VIDEO: Shell’s “Crystal Clear” Nissan 370Z

Shell commissioned JWT and award winning director Ivan Bird to produce their latest Shell Helix TV commercial – “Crystal Car”. You can watch it above. They basically reproduced an entire Nissan 370Z (why not a Ferrari?) accurate to the smallest details, only made of high grade Perspex acrylic, thus letting you see through the car and every single component. The whole idea is to pour the lubricant in and let you see how it works its way through the engine, coating the pistons, crank, combustion chamber and other parts of the engine.

Look after the jump to watch a “Making Of” video.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • AI-generated Summary ✨

    Comments on the "Crystal Clear" Nissan 370Z ad highlight its creativity and innovative approach, with many praising it as a very clever and artistic concept. Several viewers appreciated the use of transparent materials to showcase engine technology, seeing it as a unique way to promote Shell lubricant products. Some comments questioned the practicality and realism of the ad, suggesting it might be a bluff or a mock-up, but still admired the artistic effort. There was discussion about the commercial's target audience and whether the ad effectively conveyed the lubricant's benefits, with some feeling it lacked clarity on performance aspects. Overall, most comments expressed admiration for the creativity and called the ad a work of art, while a few skeptics doubted its technical feasibility.

  • _Zephyre_ on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:18 am

    Holy crap, wow.

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  • mystvearn (Member) on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:20 am

    wow, must cost shell a fortune. Can you race that car?

    Proton can do Ice merc. With the F1 connections.

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  • nesca on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:24 am

    creative gila…

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  • niamafufu on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:35 am

    LOVELY!!!!!!!!!!

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  • kimi_ on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:04 am

    “why not a ferrari?”

    This is because shell target the normal road/sport car groups rather than niche group of

    high-end sports car!!!!!

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  • rushydone on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:10 am

    what a amazing pieces of art..
    saluted to them..

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  • sr20det on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:14 am

    my be nissan better then ferlari

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  • acerman on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:20 am

    Actually Shell Helix is a very good lubricant. The engines feels smooth and easy to start and it doesn’t smell when the engine heating up in the morning like other lubricants does. I’d been using shell helix for almost 5 years for my car and the engine still sounds nice and smooth. Anyway, nice ad…

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    • Squawk on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:15 am

      Should give Havoline a try. Great stuff too. :-)

      If this idea was proposed here, it would’ve been thrown out of the window together with the Creative Director. :-D

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      • Tiadaid on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:21 pm

        Eh, not really. Some companies are receptive to creative thinking. Ads like these can be done here. Some though still have a closed mind. Those people are going to kill the ad agency creatives with their stupidity!

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        • Squawk on Apr 21, 2010 at 6:17 pm

          A few may accept new ideas but not in general. Throw in the kind of budget needed for something like this and the number dwindles down even further.

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          • Tiadaid on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:02 pm

            Well, even with big budgets some companies still are conservative. And don’t get me started about government agencies. They’re willing to spend money but don’t want creative ads….

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  • MNRahimi on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:21 am

    love it..it’s real car with Cristal clear body

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  • “given the time and budget”.. of course. even malaysians can produce something like this with time and budget

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  • omahabojan on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:36 am

    Very very creative! They should bring this car on tour around the world

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  • Albert on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:50 am

    Wow.. the engineers / graphic designers have very creative title “Asylum models and effects” keke…

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  • narmia on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:04 am

    Pushing the limits of the imagination is something most Malaysian companies won’t do.

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    • tophelipilot on Jun 15, 2010 at 8:13 am

      Certainly advertising companies in Malaysia are not doing good. If you see advertisement such as Myeg, Astro (messi and lampard) and other notable bad designs, you will realize that.

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  • peminat kete on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:45 am

    so nice….
    so creative….

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  • Charger on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:53 am

    I guess the head of marketing of Shell probably wanna keep that car for himself. Haha.

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  • I wonder this car would be on the road…… HMMMMMM
    So fascinating

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  • bmpower on Apr 21, 2010 at 10:30 am

    all lubricant do the same job btw.

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  • rodimus on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:05 am

    This is creative!!! Saluted to them….

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  • klaka seram on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:19 am

    very creative

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  • rexis on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:19 am

    An amazing piece of adverb.

    Did the car actually starts or its just a bluff?

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    • sadist on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:01 pm

      of coz bluff la….sohai. How can internal combustion engine work on plastics?

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    • technetium on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:09 pm

      bluff of course.no combustion in the engine..they pulled it with a rope, can see from the making of the video..

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    • Charger on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm

      You think those plastic can withstand the head of combustions?

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    • Georgie on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:31 pm

      All these just for a 30secs ads? What a waste of money! They don’t give me the impression that these lubricants have anything to do with the performance of the car. C’mon any ordinary lubricant you put into the engine will work its way to the piston, etc. but how good they really are and how they improve the performance of your engine should be the main point when directing this ad!

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      • Tiadaid on Apr 21, 2010 at 4:59 pm

        If you watched the making of, you’ll realize that the target audience for this ad often think that engine oil doesn’t circulate around the engine but only end up pooled at the bottom of the oil pump. And they’re advertising its Active Cleansing technology. This is how you show that characteristic!

        Besides, how to show performance? By showing cars going around the corners fast? How cliche is that.

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      • lencongan on Apr 23, 2010 at 10:12 am

        can u please suggest any other advertisement idea which is not a waste of money in your point of view?

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  • Francis KethoN (Member) on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    hmmm…
    the moment i read this news, I dont see the 2nd Youtube “The Making”. So i posted here to share to all readers…manatau it says waiting for moderator to approve, after 20mins my post didnt show up but the link for 2nd YouTube was posted…..Something wrong?

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  • Neo.S on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:27 pm

    Great Ads

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  • chew ban on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    is this fake? no engine cable nothing also…hmm…

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    • sadist on Apr 21, 2010 at 5:47 pm

      Well if it is real:

      A) It WOULD be interesting to see the process of four strokes inside the engine…inc combustion and exhaust cycle thru the transparent plastic but it din. i think i real life it will happen in a blink of an eye…just imagine how many RPMS.

      B) engine can tahan a few seconds before it blows into smithereens..

      C) the F1 team would have long used composite plastics /carbon fiber as cylinder blocks which saves a lot of weight. Or Boeing manufacture completely plastic/composite engine.

      one more stuff ..

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  • please open your mind…this is an advertisement…
    i think their mission is also to win some award in advertisement competition….

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  • Happist on Apr 21, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    i dun think this ad cost that muchy.. they can borrow the mold from Nissan and do some injection molding. I would like to borrow one, if they let :P

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    • Charger on Apr 21, 2010 at 10:12 pm

      I believe car’s body panels are made by metal plates stamping, not by some injecting of liquid metal into a mould. That would cost too much money and time. :)

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    • MoFaz on Apr 21, 2010 at 10:30 pm

      nope, they measured everything and build a replica in perspex. the engine is twice the original size.

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  • willpower on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    5 star ads for AAAA Nominee…

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  • The best ads i think.

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  • Jesse Lehman on Apr 22, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    Really Cool!

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  • staff on Apr 23, 2010 at 3:32 pm

    instead of making the whole car… why dont they just make the engine only?

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