Martin Walter and 20+ Year Old Nissan Take Tall Pines Rally Win

This was cool to see.

Last weekend at the Rally of the Tall Pines out in Ontario, Martin Walter and his codriver Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff were able to traverse the tricky conditions that straddled fall/winter with snow and ice on some roads and dirt/gravel on others to take a win in their 2WD class.  Finishing 7th overall out of 30+ competitors the Nissan 240SX bested numerous newer vehicles showing just how good a driver Martin is.  Martin and his Nissan are some of most active rally efforts around and don't keep their efforts restrained to the dirt having competed at Targa Newfoundland in prior years.

Congrats to the team!

Rally of the Tall Pines website...

240SX at Perce Neige...

Once again it is Martin Walter blazing a trail for Nissans.  The long running 240SX of Mr. Walter and his codriver Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff were at it once again.

This time they were up in their Canadian homeland running on the snow and ice of the Perce Neige rally.  Walter finished the event in 18th out of 20 National entries in the event.  Which might not sound so good until you realize that he was the only RWD entry in the event.  Walter usually makes at least one or two visits South of the border each year so I'm hoping to see him at a warmer event later this year.

Perce Neige website...

Finally...

Nissan returned again to the NAIAS this week with a big display.

Nissan introduced the concept vehicle for the next generation Murano--the Resonance, showing off an even more swoopy design with a roof that appears to "float".  The rear looks a bit like the Lexus RX series from the side in my opinion.  The design doesn't look like that much of a departure from the current Murano to turn off may buyers so this looks like another win for Nissan.

Secondly Nissan introduced the new Versa Note.  Just called the Note in other markets this little hatchback will be priced in the low teens, get 40 mpg and be manufactured in Mexico.

The other news is that Nissan continues to confirm the production of a small (read sub-Z, sub-GT-R) sportscar.  It confirmed to Car and Driver that the design will be of a "love it or hate if" variety (something as radical as the Juke it sounds like) and the "concept" upon which the model will be based, will be released in the next twelve months.  Nissan also stated that it would be a "guilt free" car which in Nissan's world means an electric powertrain (or hybrid?).  Personally I can't wait.  A Nissan sportscar that might be cheap enough to convince my wife would be a great next car for me can't be beat.