Electric crossovers are all the rage, but they might not get blood pumping the way a rear-drive sports car can. Especially one with a heritage like Nissan’s Z.
The subject of much rumor and speculation, the successor to today’s remarkably aged 370Z was already known to be in the works, carefully pored over by a team of fastidious Japanese engineers eager to do the model’s lineage proud. Expected to carry the name 400Z, a prototype is headed our way in just a short time.
Nissan’s calling it the Z Proto, and it should give us all a good idea of what’s to follow.
The prototype Z is said to appear at a special event on the evening of September 15th, though Nissan pegs the introduction for Sept. 16. Could be a time zone thing, one thinks. To mark the occasion, the automaker released a video retrospective of five decades of Z action, stirring the emotions and sending a thrill up the leg of our resident Nissanophile, Chis Tonn.
And it’s certainly about time, given that the current-generation model, the 370Z, first appeared in the waning hours of 2008.
With Nissan eager to burnish its image through the launch of fresh product while also firming up its financial foundation, the new Z will only serve the purposes of the former goal. Vehicles like the Rogue and Frontier are far more important to the automaker’s bean counters, but the Z ties everything to the past. Just because there’s an Ariya on the horizon doesn’t mean Nissan wants to start with a clean sheet. Nor does it want to cede the sports car space to the industry’s remaining holdouts.
Believed to pack a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6, the upcoming Z will top all others in terms of power. From what we can see from teasers emerging from Nissan (a crudely lightened image of the provided photo appears above), the 400Z, if that’s what it’s called, will stay true to Zs of yore, with a long hood and short, sloping deck. Heritage will ooze from every curve.
Given that the vehicle arriving in two weeks is a prototype, not a concept, details of the next-gen Z should be fairly baked-in. The real thing shouldn’t be too far behind.
[Image: Nissan]
Is the trunk spacious enough to fit large musical instruments?
(Hehehe too soon?)
So when does the car actually show up? In 1, 2 or 3 more years? I’m sick of these drawn out teasers. The 400Z is already 3 years late based on when the Infiniti Red Sport was launched.
Doesn’t matter… I’ve already moved onto a C7.
Hey man, re-skinning a Q60RS and taking out the rear seats takes 3 years.
Oh man you all are brutal. I love it.
Do Nissan really want to tease a car this car in advance when the real thing likely won’t be hitting dealership until 2023-ish?
Wouldn’t this pretty much kill what’s left of the existing 370Z sales for the next 3 years?
C’mooon baby, daddy needs a new NISMO in white for a really sweet deal in 1.5 years!
Is this an SUV coupe too?
Throwing turbos on the 3.5ltr V6 would be nice. The Z engine was at it’s best at 3.5 and was a perennial Wards Best 10 engines before they bored it out to 3.7.
The perfect vehicle for the next “Dark Knight” franchise movie.
Z is for generation Z. We the rest of the people will die before new Z will be out for sale.
I hope Nissan is reading these! HIlarious! Yes please let them compete with the Coyote Mustang in power. I would be interested.