Last month, Don Panoz’s DeltaWing concern took out ads in the Tennesseean and Automotive News in an attempt to shame Renault-Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn into sitting down and hashing things out with them. The reason? The remarkable similarity of Nissan’s ZEOD RC to DeltaWing’s own racers. Which, of course, were initially sponsored by Nissan and powered by engines wearing the automaker’s badging.
Ghosn’s cronies hired DeltaWing designer Ben Bowlby away from Panoz and proceeded to tout the unique layout as an obvious way forward not just on the track, but on the road, as illustrated by the BladeGlider concept. Nissan is playing with the idea of putting that car into series production, while DeltaWing has mooted a four-place automobile in the hope of finding a partner to produce it.
The first spate of ads did not have the desired effect, with Nissan preferring to wait for legal proceedings to defend itself. But Panoz won’t be deterred. Earlier this month, DeltaWing dropped another round of doubloons on print ads, again in the Tennesseean and AN, pushing the matter further.
It reads, in part, “The only response from my previous public letter to you … has been to declare, through a spokesperson, that the fight will continue in court. We continue to respectfully request that you sit down with us to resolve this matter. The similarities are too apparent to ignore, the facts speak for themselves. Nissan is not acting honorably and needs to face the facts and correct this infringement.”
- Sword Fight, Part 1: DeltaWing Takes Out First Ad to Shame Nissan Over ZEOD RC
- Nissan BladeGlider Concept: Reimagining the DeltaWing for a Civilian Mission
- Nissan Altima Photos, News, Reviews, and More
It seems as though Panoz is screaming at a wall here. As we noted in June, Nissan seems to think that it is either in the clear as far as intellectual property goes, or that it can outmuscle/outspend DeltaWing in court and that it’s somehow worth it to do so. If Panoz is considering a third round of ads, he might reconsider and sink the cash into a legal war chest. It looks like he’s gonna need it.
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