Talk about clean-sheet design: meet the origami Nissan Juke

Updated: 04 November 2015

► Full-size replica entirely from paper
► Created by artist Owen Gildersleeve
Publicity stunt for Juke’s fifth birthday

This’ll crease you up. Perhaps keen to out-craft Lexus’s recent cardboard IS publicity stunt, Nissan has commissioned British artist Owen Gildersleeve to quite literally rustle up a full-size replica of the Juke, entirely from paper.

Why?

It’s an admirably flimsy stunt, partly to celebrate the Juke’s fifth birthday, and partly to coincide with current ‘World Origami Days’ celebrations. Obviously. And there’s a tenuous link or two towards the car’s Japanese design heritage. In Gildersleeve’s words: ‘As a celebration piece it draws on so many influences, such as the origami focus inspired by Nissan’s Japanese roots. Using so many individual pieces of paper to create the overall structure also represents the thousands of people who helped bring the Nissan Juke into reality and the thousands who continue to do so right here in the UK.’

First deliveries of the Juke began in October 2010 and since then more than 150,000 have been sold in the UK. It’s yet to fold under pressure, as Nissan’s shifted 700,000 Sunderland-built Jukes in Europe as a whole, making it the company’s second best-selling model.

How?

The Juke replica’s constructed from no less than 2000 folded pieces of paper and is the product of 200 hours’ work, following the dimensions of the real car as closely as possible without screwing up (stop it now – ed). You can watch its creation on video below, and read all of CAR’s news, reviews and scoops on the Nissan Juke here.

By James Taylor

Former features editor for CAR, occasional racer

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