Maybe it's part of their guerilla marketing to be caught on every speed camera and red light cam in Scottsdale.

Or that's the new Google StreetView car (don't crash!)

Fix your windshield, Josh!

Those are michigan plates, thats a manufactor's plate so its owned by one of the auto makers with their test fleet based in Michigan at one of the many Phoenix proving grounds

@Papercutninja: meh! Mere detail, and, +10 Jalopnik points

@ash78: That would be real cool to fill the enginnering HQ with traffic citations generated while testing a prototype car.

Sounds like something I would do to prove a project was a success.

I feel your pain Josh...

Feel the windshield-shattering power of the new Nissan GT-R!

GT-Rs on Crack!

Whatever. Thats a Civic with a body kit.

@chenslee: It's an Audi A9

Thanks for the props Matt,
The crack on my Rolla's window was about 1 inch long then after a cold night and hot day, Presto.

@graverobber: Could be caused by either sonic boom or turbo whine hitting the resonant frequency. I expect to see a lot more of this.

Josh, put some Bon Ami on that crack!

Crack and all, those turned out a lot better than my attempt at capturing an R8 with manufacturer's plates and a smashed-up rear end on the freeway a few months back...

And if I'm not mistaken, it makes sense that it's in Arizona, they have a technical center and proving grounds somewhere around there.

@Skydiver:
Or perhaps it was the result of a mooning attempt gone awry?

I spotted a white one last night (about 10pm) on Lincoln in Santa Monica, it was getting onto I-10 and I didn't have a camera w/ me.

They're definitely making their way into the states....

(This one had no bra / camo / dressing)

@graverobber: Now *there's* an embarrassing trip to the emergency room.

You cut your what? How?!?

I saw a lefty GT-R last Feb in Holbrook AZ. It too had Michigan Manufacturers Plates. [flickr.com]

@graverobber: That was my thought too! You know a helluva car has passed you when it cracks your windshield = equivalent of going blind in human!

Sorry, the GT-R I saw had camo and was right hand drive.

I've seen 2 Mercedes-Benz's, one in camo, in NJ...
with Michigan MFG plates... M-B USA is based in NJ.

just sayin'

2 summers ago, I saw a whole string of disguised C-Classes (presumably the newest ones) going up I-17 to Flagstaff with manufacturer plates

I'd guess that's a good spot, since you can go from 115 degrees in PHX to 70 degrees at 10,000 feet with just a couple hour drive up the interstate. There's not a lot of places in the US you can do that without being in the middle of nowhere.

I didn't know it was the first US capture.
I should get a Japlopnik t-shirt or decoder ring or somthin'
-Josh

Josh, where did you snap the pic specifically? It looks like the 101?

I-10 and 40th st ish
-Josh

Well, from what Josh has said, I'm willing to bet that the car is here for one of those buff-book "FIRST DRIVE MASTURBATORY EXCLUSIVE!!!" events that usually get held here this time of year.

I've seen this car also and followed it to an exit in Tempe. Nissan likes to make evening rush hour runs going Southbound on the 10 to the 60 to Val Vista and back to (?). I've seen a camoed Rogue and a camoed "new" Murano on that run as well.

On a personal level, this is one HELL of a sweet car! I got a really cool "celebrity sighting" rush driving along side it.

It looks fantastic in motion, and seeing it stuck in rush hour traffic was the most depressing thing I have ever seen since the speed over this stretch rarely exceeds 6 mph, and through a wreck or pulled-over carpool violator and it is a parking lot. I felt like the little Japanese kid in the Godzilla/Mothra/Gamera movies who cries and screams while he watches the Army take down and restrain the monster.

@Josh

I thought that street looked familiar. I work right off of the 10 on 32nd street. The GT-R must have been heading to one of the proving grounds.

@Strega07: maybe its on its way to cali!

@damnElantra: There was already one at Willow Springs... battling against a GT3 Porsche and a ZR1 Vette.

DO WANT

@JimBobJoeBobJim:

You're probably right. The report was so exclusive that they went straight to the next magazine after they were done. Also, i swear all the buff book photogs are the same guy, or at least had took the same correspondence course. When the ZR1 was announced, 3 of the 4 major mags had the SAME CAR IN THE SAME ANGLE on their covers. What a bunch of hacks.

i live in phoenix and see the test mules around here all of the time. nissan has their test facility in the southeast valley and it is not unusual to see them in mesa, tempe, south scottsdale area, and chandler. other notable manufactures that test mules here are volvo, mercedes, volkswagon, gm, ford (although these last two have farmed out much of the work to their mexico prooving ground in the past few years), chrysler and bentley.
there may be others but that is all that i have seen.

I'm no midwesterner, and josh's cracked windscreen seems to have played tricks on his camera's IR autofocusing, but, those appear to be Minnesota tags. no?

@Papercutninja:

You're right about that PCN. Take a look at the bow of the Lambo Superleggra thingie last year. The press drove from a resort in Paradise Valley to PIR for a test drive, and photo shoots. Since everyone from the press was together for the whole shindig, all the photos and stories were the same. IIRC, the ZR1 fiasco you speak of also happened here in Phoenix. GM had rented out Firebird raceway to "debut" the car, but the had signs up everywhere, and people were only allowed to stand in specific areas. Some debut.

Seems to be a lot of Phoenix Jalops, no?

@R-GTI: Was thinking the same thing. It's got 2 yellow lights on the top corners lighting it up but yea they do look like MN plates.

Nissan has a proving ground near the small town of Maricopa, south of Phoenix.

I saw a GT-R too! About two weeks ago, driving north on the 101 near Baseline in Tempe. It was really dirty and very low and wide.

Like somebody took an R34 and squashed it.

Is that just the picture is yours really dark, Josh? The one I saw was definitely the regular silver. I can't imagine what they're testing, toodling along at 60 mph on the freeway. Is it more like, "Oh, I'll get lunch, everybody But I can't seem to find my keys! Hmm, maybe I'll take the GT-R..."