07 Jan 07
Workmate meets Roomster in the jaw-droppingly ugly Nissan Bevel concept. It's resolutely asymmetrical, which isn't too unusual for a concept car. But it's aimed at grown-ups - more precisely, empty-nester men aged 45-60 - which is unprecedented.
Brad Bradshaw, Nissan North America's senior vice-president for sales and marketing, managed to keep a straight face as he declared the Bevel to be a 'single-purpose, multi-function' vehicle when he unveiled it at the Detroit Motor Show. The brochure declares it to be both tool and toolbox.
Bradshaw said the vast majority of Bevel journeys would be solo trips, or at least there'd be just the one human on board: there's a removable dog hutch in the back, to stop your pooch sliding around on the wipe-clean aluminium surface. All the passenger seats fold flat to make a large, versatile load area, and the tailgate is billed as a workbench, with a 110-volt socket for your power tools.
If it had an engine, it would be a hydrogen-electric hybrid, with drive-by-wire braking, steering and throttle. There's no conventional steering column; the wheel is on an arm projecting out from between the front seats. The instruments are joined by a keyboard, so you can log on to www.manlypursuits.com and order yourself a jack hammer and chainsaw. Instead of rear-view mirrors there are fibre optic cameras beaming images on to a screen.
There are six small hoops on the roof for tying down your bulky cargo, and there are rubber inserts in the 20" alloys to protect them from damage, while the headlights are LCD units concealed within the perforated grille.
The Bevel is asymmetrical whichever angle you approach it from. The windscreen glass extends further back into the roof on the passenger side than on the driver's side; there's also a solar panel on the roof. There are front and rear doors on the passenger side - the rear one's a rear-hinged 'suicide' door - but only one door on the driver's side, and instead of a rear side window there's a slit. No reason... there just is.
