April Fools: Remember the Time Nissan Pranked Consumers with Fake Race Cars?April Fools: Remember the Time Nissan Pranked Consumers with Fake Race Cars?

Nissan turned ordinary Altima family sedans into pretend racecars and hauled guests around a racetrack to demonstrate the cars' capabilities.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

April 1, 2021

4 Min Read
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Nissan Motor Co.

Too many pranks involve an unpleasant surprise, so it is good to remember the time in 2014 when Nissan pranked unsuspecting consumers with rides in race cars that turned out to be totally stock production Altima sedans that anyone can buy.

The setup involved an invitation to consumers to come to Willow Springs International Raceway in California for Nissan’s “Ride of Your Life” promotional campaign. The promise was a ride in Nissan’s “most advanced” racecars.

Guests arrived to find eight cars prepped in suitable-looking stripes and aerodynamic bodywork. A successful confidence game requires an appropriate setup to prepare the victim for the deception, so Nissan staged the event to have guests warm up by driving racing simulators themselves while the pro drivers circulated on the track in the Altimas.

The goal of this stunt, according to Steve Rice, vice president, and creative director for Zimmerman Advertising, the shop that conceived of the Nissan spot, was “to take everyday people, tell them that it's a racecar, let them feel the power of the car, feel the handling, imagine themselves behind the wheel and then strip the artifice off.”

The cars were built with add-on ground effects bodywork, a rear spoiler, and racing-spec window nets. Inside, the team installed racing seat belts, a fake competition dashboard made of sheet metal, plus a fake gauge panel powered by the dashboard 12-volt accessory plug.

Related:Nissan Claims Breakthrough in Carbon-Fiber Part Production

The cars even retained their stock wheels and tires to preserve genuine showroom-standard performance. Of course, such wheels don’t look the part of race equipment, so more deception was required. To create the appearance of large-diameter wheels with low-profile racing tires, the crew attached larger-diameter hubcaps using plastic tie wraps.

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The add-on bodywork mounted with racing-style quick-release Dzus fasteners and the fake interior panels attached with Velcro fastening tape. They glued on non-functional hood latches and wrapped the cars in vinyl graphics.

Of course, race cars are louder than street cars, so the team punched a hole in each car’s muffler and installed a sliding metal cover that could seal the hole back up after the prank was revealed.

Page Buckner, art director for action films such as The Amazing Spider Man, Iron Man 2, and the Transformers franchise, prepped the fake race cars, a process that took about two weeks.  The goal was to be able to return the cars to stock form, removing all the add-ons, in less than five minutes. Ultimately they could do it in less than two.

Related:2021 Nissan Rogue ups its Value Game with more Standard Safety Technology

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Still, any careful observer could have seen through the ruse, so Nissan worked to distract guests from noticing the clues.

“We were inspired by theme parks, where you see a video presentation while waiting for the ride,” said Mike Disser, Nissan marketing manager. “By the time you are in that ride, you believe you are going for a ride to the moon.”

The team told guests that the race team was doing important testing, and they could hear the holed-muffler cars circling the track during the presentation and while they practiced on the simulators. Finally, the crew told guests that the race team could spare a brief break in their testing activities to provide the rides, ushering them to the pit lane just as the “race” machines entered.

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As Disser recalled, the weather was dry, the cars were blazing hot inside and reeked of hot brakes pads and burned rubber. Drivers shifted the automatic transmissions into neutral and revved their Altimas’ engines to create the appearance of a manual transmission.

The deception worked, with the passengers thrilling to on-track rides in what were actually showroom-spec family sedans. “Some of the people were scared, but when we asked if they wanted to go again, they were excited to go,” said Disser.

That excitement turned to disbelief as the crew stripped the disguise from one of the cars to reveal the prank. But surely there was some excitement too, at the realization that the prank meant that the guests could buy the very same cars at their local Nissan dealer.

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About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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