With a heavy dose of nostalgia, Nissan unveiled the looks of the new Z last night in the form of the prototype known as the Z Proto. Z-car fans can spot styling cues from past generations throughout the design from nose to tail. The front end is very much a call back to the original 240Z, with a large-mouthed grille and headlights reminiscent of the appearance of the earlier Z with glass covers over the headlight openings. Even the hood crease calls back to the original design.
Moving down the side, you can tell there’s some 370Z in the build of this car with how the roof shape is very similar. At first glance, it reminded me of the Lotus Evora as well. Not a bad thing.
From the back, things start to call back more to the Z32 generation Z with a familiar flat panel of lights that seem to float within it and an upsweeped carbon cut out below. The angled “Fairlady Z” badge is reminiscent of the badges on the back of the original 240Z.
The interior will feel familiar if you’ve ever sat in a Z. It’s got new shapes and materials to everything, but the usual three pod dash is there. A screen is more well integrated into the dash.
For the first time since the Z31, the cluster is all digital with screens now replacing physical analog gauges. Among those digital gauges is a boost gauge.
Yes, under the hood is a twin-turbo V6, which Dino over at Speedhunters noted could only be the VR38DDTT sourced from Infiniti’s Q50 and Q60. He also mentions the brakes being from the GTR.
If you’d like to watch the unveiling from yesterday, I’ve embedded it below.
Overall, I’m excited for this new Z. I’ll admit I’m a long time fan of the brand and of the Z cars in particular. There are small things I’d change, but it’s generally a ver nice design. Let’s hope they don’t water it down too much when this eventually goes into production, or worse, they hit it with the ugly stick when it’s time for a midcycle refresh (looking at you current model 370Z).
All images courtesy of Nissan’s press photos.
Text by Bryce Womeldurf
