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Nissan Land Glider Concept - 2009 Tokyo Auto Show
Let's road-soar around the Tokyo Motor Show!

By Dennis Simanaitis / Photos by John Lamm

October 27, 2009

I already knew a little about the Nissan Land Glider Concept before the Tokyo Motor Show even started. But my own personal news from Tokyo is that, despite being bigger than the average bear, I actually fit quite comfortably under its sailplane-like canopy. My shoulders graze each interior side panel, all the better to take part in the Land Glider's innovative handling posture — it leans in corners!

Is it a narrow car? A 4-wheel motorcycle? I'd say it's pure fun — whichever characterization one chooses.

Only 43 in. wide (a Versa, for instance, is 66.7 in.), it's powered by pair of rear-mounted electric motors. Driver and passenger sit in tandem, the driver handling an aircraft-yoke-like control.

The Land Glider and its tires lean as much as 17 degrees in corners. Onboard sensors monitor road speed, steering angle and yaw rate to calculate the optimal set to negotiate each corner. The driver steers; the cabin leans accordingly.

Its designer offered insights into the Land Glider's articulated wheel housings and fuselage cladding: These are 21st-century armor for a Zero-Emissions Knight. Fanciful? Yes, but then so is the Land Glider's car-robotics crash avoidance system: Sensors mounted on the bodywork detect the presence of other vehicles in the same way that swimming fish avoid each other. Urban mobility with a difference!