1989 Nissan IF - AllCarIndex

Original name: ニッサン IF

It was 1987 when this very little known concept won the New Concept Car Contest organized by Nissan. Designed by Saneatsu Hashimoto from the department of body design of the Nissan Research Center in Atsugi, this little sportscar came to life during the following months.

The main idea was to develop a mid-engined sportscar with a particularly good handling. In order to achieve this objective, a design team was formed in October of 1988. The development of the IF concept involved no less than 140 employees of the Nissan Technical Center (NTC). The 1:4 scale model, which was built at first, was soon followed by a 1:1 mock-up. Finally, the finished prototype was shown in May of 1989 for a selected business audience. The car may has never been shown publicly despite some sources wrongly claim the car was demonstrated at 1988 Tokyo Motor Show. In fact, there was no Tokyo Motor Show in 1988…

What concerns the technical side of the little Nissan, its entire floor and frame structure was made of aluminum. The IF had double wishbone suspension at front and multi-link construction at rear and was powered by mid-mounted 4-cylinder 930cc engine of Nissan Micra.

The Nissan IF – the small Nissan coupe which still looks good today – is a another good example of what could have been but never happened.

text: www.allcarindex.com

Engine & performance:

Position: mid-engined

Type: 4-cylinder, turbocharged, intercooled

Capacity: 930 cc

Power: 110 hp @ 6400 rpm

Torque: 130 Nm @ 4800 rpm

Tires: 195/50 R15

Dimensions:

Length: 3610 mm

Width: 1695 mm