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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.

Nissan Leaf sets new November sales record, Chevy Volt drops again

When you talk to people in the plug-in vehicle industry, one theme you hear repeatedly is that the more plug-in cars that are out there, the better things are for everyone. One reason is that more EVs build a need for more public chargers, and more chargers mean more people see that plugging in is feasible. But there's still something to be said for old-fashioned competition, and in the sales race between the two long-running plug-in vehicles in the US, the Nissan Leaf is resoundingly beating the Chevy Volt for 2014. In fact, it won't be long before the EV's cumulative sales top the PHEV's. But that's a topic for another month. For now, we have the sales results from November. Unsurprisingly, Nissan set another monthly record (that is, the best Leaf sales in any November, the 22nd time in a row we've seen a monthly record) with 2,687 sales last month. That's up 34 percent over last November and up 35 percent year-to-date. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of electric vehicle marketing, said in a statement that, "Our 'Kick Gas' ad campaign and 'No Charge to Charge' launch in Chicago and Atlanta drove an increase in November Leaf sales. Even with gas prices falling across the country, consumers appreciate that the cost of driving a Nissan Leaf is still a fraction of that of a gas-powered car." Over on the Chevy side of the ledger, there were 1,336 Volt sales last month, down 30.4 percent from the 1,920 sold in November 2013. So far this year, Volt sales are down 16.4 percent and Chevy has sold 17,315 Volts in 2014. As we said last month, the Volt slump might be due to people waiting on the new version to make an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show next month before going on sale in the second half of 2015. So far in 2014, Nissan has sold 27,098 Leafs. Look for our detailed post of US green car sales in the near future. Until then, please discuss last month's Leaf and Volt sale in the comments, below. News Source: Nissan, General Motors Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales

Nissan has now sold 75,000 Leaf EVs in the US

Somehow it doesn't surprise us that the 75,000th Nissan Leaf electric vehicle sold in the US would go to a guy from Portland, Oregon. Rishabh Mehandru, who first experienced the Leaf through a lease a couple of years ago, took the full plunge with a 2015 model and ended up being No. 75,000 (ding, ding, ding!). You've got to love those repeat customers. The Intel engineer has a 30-mile commute, so, theoretically, the Leaf does the trip with about two-dozen miles to spare in its single-charge range. The Portland dealership that sold him the car says its Leaf customers are an "even" mix between new and repeat. Nationwide, Nissan boosted its Leaf sales last year by 34 percent to 30,200. Things have cooled off a bit so far this year, as Leaf sales through February were down 15 percent from the same period in 2014 to 2,268 units. As of the end of last month, Nissan Leaf's US sales since its late-2010 introduction trailed sales of the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in by exactly two units. Which means we can expect General Motors' announcement that the Volt has hit 75,000 units any day now. Take a look at Nissan's press release below. Related Videos: Nissan delivers 75,000th all-electric LEAF in the U.S. to Oregon family NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nissan celebrated with Rishabh Mehandru of Portland, Oregon, as he purchased the 75,000th Nissan LEAF in the United States. This is Mehandru's second Nissan LEAF after leasing his first one two years ago in an effort to reduce the emissions he was putting into the air. "I'm a runner, and when I ran outside I found that I was inhaling a lot of exhaust from the gas-powered cars that passed me on the roads," said Mehandru. "I instantly became aware of the amount of fuel I was burning, and that's when I first decided that I wanted to get an electric car." Mehandru, senior engineer at Intel, has a commute of about 30 miles and enjoys the spirited driving experience Nissan LEAF has to offer. "When the lease was up on my first Nissan LEAF, I knew that I didn't want any other car. I had to have another Nissan LEAF," said Mehandru. "I love how quickly I can get up to speed on the highway-even my three-year-old son notices how zippy it is-and I like that I don't have to stop for gas." Mehandru's excitement for his electric car is contagious, and he recently convinced a friend to also purchase a Nissan LEAF.