World's first seven-seat bobsleigh revealed

Nissan Design Europe has turned its hand to the creation of another seven-seat people-mover… although this time, steel runners replace road wheels.

The X-TRAIL Bobsleigh was handcrafted by bobsleigh specialist Diego Menardi in his Cortina workshop in Italy, with input from Ian Richardson, a former Director of Sport at the British Bobsleigh Association.

Taking inspiration from the X-TRAIL mid-size SUV (and its optional seven-seat layout), Menardi worked with Nissan Design Europe to extend a traditional four-seat bobsleigh into the seven-seat special you see here.

Design-wise the bobsleigh’s nose apes the X-TRAIL’s V-motion grille and captures the SUV’s bonnet lines thanks to a combination of sketching and CAD. Menardi also reinforced the sleigh to accommodate its expanded passenger capacity.

"We wanted to give the opportunity to experience first-hand the adventurous nature of our crossover segment through the thrill and excitement of Olympic bobsleighing," said Darryl Scriven, Design Manager Nissan Design Europe.

For its inaugural run at the Igls Olympic track the X-TRAIL Bobsleigh was piloted by British Olympic medallist Sean Olsson.

The X-TRAIL Bobsleigh is capable of a 105km/h top speed, hitting 100km/h in around 30 seconds on the run. More excitingly, the 310kg sleigh takes the banking at 4.5g.