BEIRUT– Finding ourselves in the right place at the right time, we were squatting on a runway in Lebanon playing dice with some locals when Carlos Ghosn’s chartered plane came into land. Realizing the situation we were in, questions were hastily prepared and rushed over to the wanted executive.

Ghosn was hesitant to even speak to us, but after we asked a few unsolicited questions he must’ve realized we were trustworthy. We squatted down on the runway together on account of the distinct lack of seating, and Ghosn answered some of our questions.

“The Murano isn’t going to get a NISMO version. What would be the purpose of a Murano NISMO?”

We pressed him for any information concerning a possible Murano NISMO, adding that the Juke got a NISMO trim it probably didn’t deserve.

“I mean… We did look at it– a few prototype trim pieces were made, but the market segment for a Murano NISMO is five or six people.”

We continued to press for more inside info, reminding Ghosn that he didn’t have much to lose if he told us about a possible Murano NISMO.

“The Murano NISMO barely got off paper. We h-”

Ghosn paused, alternating his gaze at us as we squatted together on the tarmac.

“The GTR motor just didn’t fit quite right.” he said as we began to scribble furiously.

“The AWD system was going to be a seriously tight squeeze, and we weren’t sure if the public was ready for a stick shift version of that drivetrain.”

Ghosn revealed a slight grin as he stood up, looking down at us as we continued to write on our tattered notepads.

“Also, we weren’t sure we could make enough RB26DETTs to satisfy demand if we made it an option.”

We finished writing down all this exciting information, only to look up and see he was Ghosn. Disappointed, we walked back over to our corner of the runway and continued to play dice.