The Jukar: A Mutant Prototype Supercar from Nissan
Looking like a cross between the Batmobile and the Pop mobile, the Jukar is a mutant prototype supercar from Nissan that has left many car enthusiasts in awe. There are only two of these cars in the world, each costing nearly half a million pounds to build. The Jukar was designed to help Nissan determine if there would be interest in a fast version of the Juke crossover, which customers could afford.
The Juke car is a four-wheeled Frankenstein, with its chassis, engine, and gearbox straight from a Nissan GTR supercar. To fit the Juke body on top of the GTR chassis, the engineers had to cut the 80,000 GTR chassis in half, shorten it, and weld it back together. The interior also had to be reshaped for the GTR's instruments and seats were set back due to the massive engine up front. Interestingly, the only evidence of this brutal cutting process is a tiny little weld.
The Jukar has the same 485 brake horsepower as the GTR and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds. However, because it's so high up, it doesn't feel as quick as expected, especially at speeds of around 80-90 mph due to its aerodynamics being akin to a brick. This is not the only issue with the Jukar; it has three things that are detrimental to good handling: extra weight, a tall chassis, and a short wheelbase.
The Jukar's dimensions are quite unique. It's 50 cm shorter than a GTR, which made fitting the Juke body on top of the chassis quite challenging. However, being only 20 cm taller also contributed to its unusual proportions. To make matters worse, the Jukar has a hefty roll cage weighing around 66 kg, which makes it feel nervous and "hoppy" when driving.
The engineers responsible for building the Jukar are from a British firm called RML, who incidentally designed and built a 201 British Touring Car Championship winning car. Despite their impressive work on the Jukar, none of them were sure how the GTR's four-wheel drive electronics would react when putting everything together.
The Jukar was never meant for people to drive on a track, but it did make an appearance at a supercar race in Dubai where it caught the attention of a billionaire. The billionaire demanded to buy the car after seeing it, leading to some hefty negotiations that eventually resulted in Nissan agreeing to sell it for $400,000.
So, is the Jukar worth five times the price of a GT or twice the money of an all-time favorite Ferrari 4558? It's definitely not worth it. The Jukar was designed to test if people would be interested in a fast Juke crossover that they could afford, and unfortunately, it doesn't pass that test.
While the Jukar may look amazing and has some impressive specs on paper, its unusual proportions and handling issues make it more of a novelty than a viable supercar. It's an engineering project gone right, but not quite the final product Nissan was hoping for. The Jukar is pure car porn, with an "exquisite" design that left the reviewer feeling special during the brief time they got to spend with it.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enlooking like a cross between the Batmobile and the Pop mobile this is the jukar a mutant prototype Supercar from Nissan there are only two in the world and each cost nearly half a million pounds to build it's been designed to help thisan deign if petrol heads want a fast version of the jke crossover if customers give a positive reaction to this protoype then they'll put something similar on sale although they're going to have to simplify the way they build it the Juke car is a four-wheeled Frankenstein whilst it looks like a Juke it's not really a Juke at all the chassis engine and gearbox are straight from a Nissan GTR supercar and as you can imagine putting a Juke body on top of a GTR is no mean feet a Juke is 50 cm shorter than a GTR so the 80,000 GTR chassis had to be cut in half shortened and welded back together before a new body would fit on the interior had to be reshaped for the gtr's instruments and the seats set back because of the massive engine up front amazingly the only evidence we can find of this brutal cuton shut is a tiny little weld the engineers responsible for all this neat work our British firm rml who incidentally engineered and designed and built my 201 British Touring Car Championship winning car none of them were sure how the gtr's four-wheel drive Electronics would react when they put it all back together so I think I'll give it a right good kick in the plums and find out it's got the same 485 break horsepower as the GTR and it'll do 16 in 3.7 seconds but because you're much higher up that doesn't feel as quick you know faster 80 90 mph because it's got the aerodynamics of a brick it kind of holds it back it doesn't feel as quick as I imagine it should do and that's not the only problem now there's three things you definitely don't want if you're designing a good handing car one is extra weight one is a a tall chassis and the other one the last one is a really short wheelbase but guess what this has got all of those as well as being 50 cm shorter than a GTR is also 20 cm taller and thanks for that Hefty roll cage it's 66 kg heavier too and you can tell it's very nervous it's a bit kind of hoppy you can't turn off all the ESP if you get the car a tall side WS it starts grabbing the brakes but the reaction to that is so violent it makes the car very nervous very unstable and doesn't give you a lot of confidence I don't want to slide this car cuz it bites you really hard I mean I'll show you here I mean I'm I'm taking a bit of a risk by doing so just going to snap back the other way and spit me off you know that's a slow speed if I was doing that I'd say 89 90 mph that would have been a Monumental incident as a prototype a few Faults Are forgivable the J car was never meant for people to drive on a track but at a Supercar race in Dubai rumor has it that some billionaire shakes was so impressed with the car they called Nissan and demanded to buy one some Hefty negotiations later and Nissan agreed in exchange for 400 Grand is it worth five times the price of a GT or even twice the money of my alltime favorite car the Ferrari 4558 tell you of course not but if you are a billionaire and you're fancy getting your hands on something which only a few people can afford on the planet then why not but let's get back to the point the jukar was designed to help Nissan find out if people like us would be interested in a fast Juke that we could all afford so should Nissan make a fast version of the Juke well of course not no it just doesn't work whilst this is an amazing engineering project it looks kind of groovy it does go to prove that if it's tall and short it's not going to be a good sports car just keep it neat and time you through the final Corner oh I've got to run at him he's not going to get this is pure car porn I mean look at this it's absolutely Exquisite I feel very special the sevenlooking like a cross between the Batmobile and the Pop mobile this is the jukar a mutant prototype Supercar from Nissan there are only two in the world and each cost nearly half a million pounds to build it's been designed to help thisan deign if petrol heads want a fast version of the jke crossover if customers give a positive reaction to this protoype then they'll put something similar on sale although they're going to have to simplify the way they build it the Juke car is a four-wheeled Frankenstein whilst it looks like a Juke it's not really a Juke at all the chassis engine and gearbox are straight from a Nissan GTR supercar and as you can imagine putting a Juke body on top of a GTR is no mean feet a Juke is 50 cm shorter than a GTR so the 80,000 GTR chassis had to be cut in half shortened and welded back together before a new body would fit on the interior had to be reshaped for the gtr's instruments and the seats set back because of the massive engine up front amazingly the only evidence we can find of this brutal cuton shut is a tiny little weld the engineers responsible for all this neat work our British firm rml who incidentally engineered and designed and built my 201 British Touring Car Championship winning car none of them were sure how the gtr's four-wheel drive Electronics would react when they put it all back together so I think I'll give it a right good kick in the plums and find out it's got the same 485 break horsepower as the GTR and it'll do 16 in 3.7 seconds but because you're much higher up that doesn't feel as quick you know faster 80 90 mph because it's got the aerodynamics of a brick it kind of holds it back it doesn't feel as quick as I imagine it should do and that's not the only problem now there's three things you definitely don't want if you're designing a good handing car one is extra weight one is a a tall chassis and the other one the last one is a really short wheelbase but guess what this has got all of those as well as being 50 cm shorter than a GTR is also 20 cm taller and thanks for that Hefty roll cage it's 66 kg heavier too and you can tell it's very nervous it's a bit kind of hoppy you can't turn off all the ESP if you get the car a tall side WS it starts grabbing the brakes but the reaction to that is so violent it makes the car very nervous very unstable and doesn't give you a lot of confidence I don't want to slide this car cuz it bites you really hard I mean I'll show you here I mean I'm I'm taking a bit of a risk by doing so just going to snap back the other way and spit me off you know that's a slow speed if I was doing that I'd say 89 90 mph that would have been a Monumental incident as a prototype a few Faults Are forgivable the J car was never meant for people to drive on a track but at a Supercar race in Dubai rumor has it that some billionaire shakes was so impressed with the car they called Nissan and demanded to buy one some Hefty negotiations later and Nissan agreed in exchange for 400 Grand is it worth five times the price of a GT or even twice the money of my alltime favorite car the Ferrari 4558 tell you of course not but if you are a billionaire and you're fancy getting your hands on something which only a few people can afford on the planet then why not but let's get back to the point the jukar was designed to help Nissan find out if people like us would be interested in a fast Juke that we could all afford so should Nissan make a fast version of the Juke well of course not no it just doesn't work whilst this is an amazing engineering project it looks kind of groovy it does go to prove that if it's tall and short it's not going to be a good sports car just keep it neat and time you through the final Corner oh I've got to run at him he's not going to get this is pure car porn I mean look at this it's absolutely Exquisite I feel very special the seven\n"
