A bunch of photos recently posted on Facebook show two Nissan concept cars lying in a junkyard next to the automaker’s Tennessee HQ waiting for the scrap press.
One of them is known as the Quest Van, and the other one is Bevel. The former seems stripped of most tech and is in poor condition, while the latter appears much better preserved and salvageable with minimal effort. Although it never became a production car, the Bevel ultimately lent some of its features to the Nissan Cube as we know it.
The workers on the site said the local Nissan office sent both cars to be scrapped, and would want a video confirming the destruction of both, so salvaging either vehicle quietly would be impossible. Other prototypes also made it to the same junkyard in the past.
Nissan actually cared enough to comment on the discovery, saying it did its best to keep both concepts in storage after their show debuts in 2002 and 2004. However, as their condition kept worsening, maintaining them further became difficult. This is why it was decided that both need to be disposed of.
As much as private persons would like to own a concept car, there are strict legal limitations against it. Such vehicles lack VIN numbers and are not guaranteed to comply with safety norms. Since attempts had been made to drive such cars on public roads, most automakers choose to destroy them despite their apparent value and rarity – just to be on the safe side.