It’s always interesting to see what happens when you give a group of college students some cars and let them create them however they want. They would likely build an old Corvette pickup truck or a dropped Bronco if they lived in the United States. They might be able to turn a traveling BMW into a beer cart for Oktoberfest or Tuesday family dinners if they were in Germany. It is said that in Japan, the back half of a Leaf would be joined with a new Nissan Z to make a “sports station wagon for family trips.” At the very least, these kids at Nissan Automobile Technical College did this. For the January Tokyo Auto Salon, students from the college’s five sites (Tochigi, Yokohama, Aichi, Kyoto, and Ehime) worked together on a range of projects. Besides the Z/Leaf mix, they came up with and put into action three other ideas. Some of these are a “Kiwami”-themed 36-year-old Bluebird Maxima car with a sick skirted body kit and a “NEO Skyline” that is based on the Japanese version of the Infiniti G35. Without a doubt, the bright yellow Z “Lealia” is the most… interesting and stylish. I find it very interesting. Nissan says that the students made the car “for dads who love sports cars and want to own a Fairlady Z but also want to enjoy driving with their families.” I like the idea behind it. It sounds like they made it just for people like me. They also had a solid foundation because the bodywork was newer, but the build is based on an M35 Stagea wagon from the 2000s. The kids worked on the Z Lealia building for six months. The crazy look is different from the normal Z in the back, where parts of a Leaf EV’s roof and fenders were merged onto the shell. The rear fenders have been stretched out more, and the rear doors have been flared out to let air flow, giving it a more aggressive look. From a front three-quarter view, it looks strange to see the handles pointing right at you, even though this is a typical way to design cars. Because everything is slightly tilted up when seen from behind, it’s clear that the Leaf has an effect. The taillights were still the same as on the Z, which is strange for a hatchback. Another strange thing about this car is the window behind the back doors. It might be even stranger than the big bumper out back. While Nissan hasn’t specified the engine, I suspect it to be a factory Stagea lump. One picture of the inside shows a new Z wheel with black and yellow seats, an automatic transmission, and a dashboard and center panel from the 2000s. You don’t need a 3.0-liter V6 twin-turbo to be cool. This building does what it’s supposed to do, and if a dad had a 20-year-old Nissan car, he’d probably build it to look like a modern Z. Here is a gallery of the other ideas, which are also very nice. No matter how you feel about a certain idea, I can’t say anything bad about it. They all have an edge over me because I’m not a good mechanic and didn’t finish college.
