The recently updated Nissan 370Z Nismo will take part at the Gumball 3000 Rally in Europe that begins on May 18 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 3,000-mile (5,000 km) driving adventure will take competitors through 13 European countries during over the course of seven days.
Nissan teamed up with French publishing house L’Ecurie and Intersection Magazine to participate in the 2013 Gumball 3000 Rally – a non-competitive (at least that’s the official point of view) parade of cool cars. The rally takes place on public roads and will see some celebrity drivers such as David Haselhoff, Eve, Xzibit and others get behind the wheel of exclusive models.
Nissan’s team has been entered as car 56, a number that is significant for the Japanese carmaker, which occupied “Garage 56” at the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours race with the DeltaWing car. The Gumball 3000 370Z Nismo is identical to the production version – that means it has 350 hp and does the 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.2 seconds, sans the psychedelic “camouflage” paintjob designed specifically for the event.
The car will be driven by Gumball 3000 regulars Patrice Meignan and Jeremy ‘Jey’ Taltaud. Both are contributors to Intersection Magazine and will be reporting on the rally via all major social media channels.
“Gumball is a great fit for the 370Z NISMO: it’s a road rally which allows thousands of fans to get up close to their dream cars. Making exciting cars accessible is at the heart of the Nissan brand, and with our innovative NISMO.tv platform on YouTube our customers will be able to keep up to date with its progress, so we can’t wait to take part in this historic parade,” said Gareth Dunsmore, Nissan Europe General Manager.
The rally will run until May 25, when competitors will cross the finish line in Monaco at the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
