Max‑Out is a weird Nissan sportscar concept

Quite unlike the new Z or in fact, any Nissan sportscar before it, the concept certainly leans on the innovative design part of that remit. There’s a bit of ‘70s pony car influence with that cuboidal snout and rump but the changeable lighting, drooping snoot and curious surfacing are all right out of the sci-fi back catalogue. Look at those wheels too, changing colour and appearing like digitised wormholes. 

Nissan claimed at the reveal of the digital version that it would use a skateboard platform filled with next-generation solid state batteries. These were best intentions it seems, given the real thing appears to be just a show car. It also features a next-generation e-4ORCE all-wheel-drive system thanks to dual electric motors and Nissan also claimed it was ‘ultra lightweight’.

Obviously, as a roadster, there has to be some talk about the driving experience. Nissan indeed talks of enhanced dynamics and a ‘liberating sense of openness’. On the inside is a rather distracting lurid checkerboard design seemingly lifted out of a 1980s arcade game, while the crisp instrument and infotainment display is a thoroughly 21^st century item. 

All told? One for the ‘weird concepts from the 2020s’ list we plan to publish in 2045 and perhaps not something we’d swap out a new Z for any time soon…