Meet the ski car
This one-off vehicle shows us what’s possible when you put a car on skates
This one-off from Nissan puts a car on a pair of skis
After hurtling through the Wyoming snow, the Nissan 370Zki made its ski slope debut at the 2018 Chicago Auto Show. Pronounced ‘370-ski’, it showed the world what happens when you combine the power of a sports car with the agility of a snowmobile.
The base vehicle for the 370Zki is one of Nissan’s legacy Z models, first making an appearance as the 240Z in 1969. The Z model has had several upgrades since, including this one-off winter reimagining. Nissan used a factory stock 370Z Roadster and ditched the wheels for a pair of skis and rear tracks.
To mount the new additions, the entire drivetrain, which connects the driveshaft to the car’s wheels, was removed and replaced with a custom system. The original braking system for the Roadster remained, but the exhaust system was rerouted to fit under the vehicle. Also, the rear wheel wells were modified to accommodate its massive new snow tracks, which each measure around a metre long. At the front of the 370Zki, tyres were traded in for a pair of custom steerable skis, which were provided by American Track Truck, Inc.
This isn’t the first time Nissan has given one of its cars a winter makeover. Back in 2016 the car manufacturer swapped out all four tyres of a Nissan Rogue for the same triangular tracks on the 370Zki. The vehicle was showcased at the 2016 Montreal International Auto Show, zipping around snowscapes at around 62 miles per hour.
Unfortunately, the Chicago Motor Show is where the journey of the Nissan 370Zki began and ended. But there have been some supercar owners who may have taken inspiration from Nissan’s creation and have adapted their own vehicles with snow tracks, such as a Tesla Model 3 in 2020 and Lamborghini
Aventador earlier this year.