Revealing a sports compact crossover at Frankfurt Motor Show this year, the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan revealed the ‘Gripz’ Sports concept to be based on their famous ‘Z’ series of sportscars.
The ‘Z’ brand from Nissan including the highly renowned (350 Z, 370 Z) sportscars are already a mass hit among the younger generation and with the showcase of ‘Gripz’ concept, Nissan aims the same genre of buyers again with a refreshing approach. The crossover is anticipated to be equipped with all the feature trades of their ‘Z’ family. The Gripz concept looks stunning with muscular and a futuristic aggressive design language and high ground clearance. The V-Grill in the front looks familiar to the previous Nissan products, thus giving it the identitiy of the Japanese auto manufacturer. The 22-inch wheels come wrapped in high pressure tyres, custom made by Bridgestone.
The overall muscular design consists of the boomerang designed C-pillars that give ‘Gripz’ a very aggressive crossover look. According to Nissan, the concept takes inspiration from racing bicycles and old Z rally cars like the Nissan 240Z (also sold as a Datsun) from the 1970s. Carrying the bicycle theme inside the cabin, carbon fiber parts can easily be detected over the steering wheel. The combination of sportscar philosophy with a practical crossover design with high ground clearance has been developed very well. Cutting the B-Pillar, the access to 2+2 seating is very easy to accommodate, giving the car a distinct look.
Gripz is powered with a combined petrol and electric motor called Pure e-Drive hybrid system. It also comes with AWD for more off-road fun and multiple driving modes including Snow and Drift. Although, the production plans of the car have still not be revealed the ‘Z’ family based compact crossover SUV should be fun to drive when launched.
