Tailored for adventurers on the move

The planned Terranaut features a laboratory in the rear

Nissan is looking to develop a four-wheel-drive based on its venerable Patrol for the world's most challenging environments.

It is called the Terranaut and the prototype will be unveiled at the upcoming Geneva motor show.

Nissan says the rough and tumble vehicle has been conceived to serve as a mobile working environment for scientists, geologists, archaeologists or other adventurers who travel to the most challenging corners of the earth.

Its cabin is designed to accommodate three people - two in the front and one in the rear.

Driver and passenger have strengthened fixed seats, and the rear gets a swivel seat and workstation with computer console, as well as communication and analysis equipment.

A creation of London-based Nissan Design Europe, the overriding theme behind the left-hand-drive concept is one of function.

Project leader and assistant chief designer Felipe Roo Clefas says: "Terranaut has been designed for observation and communication in all four corners of the world."

To accommodate the laboratory area in the cabin, the passenger side of the car has just one door, while the driver's side has a pair of swing doors and no central B-pillar.

By hingeing the doors at the front and rear respectively, ingress and egress is made easy.

The vehicle's 19in (48cm) wheels are shod with tyres made specially for Terranaut by Goodyear. Puncture-proof, they function as conventional road tyres when the vehicle is being driven on roads, but by changing air pressure transform themselves into chunky off-road tyres.

Inside the vehicle, the spherical science laboratory dominates the entire cabin area behind the two front seats.

The rear swivel seat is situated beneath the glass roof dome and gives the rear occupant 360-degree access to the various workstations.