Do You Want A Yuke Nismo? Raise Your Voice

by Bertel Schmitt

November 29th, 2011 8:10 AM

More pre-Tokyo-motorshow nekkyou-teki (craze): Nissan is creating buzz for its Juke by floating two videos for the Juke Nismo. The car will be on hand when the show opens to the press tomorrow. The car is a prototype only, to gauge customer reception. If customers react positively enough, the car will be made. If customers react blasé, it will be forgotten .

“It depends on the reaction at the Tokyo Motor Show. If it’s quite positive, we’ll consider introducing it into the market,” says Nissan President Shoichi Miyatani.

So if you are at the Tokyo show, and you want that car, go to the Nissan stand and shout “watashi wa korega hoshii!” (I want it!) Don’t worry, you won’t be signing a contract.

Nismo is Nissan’s performance division, Japan’s answer to “M”, “R” and “AMG”. Starting with the Juke, Nismo aims to make performance versions of Nissan’s mainstream lineup, Miyatani says.

Specs of the Juke Nismo are not known, but better be revealed at the TMS in order to make those hearts pound with anticipation.

One thing the Juke Nismo is not: The Juke R, that had created buzz on the webs for a while. My contacts at Nissan assured me that the Juke Nismo is no GT-R in Juke’s clothing. From what I am hearing, the Juke R will be limited to a few very much hand built versions, enough to create excitement by setting a seven minute plus time on the Nordschleife. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

Street legal? Maybe. Production model? It probably will be as mass-produced as the top ranking Radical. I.e. not.

#BertelSchmitt #Japan #JukeNismo #JukeR #Nissan #TokyoMotorShow

Comments

Join the conversation

6 of 14 comments

G35X on Nov 29, 2011

"Nekkyou-teki" is an adjective. There must be a noun to follow it. Instead, I would suggest "karasawagi" (much ado about nothing).

Like Reply
Ponchoman49 on Nov 29, 2011

And just when you thought that the Aztec was ugly. Nissan's latest bunch of eyesores take fugly to new heights.

Like Reply
Imag on Nov 29, 2011

I actually have thought about the regular Juke as a great next car for my wife. Neither of us is sure about the look, but the car is cool. However, tall cars without offroad capabilities are just silly. The regular Juke may not be a Jeep, but it will at least get us up camping trails.

Like Reply
Beerboy12 on Nov 29, 2011

Calling the Juke ugly is a bit like calling Bob Dylan's music bad because he can't sing. It's kinda true but it's missing the point. The car is a breath of fresh air in a dull econo-box world and for that alone it deserves credit. I agree the looks grow on you, I see quite a few on the roads so I am not the only one feels that way. So... Nissan, having come this far with it should absolutely make a mad race version.

Like Reply
- See 1 previous
- CJinSD on Nov 29, 2011
  
  Buying a Juke is a cry for attention. Ugly is the point.
  
  Like
- Banger on Nov 30, 2011
  
  @CJinSD You know, I'm really tired of this attitude from a lot of folks on the internet. We Cube owners get it all the time, too. We bought the Cube for its enormous (for a subcompact) interior, frugality, and ease of parking. But it seems like every time I turn around, someone is telling me how folks who buy these cars only do it "to be different." Well, yeah, if you mean we don't want a subcompact with crummy rearward visibility, no head or legroom, and a small trunk, I guess you're right. We did it to be "different" from the rest of you. I see how the Juke is appealing. Decent fuel mileage, low-$20,000s pricing, peppy turbo engine, a usable back seat despite the sporty profile, looks more masculine/aggressive than most of the CUVs on the market today and actually has some off-road capability(as someone said, the AWD Juke is good for camping trails at the very least) when most others in the segment save perhaps Jeeps are pavement-only pretenders. The point is this: Nissan is daring to be different and getting handsomely rewarded for it. If you can't stand the Juke, that's fine. They'll sell plenty of Jukes to folks who like them. Meanwhile, Nissan has a much more traditional (and softer) Rogue they'll sell you. Or there's the XTerra if you must have a hardcore, off-road capable, body-on-frame trail pig. For those who like to criticize the Cube, well, Nissan is selling quite a few of its new boring Versa sedans to people like you at cheap prices. I applaud Nissan for trying to be innovative with the styling and layout of some models without abandoning the vanilla types who think designs like the Cube and Juke are simply "ugly" and without stylistic merit in an increasingly beige, appliance-ridden automotive market. In fact, I'd dare say the majority of Nissan's designs are pretty conventional, (e.g. Altima, Maxima, Versa, Titan, Frontier, XTerra, Rogue, and Murano) with a couple of more edgy designs to set them apart and get attention in a crowded marketplace (e.g. Cube, Juke, Quest, and maybe the NV full-size van, depending on how you think vans should look/drive.)
  
  Like