Jalopnik
When we first saw a picture of the 1989 Autech Stelvio, we assumed it was some sort of hideous one-off Japanese concept car. It turns out the car is actually part of a limited run Nissan supercar designed by Zagato. Produced by Autech, Nissan's special performance company, the cars are based on what we know as the Infiniti M30 platform, but featuring a 320 horsepower DOHC V6. After assembly, the chassis were sent to Zagato to be fitted with the... unique bodywork. In addition to the late 80's lines, the hood clearly features something a bit different from the average car. What is it?
As you can see in the picture above, it's a fender mirror that flares out from the headlights back to the driver's position. While an interesting idea, and we applaud the courageous use of NACA ducts, the executions is awful and the result is unfortunate. Zagato, which has made cars we love to look at sort of whiffed on that one. Even worse, the cost of one of the 200 cars produced was 18 million yen, approximately twice the price of an NXS-R when it debuted. Ouch.
[Grand JDM via JPCNews]
Comments
That thing has more gaps than Orange County.
What a freakshow. And what's the theory on the wheels? Moon disks with outlets for brake cooling?
children either scream or laugh when they see this car.
looks like that monster truck "snake bite"
I like the ferrari door looking hubcaps
I just threw up...
It looks like an Alfa Romeo that got its ass kicked.
Never saw a car with corrective spectacles before. Astigmatism? Near-sighted? You'd be really cute without those glasses.
I'd rather have the boring stanza-like M30 with the twin cam six.
1989 was a rough year for Zagato...
"After an exceptionally strong batch of grappa from the family vineyards, psychedelia ruled the roost at Zagato, producing such mind altering automobiles as the Alfa Romeo SZ and the deliriously absurd Autech Stelvio."
That's a quote from a book about Italian Coachbuilders that I am currently making up as I go along.
@MazdaEric: Im thinking more like the side vents from the Countach
This car is something from a Paul Verhoeven film.
Hyundai built the Beretta?
I especially like the backwards NACA ducts on the wheels (wheel covers?).
hmmm... when i saw that first pic.. i thought russian rip-off... but finding out that it is actually a nissan based design... all i can say is.. umm... R32 crossbred with an 1st Gen Integra... and then modified to look like a much cheaper version of either vehicle...
wow...
that being said..
if it were available/reliable here in the US
i'd buy one... ugly.. decently fast (i would hope..) and no one knows WTF it is... yeah.. i'd drive it..
and now my jalobrethren probably think less of me than they did before (shit... i didn't think one could think in negatives!)
I like it. But then, I'd take an Alfa SZ over the new 8C any day.
They made 200 of these things? Nobody was hanged after 1?
At least it has nice looking seats.
The Japanese answer to the 6000 SUX
Zagato. Have they ever created cars that were not polarizing? I can't even begin to call any of their creations beautiful. This monstrosity has all the looks of the Modern 80's, with absolutely none of the charms.
What the Hell does an "NXS-R" look like
@myself.. (my browser didn't allow reply buttons..)
forgot to mention the little bit of chevy beretta i see in the rear end...
Ew. Somebody get Seinfeld to roll this abortion.
Looks alot like the Aston Martin Zagato.....
[www.netcarshow.com]
Even Tiger Woods misses a putt once in a while.
I can't help but wonder why, after seeing the first car, or even a clay mockup, the yen counters at Nissan allowed these cars to be built?
I wonder if anyone fell on his [figurative] ceremonial sword after word of this mistake leaked out.
Yep, I see the Chevy Beretta taillights, too.
Still, 320 HP from a 3.0L turbo V6 in '89 is pretty good.
Maybe the best metaphor for this car is a hideous opera singer: It can sing, but you'd rather be blind than watch it.
Also, NACA ducts allow efficient passage of incoming air by not disrupting the boundry layer. I'd like to think Zagato had a better reason for using them for venting than, "They look cool."
@POLAЯ SAYS EVEЯYONE HEЯE:
What the Hell does an "NXS-R" look like
A bunch of long-haired Aussies singing about repealing the capital gains tax? "It's got a choke-hold on our prosperity!"
@UDMan:
careful with those words... you never know who might respond..
aww crap.. polar has already replied too late.. ;)
just kidding.. i very much enjoy both your knowledge and humor/input!
I actually like it.
Just like I like rope burn.
It still looks better than the new camaro.
@harumph: If you're blind.
This could be the fastest production car in the world, and I would still laugh at you if you drove it.
Great! If being unemployed weren't bad enough, now Jalopnik has blinded me.
@danio3834: Even though it isn't a home run, at least they were trying. The new Camaro is textbook phoning it in.
@harumph: In this case, Nissan literally phoned it in by calling Zagato.
The conversation went like this;
Nissan: "We need a body for a car, what ya got?"
Zagato: "I know we've got something lying around here...there, its in the mail, you should get it in six weeks."
@Drujon: I agree, except this looks a bit worse. Zagato was hurting for business and aside from the Alfa SZ and Lancia Hyena, they weren't exactly doing great work.
I think there is a special JDM Toyota Zagato from the same period. MR2 based / VM180.
[www.autocult.com.au]
@ash78:
The devil inside
The devil inside
Whoever made this sick thing had the devil inside....
@j6r:
Ouch.
That one looks like a cross between a Boxter and the multi eyed squirrel from the Simpsons Movie.
Bahahaha!
@danio3834: To be fair, the 80's were like the auto industry's awkward teenage years. Those mirrors are just acne.
I need those hubcaps for the LeMons racer. I'll bet they add 8-12 HP. And they wouldn't get damaged _at all_.
I'm surprised AMC didn't come up with something like this. Heck, those fender flares may have been an acid-trippin' designer's interpretation of the headlight flares on a '77 Matador.
@danio3834:
Exactly. This is the car that Robocob's gay cousin drives in Robocop 3: Fine and Dandy
@anaxomander: "Robocop" obviously.
There's no way this is turbocharged. They clearly weren't interested in holding back on the 80's styling, but there are no dynamic TURBO decals - by law, you were required to have one on the car for every pound of boost.
I'm seeing some Bizarro-world Oldsmobile in that front end...
Make it go away, please.
@ShastaMcNasty: I'll bet an original-forumula Schlitz that they're running the opposite way on the other side of the car.
@ash78:
M(.)(.)n Equipped? Naw, the wheels look more like pasta pan tops.
It's a chevy Beretta from retard world.
ooof up come my barbiturates and coffee.
It looks like the kind of cars I was drawing in 1989. On my Macintosh SE30. In SuperPaint.
@drewdraws2: Finish it and i'll publish it. don't finish it and i'll beat you with a an italian-made ugly stuck; which happen to work better than pretty much any other.
@Maymar: I think that was actually an inverse relation, wherein the less useful the turbo the more obvious the use of the word.
I remember when this car came out, I was twelve years old and wanted it badly. I'd still prefer a Hyena, though.
why does this car have a handlebar moustache?
.....and where can i get one for my ride?
In my experience, Stelvio is a cheese with a exceptionally frightening odor but a mild and unoffensive taste, hence an apropo moniker for this vehicle.