Nissan Juke-R set for limited production, world rejoices

Because of high interest in the high-powered concept Juke-R, and firm offers for three of the cars, Nissan says it will build a very limited run of its Juke/GT-R mashup.

Last year, a Nissan department based in Europe came up with the strange idea of putting the GT-R's engine in the cheeky, small Juke SUV, which is unfortunately not sold in Australia. The car was introduced as a concept, and Nissan probably thought that was the end of the matter. Like most concept cars, the Juke-R would shine brightly on the motor-show circuit for a while, maybe be a viral hit for a little and then be consigned to a lonely corner of a garage, and eventually disassembled.

A strong positive reaction from the car-loving public, which must have taken Nissan by surprise, dictated a different fate for the car, however. After the Juke-R's first public appearance, in Dubai of all places, Nissan capitalised on its popularity by releasing videos of it racing a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and a GT-R.

All along, Nissan insisted that the oddball Juke-R was nothing more than a concept.

That is, until one of Dubai's wealthy elite made a firm commitment to buy two Juke-Rs if Nissan would make them. Another undisclosed individual also joined in, running Nissan's Juke-R up to three.

And with that, the company says it will build more of the cars, as long as more people come forward. The company even offered up an email address, Juke-R@Nissan.co.uk, where parties can express interest.

Nissan does not say how much one of the mighty Juke-Rs would cost, however. Given the source of one of the initial offers, we can assume that it would be a lot — probably a lot more than a GT-R, on which the Juke-R's running gear is based.

To juice up the offer, Nissan says its production Juke-Rs will use the current GT-R as its base, meaning 406kW of power from its twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6. The original concept Juke-R, based on the 2010 GT-R, only had a piddling 358kW.

Nissan also released a slew of movies of the Juke-R on its Facebook and YouTube pages, such as the one below.

If this idea really takes off, Nissan can start a whole new R division, producing the Altima-R, Pulsar-R, Micra-R and Pathfinder-R. Maybe.

Via CNET