million dollar classics; from global industry trends to secondhand car dealers. I’ve done automotive TV shows and radio shows, and helped create automotive websites, iMags and mobile apps. I’ve been the editor-in-chief of leading automotive media brands in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The longer I’m in this business the more astonished I am these fiendishly complicated devices we call automobiles get made at all, and how accomplished they have become at doing what they’re designed to do. I believe all new cars should be great, and I’m disappointed when they’re not. Over the years I’ve come to realize cars are the result of a complex interaction of people, politics and process, which is why they’re all different. And why they continue to fascinate me.Read More
