2013 Nissan Pathfinder S on 2040-cars

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Daimler and Nissan venture to build cars in Mexico

Nissan and Daimler have been partnering ever closer for years, and now an unnamed source has told Reuters that the automakers have agreed to a 50-50 joint venture in Mexico that would build Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models. Given that the rumors about just such a deal go back nearly six months and similar rumblings are years old, this arrangement has been a long time coming.
The insider tells Reuters that a memorandum of understanding was signed between them last month to build the Mercedes GLA-Class and new Infinitis at Nissan's Aguascalientes factory. The rumor didn't say when production would begin. It wouldn't be the first time the two automakers have decided to share this platform - Infiniti will build its Q30 compact on it in the UK next year.
The partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler goes back to 2010 when the companies signed an agreement to share engines, factories and platforms. Since then, products of the partnership have included the underpinnings for the next-generation Smart and Renault Twingo and shared engines among some other models.

Club to restore amazeballs Datsun Safari Rally Z

Thanks to the Nissan Restoration Club, a legendary rally car is coming back to life. At the recent Nissan 360 media event, the Japanese automaker announced that its restoration club is bringing the Safari Rally Z back to original running condition. A variant of the Fairlady Z (or Datsun 240Z in the US), the Safari Rally Z has a fastback coupe body and a 215-horsepower inline-six engine. It won East African Safari Rally championships in both 1971 and 1973. The restoration is scheduled for completion this December.
Formed in 2006, Nissan's Restoration Club is comprised of 60 volunteer members who are passionate about Nissan's historic racecars. The club's past restoration projects include the 1964 Skyline racecar and 1947 Tama electric vehicle. Read the press release below for all the details on the latest restoration, and check out the gallery for photos of the Safari Rally Z as well as the 1972 Fairlady 240Z.

Ex-Green Beret arrested in Ghosn's escape has lived a life of danger

This Dec. 30, 2019, image from security camera video shows Michael L. Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. Taylor, a former Green Beret, and his son, Peter Taylor, 27, were arrested Wednesday in Massachusetts on charges they smuggled Nissan ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of Japan in a box in December 2019, while he awaited trial there on financial misconduct charges. / AP   Decades before a security camera caught Michael Taylor coming off a jet that was carrying one of the world’s most-wanted fugitives, the former Green Beret had a hard-earned reputation for taking on dicey assignments. Over the years, Taylor had been hired by parents to rescue abducted children. He went undercover for the FBI to sting a Massachusetts drug gang. And he worked as a military contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan, an assignment that landed him in a Utah jail in a federal fraud case. So when Taylor was linked to the December escape of former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn from Japan, where the executive awaited trial on financial misconduct charges, some in U.S. military and legal circles immediately recognized the name. Taylor has “gotten himself involved in situations that most people would never even think of, dangerous situations, but for all the right reasons,” Paul Kelly, a former federal prosecutor in Boston who has known the security consultant since the early 1990s, said earlier this year. “Was I surprised when I read the story that he may have been involved in what took place in Japan? No, not at all.” Wednesday, after months as fugitives, Taylor, 59, and his son, Peter, 27, were arrested in Massachusetts on charges accusing them of hiding Ghosn in a shipping case drilled with air holes and smuggling him out of Japan on a chartered jet. Investigators were still seeking George-Antoine Zayek, a Lebanese-born colleague of Taylor. “He is the most all-American man I know,” TaylorÂ’s assistant, Barbara Auterio, wrote to a federal judge before his sentencing in 2015. “His favorite song is the national anthem.” Kelly, now serving as the attorney for the Taylors, said they plan to challenge JapanÂ’s extradition request “on several legal and factual grounds.” “Michael Taylor is a distinguished veteran and patriot, and both he and his son deserve a full and fair hearing regarding these issues,” Kelly said in an email.