► Infiniti’s new old-fashioned concept
► Protoype 9 is ‘barn find’ racer
► Features an EV powertrain
Well this thing is unexpected. Infiniti has opened the barn door on its latest concept car, called the Prototype 9. The new open-wheeled racer will be on show at the 2017 Pebble Beach concours event from 18 August 2017.
Infiniti says its show car is a ‘heritage-inspired prototype vehicle that captures the ingenuity and adventure of early motor sports with the brand’s contemporary design language.’
It also says the concept ‘has been developed through a journey back to the roots of our company’ – the fact that the Nissan-owned brand first started selling cars in 1989 notwithstanding.
The Prototype 9 uses a prototype electric motor from Nissan’s Advanced Powertrain Department, where the brand produces its EVs like the Leaf. This prototype version could be what ends up in the next-generation of Nissan’s high-selling EV…
Concept based on a theoretical ‘barn find’
‘It started as a simple thought – what if we found a car, down at the Southern tip of Japan, buried deep in a barn, hidden from all eyes for 70 years? What would this discovery look like?’ That’s the explanation behind the concept given by Infiniti’s senior VP for design Alfonso Albaisa.
Maybe the design team’s been binging on Downton Abbey box sets, maybe Infiniti is planning a factory team for the upcoming Goodwood Revival – either way, this could be one of 2017’s most curious and potentially most fun concept cars.
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