Generally speaking, and by general we mean always, Bobsleigh is the type of winter sport played by either teams of two or four teammates, powered by nothing else than gravity itself.
Nissan, on the other hand, has something else in mind when it comes to this sport. What they’ve done is they’ve taken the design and technology of the X-Trail and transformed a standard bobsleigh into a sleek seven-seater, meant to go on its inaugural run at the historic Olympic track in Innsbruck, Austria.
Furthermore, Nissan’s take on the traditional bobsleigh is capable of reaching speeds of over 60 mph (96 km/h) while pulling about 4.5G.
Their bobsleigh mimics the X-Trail by having a distinctive front end, headlamps and the option to seat seven people in total. It also gives passengers a 360-degree view in order to capture all of the action, just like the X-Trail’s Around View Monitor does.
“We wanted to give the opportunity to experience first-hand the adventurous nature of our crossover segment through the thrill and excitement of Olympic bobsleighing. Nissan Design Europe took inspiration from the shape and character of our X-Trail to create the X-Trail Bobsleigh, which was handcrafted by Diego Menardi at his workshop in Cortina. The outcome mimics the fresh ideas and technologies from the brand’s ground-breaking crossover models,” said NDE design manager Darryl Scriven.
The design of the bobsleigh was done using sketches, while the detailing on the nose was crafted to resemble the X-Trail’s V-motion grille.
Also, here’s a quick look at how the X-Trail Bobsleigh compares to the actual X-Trail SUV: