Nissan’s V8 Supercar drivers finally got the news they’ve been waiting for since going racing for the sport’s new manufacturer – their car is finally hitting the Australian road.
The Nissan Altima model they race will go on sale in Australia around the time they race at Bathurst this year.
Nissan executives have confirmed the Altima will reach Australia – sourced from Thailand – in the final quarter of this year.
Both the four-cylinder 2.5-litre and six-cylinder 3.5-litre models will be sold – the same car which has a V8 fitted to it for Supercar racing.
Nissan bosses announced the Aussie Altima at the manufacturer’s monolithic American plant in Smyrna, Tennessee – where a car comes off a state-of-the-art production line every 27 seconds.
Jack Daniel’s Racing duo Todd and Rick Kelly pitched to senior Nissan North America executives about V8 Supercar racing on Wednesday (AEST), with many set to attend this weekend’s race in Austin, Texas – the first V8 race in the US.
Usually the road car comes before the race car, but the Kellys and Norton 360 team drivers Michael Caruso and James Moffat have done business the other way round since Nissan launched into the sport earlier this year.
They were forced to source American-built Altima panels and their V8 engine, then wrap them up in the Kellys’ engineering.
“It’s very important for us, the category, and our fans to be driving a car that people can relate to,” Rick Kelly said.
“You want to be able to go into the Nissan dealership and say ‘yeah, there’s the car that the boys race’.
“A lot more people in Australia are familiar with the name Altima now. It’s a great thing and it needs to be relative and recognisable to the every-day consumer.”
The Kellys and Norton 360 driver Michael Caruso also tested a variety of Nissan road cars, before they head to Texas later on Wednesday (AEST) to prepare for the weekend’s race.