It looks like a toy car, but has the heart of an econobox. This is the Nissan EXTREM, an "urban sports" concept car built for Brazilians of modest means who are sick of driving bland, gutless economy cars.
And it looks like the Brazilians have taken a cue from America's '90s idea of cool, younging things down (or up) by adding the word extreme to the name. Oh, dropping off the last letter is rad, too. Officially.
Sure the wheels resemble space age can openers and the back end looks like a prop from Tron, but it looks pretty good for something simultaneously tall and small.
They're calling it a 2+2, so we'll have to see if that means it has a real back seat, or a shelf that anyone taller than 5'2" will have to crouch low to fit into (which means that Raph, Jason and I won't have a problem being comfortable in it). This thing had better come with a backup camera, though, because coffinesque backseat passengers or no, it looks like it's more or less impossible to see out the back.
Designed in San Diego by Nissan Design America, the car is built especially for the burgeoning Brazilian new car market. It's getting the DIG-T turbocharged 1.6 gasser (based upon the one used in the Deltawing), will be debuted at the 27th Sao Paulo International Motor Show tomorrow, and we're pretty sure we won't be able to get one here.
Whatever the case may be, we're sure there's a crowd of Brazilian hipsters rolling their eyes ironically in anticipation of this quente new ride.
Photo credit: Nissan