First look: Azeal for CR-X appeal

NISSAN has 1600 reasons to build its fabulous Azeal coupe concept that debuted at the Detroit motor show.

Mentioned alongside icons like the Datsun 1600 as inspiration, the Azeal is a sporty and affordable 2+2-seater fastback in the mould of the 1980s Honda CR-X.

Its designers say the Azeal, if produced, would be aimed at young or first-time car buyers. Hence emotional response elements like a sloping rear roofline, broad shoulders and stance and big wheels. While reflecting Nissan’s current 350Z-inspired proportioning and body surfacing, the inaugural Michigan, USA designed and manufactured Azeal uses an unspecified front-wheel drive small car platform as its base.

Power comes courtesy of a turbocharged 2.5-litre four-cylinder twin-cam engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.

The show car's flourishes include "light-jet" headlights backed by prism-like foglights, and a stylised cabin with special Wasabi Chartreuse fabric seats and a glass panel roof with metal inserts, all supported by 19-inch alloy wheels.

According to a Nissan spokesman, there isn’t any word as to if or when the Azeal will make it to production.

But Nissan has a history of having an affordable small-car based coupe in its model line-up.

As well as the early Datsun 1000 and 1200 Coupes, the 1983 Pulsar EXA Turbo and its 1987 EXA Cabriolet successor seemed to combine aspects of the Azeal.