Nissan design boss rethinks Silvia for the electric era

Nissan's European design boss Matthew Weaver has reimagined the original Nissan Silvia as a modern electric car.

Unveiled at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, the first CSP311 Silvia launched a nameplate that decades later included the S13 and S14 generations (sold as the Nissan 240SX in the US), famous for drifting and tuning. However, the CSP311 is rare and many Nissan employees have never seen one in person, the automaker said in a press release.

"The Silvia was ahead of its time in a very quiet and understated way," Weaver said in a statement. 'By redesigning this car for the future, we wanted to honor that heritage.'

Weaver and his team kept the most distinctive features of the CSP311, such as the lines connecting the upper and lower body, the sharp cut lines above the wheel arches, and the pointed front end. However, being an EV, the modern Silvia concept has a much smaller grille to match the lower cooling requirements of electric vehicles.

This is purely a design study, and it is unclear if the reborn Silvia will even be seen at public auto shows (remember those?) or in dealer showrooms. But as the 2023 Z shows, Nissan is not ruling out retro styling.

Nissan is also serious about electric vehicles, but instead of a sports car, its next EV will be the Ariya crossover. Nissan is targeting a range of over 300 miles and a base price of under $40,000 for the Alya, which is expected to arrive in the US in early 2022.