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.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.

Certified Pre-Owned - 1 Year Warranty

10% discount when you renew your car insurance

Compare prices between different insurer providers and use the promo code 'PAULTAN10' when you make your payment to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services.

Car Insurance

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

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

    Holy crap, wow.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • nesca on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:24 am

    creative gila…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • niamafufu on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:35 am

    LOVELY!!!!!!!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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!!!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • niamafufu on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:17 am

      becos 370z more ez to copy ma….

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • maybe nissan sponsor them or share the cost or willing to assist them.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Tiadaid on Apr 21, 2010 at 4:41 pm

      Maybe because the car’s design is so generic they thought people won’t know it’s a specific brand of car!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • hanif on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:35 pm

        ayoo..how doesn’t know nissan 350Z.i think if they put viva then make people ask, ‘what car is that?’

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • tophelipilot on Jun 15, 2010 at 8:02 am

      Ferrari will not allow to show off its internal engine design.. very simple…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • rushydone on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:10 am

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • sr20det on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:14 am

    my be nissan better then ferlari

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • 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!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
        • 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.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
          • 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….

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • MNRahimi on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:21 am

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • “given the time and budget”.. of course. even malaysians can produce something like this with time and budget

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • omahabojan on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:36 am

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Albert on Apr 21, 2010 at 8:50 am

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • narmia on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:04 am

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • peminat kete on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:45 am

    so nice….
    so creative….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • I wonder this car would be on the road…… HMMMMMM
    So fascinating

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • bmpower on Apr 21, 2010 at 10:30 am

    all lubricant do the same job btw.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • rodimus on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:05 am

    This is creative!!! Saluted to them….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • klaka seram on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:19 am

    very creative

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • rexis on Apr 21, 2010 at 11:19 am

    An amazing piece of adverb.

    Did the car actually starts or its just a bluff?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • sadist on Apr 21, 2010 at 1:01 pm

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

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Charger on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:13 pm

      You think those plastic can withstand the head of combustions?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • 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.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • 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?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Neo.S on Apr 21, 2010 at 2:27 pm

    Great Ads

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • chew ban on Apr 21, 2010 at 3:43 pm

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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 ..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • please open your mind…this is an advertisement…
    i think their mission is also to win some award in advertisement competition….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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. :)

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • 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.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • willpower on Apr 21, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    5 star ads for AAAA Nominee…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • The best ads i think.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jesse Lehman on Apr 22, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    Really Cool!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • staff on Apr 23, 2010 at 3:32 pm

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

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

Add a comment

required

required