According to Japan’s Best Car Web, Nissan is reportedly looking bring back the Silvia nameplate in 2025 as part of a project called the “Pure EV Silvia Revival.” While Nissan has yet to confirm anything of the sort, the publication claims the plan was triggered by the Silvia EV rendering created by Matthew Weaver, vice president of Nissan Design Europe, last September.
Said render takes a lot of inspiration from the first Silvia, which carried the codename CSP311 and was introduced in September 1964 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The vehicle depicted pays homage to the original with cues like a single line connecting the upper and lower body, albeit further accentuated by having it cut into the top of the wheel arches.
Weaver was also able to integrate cleaner surfaces as an electric powertrain has far lower cooling requirements, so there’s no need for a grille where radiators are typically located on an internal combustion engine car. The rendering also adapts the CSP311’s circular headlamps, triangular three-quarter windows and cab back proportions into its design.
CSP311 Nissan Silvia
The original Silvia was also known as the Datsun Coupe 1500 and was built on the same platform as the Fairlady at the time. It is an incredibly rare Nissan model, as just 554 units were built from 1965 to 1968. “It’s so rare in fact, that even some of Nissan’s most seasoned employees haven’t seen one,” the carmaker said in its release for Weaver’s render.
After the CSP311, the Silvia name was temporarily retired until it was revived in 1975 for the S10 that was underpinned by the Nissan S platform. The Silvia would remain a permanent fixture in Nissan’s line-up from then on, with the S110, S12 and the generations most are familiar with, the S13, S14 and S15 – all used the S platform. The Silvia model line was eventually discontinued in 2002 after production of the S15 was ended in 2002.
Weaver’s render of the Silvia EV isn’t the only retro modern creation to come out of Nissan, as during the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, the carmaker wheeled out the IDx concept inspired by the Datsun 510. That concept never became a production model, but with Nissan currently embarking on a new product strategy which already saw the birth of a new Z car, maybe the Silvia revival will have a fighting chance. Fingers crossed.
The post Nissan Silvia to reportedly return as an EV in 2025 appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
