Nissan decided to celebrate the last Micra Cup race of the 2016 season by doing something special. They built a one-off car cradle that fits into the bed of the Nissan Titan XD. Powered by an electro hydraulic pump, this aluminum rig lifts the Nissan Micra onto the Titan XD’s bed for hauling.

"With the Titan XD, we have recently launched one of the most capable and well-rounded pick-ups which creates an entirely new truck segment,” said Joni Paiva, president of Nissan Canada. “To top it all off, Nissan’s motorsport persona is alive and well in Canada through the Nissan Micra Cup spec series. The Titan Hauler XD project truck merges the vehicles at the opposite ends of the spectrum of Nissan vehicles available in the Canadian market by bringing together two vehicles in a visually spectacular way."

Motorsports in Action, a Quebec-based company, developed the project. Not only did MIA build the gurney rig, they also had to modify the Titan XD to hold all the weight. The Crew Cab pickup equipped with the Cummins turbodiesel has a payload capacity of 2,091 pounds from the factory. More was needed since the Nissan Micra alone weighs 2,302 pounds. Add to that the weight of the gurney rig and all its support structure. MIA reinforced the Titan XD’s chassis in strategic spots and beefed up the rear suspension system.

"I’ve had the opportunity to work with Nissan on several projects including the Micra Cup race cars and the Rogue Warrior extreme prototype,” said MIA owner Carl Hermez. “So when Nissan came to me with the idea of putting the race car in the bed of the TITAN XD, I was immediately excited by the challenge."

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Why it matters

Projects like this are always interesting; not only from a marketing standpoint, but also from an engineering one. It’s awesome to see such a gurney system get fabricated and integrated onto the Titan XD. It’s seriously doubtful anything like this has a practical application with the Titan XD, but it’s still awesome to see it get done. It’s also immensely fun to watch the GIF.

At the same time, I’d hate to drive this rig around a corner. The center of gravity has to be somewhere around the Titan XD’s door handles, surely making it rather unstable. Nevertheless, it’s an awesome setup that will definitely attract attention.