MOTORING NEWS - Among the array of outstanding cars on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in California at the beginning of August was a new creation by premium manufacturer Infiniti, the luxury vehicle division of Japanese manufacturer Nissan.
Infiniti unveiled a sleek, open-wheeled electric retro roadster known as Prototype 9 to great fanfare at the prestigious car show. The car was billed as re-imagining a 1940s race car.
"Prototype 9 celebrates the tradition of ingenuity, craftsmanship and passion of our forebears at Nissan, on whose shoulders we stand today," says Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president of global design.
"It started as a discussion: What if Infiniti had created a race car in the 1940s? If one were to imagine an open-wheeled Infiniti racer on the famous circuits of the era such as Japan's Tamagawa Speedway, what would it look like?
"The sketches were stunning and the idea so compelling that we had to produce a prototype. As other departments became aware of this, they volunteered their time to create a working vehicle."
The car is powered by a prototype electric motor and battery from Nissan's advanced powertrain department. This nod to the future contrasts with the traditional materials and techniques used for the Prototype 9's manufacture, including panels hand-beaten by a team of Takumi, Nissan's master artisans.
A tradition going back over half a century, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is where the world's car collectors meet and compete.
It is also traditionally used for unveiling modern luxury cars and concepts.
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