Nissan makes a Leaf convertible, Honda makes a Civic ute. What next?
A convertible Leaf has to be cooler than a standard Leaf. Even if it looks like this.
Every so often car makers seem to go all a bit silly at the same time and start chopping up their cars to get a bit of news coverage. And now would seem to be that time in 2018.
Both Honda and Nissan have taken the gas axe to one of their cars for no good reason other than generating a few headlines, but we can't bring ourselves to be irritated by the blatant attempts to get our attention, because the results are actually rather, well, interesting, with the Nissan being actually quite cool and the Honda quite brilliantly silly.
Personally, I would never have thought I would ever apply the word "cool" to a Nissan Leaf, but the one-off model Nissan has revealed in Japan to celebrate reaching 100,000 sales of the EV there is actually exactly that.
The topless Leaf would provide electric summer cruising. If only Nissan would actually build it.
Okay, cool in a kind of dorkily awkward way, but seriously, couldn't you just see yourself happily cruising silently along in it on a sunny summer's day, stereo blasting, happily smug as you get an emission-free sun tan? No? Maybe it's just me then.
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* New-generation Nissan Leaf electric vehicle coming to New Zealand
* Why do electric vehicles have to look so silly?
* Honda plans more Civic Type R variants
* Why the Honda Civic Type R is our Top Performance Car of 2017
It doesn't really matter though, because Nissan is only making the one, so it will never go on sale. But it should. Because it is awesome.
The fastest pick up on UK roads also happens to be one of the most useless.
The other brilliantly weird swerve into the left lane of one-off chopped-roof silliness this week comes from Honda, with their - wait for it - Civic Type-R pick up.
Yeah, that's right, Honda UK has unveiled what it calls "one of the fastest pick up trucks on UK roads" despite the fact that it is clearly a ute.
Of course, we have to give them a pass on that, because they are English and have utterly no idea what a ute is.
Honda's Civic Type-R pick up is very much a case of "just because you can doesn't mean you should."
Developed from a standard Civic Type-R, Project P (as it is unfortunately being called), features a flatbed loading area in the centre of the car where the rear seats and boot space would normally be.
Don't worry though, as you can see they is still a massively large wing. Which could make getting a load in the tray somewhat difficult, particularly as it is mounted on a vestigial hatch-style tailgate.
Honda UK says Project P will do the 0-100km/h sprint in under six seconds and reach a top speed of over 265km/h. Which wouldn't impress a dog in the back, we suspect.
The big wing means it's not exactly as convenient to load as a normal ute, but the lawnmowers fit.
"We have a special projects division at the factory in Swindon and this project was a fantastic opportunity for the team to show just what their creative minds could do," said Alyn James, project leader.
"We are even considering taking it to the Nurburgring to see if we can take the record for the fastest front wheel drive pickup truck!"
Which we can't imagine is a record they would have much competition for, really.
A convertible Leaf and a Type-R ute? What next? a Lamborghini SUV? Oh, wait...
- Stuff
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