2018 Nissan IDx

We believe that the world will always need affordable rear-drive excellence, and—shockingly, considering the efficiency-minded, regulation-restricted, and somewhat homogenized state of the industry—so do today’s automakers. The 10Best-winning Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ twins, unleashed for 2013, prove the staying power of the concept, and both Chevy and Kia have dipped a toe in the drip pan with their respective Code 130R and GT4 Stinger show cars. Now Nissan seems ready to party, too, having energized last fall’s Tokyo auto show with the surprise debut of two versions of the IDx concept.

Here’s the most important thing about the IDx: Nissan wants to build it. What could derail the entire project is that Nissan currently lacks an obvious platform for this car. Some adapted version of the Z-car’s bones could work, although that architecture would potentially bring too much mass to the IDx.

What the IDx is intended to do is get young adults to stop Snapchatting and start caring about and buying cars. (Or, at least, Snapchat about cars.) To capture youth—not just the demographic, but also its essence—the IDx concept draws some inspiration from a model more likely to be remembered by those kids’ elders: the classic Datsun 510 of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fans of the 510, a sort of Japanese BMW 2002, will squeal at the upright three-box design and proportions and the wheels—as well as the NISMO version painted to resemble historic BRE 510 ­racers. Modern driveline tech, such as direct injection, places the car in the present. Nissan says the idea is more homage than retro, but the tie to the past is double-knotted by an Easter egg in the car’s name: DX is 510 in Roman numerals.

A U.S.-spec IDx likely would be powered by the naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four from the Sentra, as well as a 1.6 turbo four in a NISMO spinoff. Transmissions would include a CVT—this is a Nissan, after all—as well as, we hope, manual ’boxes across the range, including performance variants. Yes, that’s variants, plural. Nissan currently applies its hi-po badge in two strata, with NISMO models mostly getting mild upgrades (stickers!) and NISMO RS cars receiving more holistic go-fast makeovers. If the Juke can get an RS version, we see no reason why the IDx wouldn’t, couldn’t, or shouldn’t.

More formal and square-jawed than the Scibaru twins, the IDx is akin to the BMW 2-series coupe, only a lot cheaper. If Nissan gives it the green light, figure on the IDx arriving in 2017 and starting in the low- to mid-$20,000 range. If Nissan really wants to peddle something excellent, it will hawk the IDx in a whole mess of body styles that parallel the 510’s, which was available not only as a coupe, but also as a sedan and a wagon.