NATC students to showcase unique Nissan builds at 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon

MANILA: Several students from the Nissan Automobile Technical College (NATC) will be showing off three unique car builds at the upcoming 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS). 

Neo Skyline

First off, a group of fourth-year students under the Auto Maintenance and Customization Department at NATC Kyoto will be displaying the “Neo Skyline” - a CV35 Skyline coupe with a design inspired by the famous Kenmary style popularized in the 1970s. 

According to Nissan Motor Corporation, the aforementioned build is a modern version of the Skyline Kenmary, and it is designed to instill nostalgia in car enthusiasts aged 30 and above. 

Not much was disclosed about the build before its appearance at the 2025 TAS, but it uses a fully custom body clad in an original color called “Tomoaki Blue.”

Nissan Z Lealia

Yet another group of students from the same department in NATC Kyoto are also set to display a wagon version of the Nissan Z, which was inspired by the Nissan Stagea. 

Dubbed the Z Lealia, it was built as a “sports station wagon for family journeys.”

So, like any station wagon, it comes with the practicality of having a supremely spacious trunk. The car, however, promises to retain the punchy performance and sharp handling of a modern RZ34 Z sports car. 

Per Nissan, the Z Lealia build was accomplished by cutting sections of the original car’s rear fender and roof. The wagon shape and proportions were also achieved by attaching the rear body parts of a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to the base vehicle. 

Bluebird Kiwami

A group of Auto Body Master Course students from the NATC campus in Aichi, on the other hand, will be showing off the “Bluebird Kiwami” - a muscular but angular take on the original PU11 Bluebird Maxima sedan. 

The Bluebird Maxima was a popular model sold 36 years ago, and it was known for its roomy interior and its pillar-less four-door body design. The ones the NATC students made, however, up the ante when it comes to sportiness, thanks to a custom-made body kit. 

Nissan said the Neo Skyline and the Z Lealia took the NATC Kyoto students a total of six months to build. The Bluebird Kiwami, meanwhile, only took two and a half months to produce. 

For the unaware, NATC is a school that focuses on training automotive technicians and mechanics, with a focus on passing the Japanese national standards. It offers various car-centric courses, such as automobile mechanics, automobile engineering, body works, and motorsports programs. 

In total, NATC has five campuses spread around Japan. It has facilities operating in Tochigi, Yokohama, Aichi, Kyoto, and Ehime. 

The TAS 2025, for those curious, will be held at the Makuhari Messe convention center located in Chiba, Japan. It is scheduled to kick off from January 10, 2025-January 12, 2025. 

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