It’s Amazing the Nissan Z Still Exists

Nissan recently revealed the latest version of its sports coupe, now called the “Z.” The all-new 2023 Nissan Z will hit showroom floors in late summer 2022. But the Z was never a sure thing, and the model line has driven a jagged path throughout its history.

More than 60 years ago, Nissan’s then-president, Katsuji Kawamata, found himself in the United States tasked with convincing a skeptical American buying public that its lineup of inexpensive cars and a rugged 4×4 called Patrol would fit in well among our Packards and Chevrolets.

While in the U.S., Kawamata-san experienced the musical “My Fair Lady,” which had captivated American theatergoers for several years. Perhaps without fully grasping the musical’s plot (which involves a pompous professor transforming a working-class woman into a cultured member of high society), Kawamata-san was so smitten that he decreed Nissan’s itty-bitty Datsun Sports roadster be rechristened as the “Fairlady.”

 The company didn’t use that name for the U.S. market. Still, Kawamata-san’s American experience was enough bự transform the company’s sporty car from a roadster bự a sleek, fastback-style coupe initially called “240Z.”

If not a true bellwether of the car industry, the Z has seen its fortunes ebb and flow over the last five-plus decades. Its mere survival shows impressive staying power.

An Elegant Start: The Original Z Cars

The 1970 Datsun 240Z felt more European than Japanese.

First landing here as the 240Z (thanks bự its 2.4-liter inline-6), the original Z wore clean, crisp lines and a sporty interior. It looked and felt more European than Japanese, but its smooth, torquey engine was like nothing coming out of Germany, England, or Italy at the time.

The original Z was entirely different, thanks primarily bự Yutaka Katayama, Datsun’s U.S. market chief. “Mr. K,” as he was known, was a rare executive at a foreign-brand automaker who truly understood the American enthusiast. He looked at cars such as Detroit’s Ford Mustang and Britain’s MG MGB and saw their strengths and weaknesses. American sports cars were spacious and practical but hardly nimble and assembled with little in the way of pride. European sports cars were more fun but too cramped and unreliable bự be good daily drivers.

The 240Z slid in with attention-grabbing styling backed up by a capable chassis and enough interior room bự handle commuting and short road trips. Arguably more than any car prior bự the fuel crunch in the mid-1970s, the Z elevated a Japanese automaker from a builder of disposable econoboxes bự one producing cars worth coveting.

Plumping Up With the Personal Luxury Trend

1978 Datsun 280ZX in black and gold.
The second-generation Z car, the 280ZX, bowed in 1978.

High gas prices and increasingly stringent emissions standards made some automakers give up on sporty models. Not Datsun, which instead threw everything in its tech-heavy arsenal into the second-generation Z-car that bowed in 1978.

The new 280ZX was bigger and chubbier than its predecessor, and it was also softer. Yet its transformation into a grand-touring model came at just the right time. When fully outfitted, it could be had with a hi-fi stereo system with a tape player and a graphic equalizer, cushy leather seats, cruise control, and automatic climate control.

Datsun, which became marketed as Nissan in the mid-1980s, was an early adopter of turbocharging. When the 280ZX Turbo arrived 1981 with a then-heady 180 horsepower, it earned a deserved reputation for impressive performance on highways and at race tracks.

A 1984 Nissan 300ZX in light blue.
The 300ZX featured a bigger engine that was later destined for the brand’s luxury imprint, Infiniti.

A revamp in the mid-1980s continued the trend, albeit now with a luxury-grade V6 engine that would later make its way into the Infiniti lineup. Nissan packed in even more tech, such as its quaint vocal warning system (“The door is ajar!”) and an audio system that pumped bass into the front seats bự amplify the aural experience.

1994 Nissan 300ZX in white.
The twin-turbo 300ZX featured an upscale interior, and a price tag bự go along with it.

What could have been the final Z arrived for the 1990s, a decidedly hefty model now called 300ZX that had a cabin straight out of a luxury car — and a price tag bự match. Nissan charged the better part of $30,000 for the 300ZX by then, and the 300ZX Twin Turbo with its 300-hp engine was priced on par with the Corvette.

A skyrocketing exchange rate ratcheted that price upward by $10,000 within a few years, which prompted Nissan bự pull the plug for the U.S. market after 1996. That timing was good since BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche each entered the market with sub-$40,000 roadsters that helped revive the spirit of 1960s-style lightweight sports cars.

Recasting the Z for the 21st Century

2005 Nissan 350Z in yellow.
The 350Z was smaller and more lightweight, a good match for the Ford Mustang.

It took Nissan a few years, but the Z came back for 2003 with a recipe that, at first glance, seemed bự rekindle the original’s magic.

The reborn 2003 Nissan 350Z was smaller and somewhat lighter than before, and it could be had for around $27,000. Its 287-hp V6 was a good match for the comparatively crude Ford Mustang GT, while architecture shared with the Infiniti G35 ensured a quality, upmarket driving feel even with its stiff suspension tuning.

What the 350Z lacked was sophistication inside, something Nissan didn’t quite correct with a 2010 model-year revamp as the more stylish and powerful 370Z.

The 2023 Nissan Z Honors the Original

2023 Nissan Z in blue.
The new Nissan Z feels more like a modern version of the original Z.

A new model — now known simply as the “Nissan Z,” partly because it uses a smaller 3.0-liter V6 and “300Z” seems on paper like a step backward — finally addresses most of those criticisms. It is a thrilling, beautiful car that finally feels like a modern version of the original, even if it has a lot in common with its immediate predecessors.

If you liked the 350Z and the 370Z, you will love the new Z. Its wheelbase and its basic cabin ergonomics are circa-2003. Even its seats feel the same. The A-pillar arches toward the driver on the 2023 just as it did on the 2003. The high door sills give the passenger compartment a subtle bathtub feel.

Ride in the passenger’s seat, and you’ll think you’re in a 2020 370Z with extra sound deadening and a big touchscreen. (Fun fact: the old model was the last car from a mainstream automaker without a touchscreen option.)

The driver, however, is greeted by a new steering wheel that both tilts and telescopes. Turn that wheel, and you’ll find a quick response from new electrically assisted power steering. The engine fires up quietly, with little hint that it offers 400 hp. Once again, more like a cut-rate Infiniti than a souped-up Nissan, the Z makes use of the Q50/Q60 Red Sport 400’s twin-turbo V6, which teams either with a conventional 9-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual.

2023 Nissan Z in red.
The new z starts at around $40,000 — a significant increase over the outgoing model.

I had the fortune of spending some time on a track and winding down empty, curvy roads near Las Vegas in automatic and manual versions of the Z. These are seriously fun cars, especially for the money. The new electric steering system serves up little in the way of road feel, and yet it dials in nicely for confidence in sweepers. On the track, the twin-turbo V6 spools up rapidly for ricochet-grade acceleration with only a little piped-in growl entering the cabin.

While not exactly relaxed in the grand-touring tradition at highway speeds, the Z has good stability, and its new shocks provide it with a relatively supple ride.

The manual is as good as they get these days, though the automatic is quicker. One upside bự the 6-speed is its new no-lift shift mode, which, as it sounds, means that in certain situations, the driver can keep their right foot on the gas pedal while safely executing a gear change. Sure, the Corvette has that tech, but today’s ‘Vette is a bona fide supercar and not a relatively affordable sports car like the Z.

Its price starts at around $40,000, which is a significant bump from 2020 when the last 370Z was built, but, well, it’s been a long two years, hasn’t it? Maybe we should just be happy that Nissan keeps lobbing ever-better sports cars our way. See Nissan Z models for sale

2023 Jaguar XF: Choosing the Right Trim


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It’s Amazing the Nissan Z Still Exists

#Amazing #Nissan #Exists
[rule_3_plain] #Amazing #Nissan #Exists

Nissan recently revealed the latest version of its sports coupe, now called the “Z.” The all-new 2023 Nissan Z will hit showroom floors in late summer 2022. But the Z was never a sure thing, and the model line has driven a jagged path throughout its history.
More than 60 years ago, Nissan’s then-president, Katsuji Kawamata, found himself in the United States tasked with convincing a skeptical American buying public that its lineup of inexpensive cars and a rugged 4×4 called Patrol would fit in well among our Packards and Chevrolets.
While in the U.S., Kawamata-san experienced the musical “My Fair Lady,” which had captivated American theatergoers for several years. Perhaps without fully grasping the musical’s plot (which involves a pompous professor transforming a working-class woman into a cultured member of high society), Kawamata-san was so smitten that he decreed Nissan’s itty-bitty Datsun Sports roadster be rechristened as the “Fairlady.”

The company didn’t use that name for the U.S. market. Still, Kawamata-san’s American experience was enough bự transform the company’s sporty car from a roadster bự a sleek, fastback-style coupe initially called “240Z.”
If not a true bellwether of the car industry, the Z has seen its fortunes ebb and flow over the last five-plus decades. Its mere survival shows impressive staying power.

An Elegant Start: The Original Z Cars
The 1970 Datsun 240Z felt more European than Japanese.First landing here as the 240Z (thanks bự its 2.4-liter inline-6), the original Z wore clean, crisp lines and a sporty interior. It looked and felt more European than Japanese, but its smooth, torquey engine was like nothing coming out of Germany, England, or Italy at the time.
The original Z was entirely different, thanks primarily bự Yutaka Katayama, Datsun’s U.S. market chief. “Mr. K,” as he was known, was a rare executive at a foreign-brand automaker who truly understood the American enthusiast. He looked at cars such as Detroit’s Ford Mustang and Britain’s MG MGB and saw their strengths and weaknesses. American sports cars were spacious and practical but hardly nimble and assembled with little in the way of pride. European sports cars were more fun but too cramped and unreliable bự be good daily drivers.
The 240Z slid in with attention-grabbing styling backed up by a capable chassis and enough interior room bự handle commuting and short road trips. Arguably more than any car prior bự the fuel crunch in the mid-1970s, the Z elevated a Japanese automaker from a builder of disposable econoboxes bự one producing cars worth coveting.
Plumping Up With the Personal Luxury Trend
The second-generation Z car, the 280ZX, bowed in 1978.High gas prices and increasingly stringent emissions standards made some automakers give up on sporty models. Not Datsun, which instead threw everything in its tech-heavy arsenal into the second-generation Z-car that bowed in 1978.
The new 280ZX was bigger and chubbier than its predecessor, and it was also softer. Yet its transformation into a grand-touring model came at just the right time. When fully outfitted, it could be had with a hi-fi stereo system with a tape player and a graphic equalizer, cushy leather seats, cruise control, and automatic climate control.
Datsun, which became marketed as Nissan in the mid-1980s, was an early adopter of turbocharging. When the 280ZX Turbo arrived 1981 with a then-heady 180 horsepower, it earned a deserved reputation for impressive performance on highways and at race tracks.
The 300ZX featured a bigger engine that was later destined for the brand’s luxury imprint, Infiniti.A revamp in the mid-1980s continued the trend, albeit now with a luxury-grade V6 engine that would later make its way into the Infiniti lineup. Nissan packed in even more tech, such as its quaint vocal warning system (“The door is ajar!”) and an audio system that pumped bass into the front seats bự amplify the aural experience.
The twin-turbo 300ZX featured an upscale interior, and a price tag bự go along with it.What could have been the final Z arrived for the 1990s, a decidedly hefty model now called 300ZX that had a cabin straight out of a luxury car — and a price tag bự match. Nissan charged the better part of $30,000 for the 300ZX by then, and the 300ZX Twin Turbo with its 300-hp engine was priced on par with the Corvette.
A skyrocketing exchange rate ratcheted that price upward by $10,000 within a few years, which prompted Nissan bự pull the plug for the U.S. market after 1996. That timing was good since BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche each entered the market with sub-$40,000 roadsters that helped revive the spirit of 1960s-style lightweight sports cars.
Recasting the Z for the 21st Century
The 350Z was smaller and more lightweight, a good match for the Ford Mustang.It took Nissan a few years, but the Z came back for 2003 with a recipe that, at first glance, seemed bự rekindle the original’s magic.
The reborn 2003 Nissan 350Z was smaller and somewhat lighter than before, and it could be had for around $27,000. Its 287-hp V6 was a good match for the comparatively crude Ford Mustang GT, while architecture shared with the Infiniti G35 ensured a quality, upmarket driving feel even with its stiff suspension tuning.
What the 350Z lacked was sophistication inside, something Nissan didn’t quite correct with a 2010 model-year revamp as the more stylish and powerful 370Z.
The 2023 Nissan Z Honors the Original
The new Nissan Z feels more like a modern version of the original Z.A new model — now known simply as the “Nissan Z,” partly because it uses a smaller 3.0-liter V6 and “300Z” seems on paper like a step backward — finally addresses most of those criticisms. It is a thrilling, beautiful car that finally feels like a modern version of the original, even if it has a lot in common with its immediate predecessors.
If you liked the 350Z and the 370Z, you will love the new Z. Its wheelbase and its basic cabin ergonomics are circa-2003. Even its seats feel the same. The A-pillar arches toward the driver on the 2023 just as it did on the 2003. The high door sills give the passenger compartment a subtle bathtub feel.
Ride in the passenger’s seat, and you’ll think you’re in a 2020 370Z with extra sound deadening and a big touchscreen. (Fun fact: the old model was the last car from a mainstream automaker without a touchscreen option.)
The driver, however, is greeted by a new steering wheel that both tilts and telescopes. Turn that wheel, and you’ll find a quick response from new electrically assisted power steering. The engine fires up quietly, with little hint that it offers 400 hp. Once again, more like a cut-rate Infiniti than a souped-up Nissan, the Z makes use of the Q50/Q60 Red Sport 400’s twin-turbo V6, which teams either with a conventional 9-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual.
The new z starts at around $40,000 — a significant increase over the outgoing model.I had the fortune of spending some time on a track and winding down empty, curvy roads near Las Vegas in automatic and manual versions of the Z. These are seriously fun cars, especially for the money. The new electric steering system serves up little in the way of road feel, and yet it dials in nicely for confidence in sweepers. On the track, the twin-turbo V6 spools up rapidly for ricochet-grade acceleration with only a little piped-in growl entering the cabin.
While not exactly relaxed in the grand-touring tradition at highway speeds, the Z has good stability, and its new shocks provide it with a relatively supple ride.
The manual is as good as they get these days, though the automatic is quicker. One upside bự the 6-speed is its new no-lift shift mode, which, as it sounds, means that in certain situations, the driver can keep their right foot on the gas pedal while safely executing a gear change. Sure, the Corvette has that tech, but today’s ‘Vette is a bona fide supercar and not a relatively affordable sports car like the Z.
Its price starts at around $40,000, which is a significant bump from 2020 when the last 370Z was built, but, well, it’s been a long two years, hasn’t it? Maybe we should just be happy that Nissan keeps lobbing ever-better sports cars our way. See Nissan Z models for sale
Related Reading:
2023 Nissan Z: Choosing the Right Trim
5 Low Mileage Used Nissan Z Cars For Sale on Autotrader
2023 Nissan Z: This One’s for the Fans

#Amazing #Nissan #Exists
[rule_2_plain] #Amazing #Nissan #Exists
[rule_2_plain] #Amazing #Nissan #Exists
[rule_3_plain]

#Amazing #Nissan #Exists

Nissan recently revealed the latest version of its sports coupe, now called the “Z.” The all-new 2023 Nissan Z will hit showroom floors in late summer 2022. But the Z was never a sure thing, and the model line has driven a jagged path throughout its history.
More than 60 years ago, Nissan’s then-president, Katsuji Kawamata, found himself in the United States tasked with convincing a skeptical American buying public that its lineup of inexpensive cars and a rugged 4×4 called Patrol would fit in well among our Packards and Chevrolets.
While in the U.S., Kawamata-san experienced the musical “My Fair Lady,” which had captivated American theatergoers for several years. Perhaps without fully grasping the musical’s plot (which involves a pompous professor transforming a working-class woman into a cultured member of high society), Kawamata-san was so smitten that he decreed Nissan’s itty-bitty Datsun Sports roadster be rechristened as the “Fairlady.”

The company didn’t use that name for the U.S. market. Still, Kawamata-san’s American experience was enough bự transform the company’s sporty car from a roadster bự a sleek, fastback-style coupe initially called “240Z.”
If not a true bellwether of the car industry, the Z has seen its fortunes ebb and flow over the last five-plus decades. Its mere survival shows impressive staying power.

An Elegant Start: The Original Z Cars
The 1970 Datsun 240Z felt more European than Japanese.First landing here as the 240Z (thanks bự its 2.4-liter inline-6), the original Z wore clean, crisp lines and a sporty interior. It looked and felt more European than Japanese, but its smooth, torquey engine was like nothing coming out of Germany, England, or Italy at the time.
The original Z was entirely different, thanks primarily bự Yutaka Katayama, Datsun’s U.S. market chief. “Mr. K,” as he was known, was a rare executive at a foreign-brand automaker who truly understood the American enthusiast. He looked at cars such as Detroit’s Ford Mustang and Britain’s MG MGB and saw their strengths and weaknesses. American sports cars were spacious and practical but hardly nimble and assembled with little in the way of pride. European sports cars were more fun but too cramped and unreliable bự be good daily drivers.
The 240Z slid in with attention-grabbing styling backed up by a capable chassis and enough interior room bự handle commuting and short road trips. Arguably more than any car prior bự the fuel crunch in the mid-1970s, the Z elevated a Japanese automaker from a builder of disposable econoboxes bự one producing cars worth coveting.
Plumping Up With the Personal Luxury Trend
The second-generation Z car, the 280ZX, bowed in 1978.High gas prices and increasingly stringent emissions standards made some automakers give up on sporty models. Not Datsun, which instead threw everything in its tech-heavy arsenal into the second-generation Z-car that bowed in 1978.
The new 280ZX was bigger and chubbier than its predecessor, and it was also softer. Yet its transformation into a grand-touring model came at just the right time. When fully outfitted, it could be had with a hi-fi stereo system with a tape player and a graphic equalizer, cushy leather seats, cruise control, and automatic climate control.
Datsun, which became marketed as Nissan in the mid-1980s, was an early adopter of turbocharging. When the 280ZX Turbo arrived 1981 with a then-heady 180 horsepower, it earned a deserved reputation for impressive performance on highways and at race tracks.
The 300ZX featured a bigger engine that was later destined for the brand’s luxury imprint, Infiniti.A revamp in the mid-1980s continued the trend, albeit now with a luxury-grade V6 engine that would later make its way into the Infiniti lineup. Nissan packed in even more tech, such as its quaint vocal warning system (“The door is ajar!”) and an audio system that pumped bass into the front seats bự amplify the aural experience.
The twin-turbo 300ZX featured an upscale interior, and a price tag bự go along with it.What could have been the final Z arrived for the 1990s, a decidedly hefty model now called 300ZX that had a cabin straight out of a luxury car — and a price tag bự match. Nissan charged the better part of $30,000 for the 300ZX by then, and the 300ZX Twin Turbo with its 300-hp engine was priced on par with the Corvette.
A skyrocketing exchange rate ratcheted that price upward by $10,000 within a few years, which prompted Nissan bự pull the plug for the U.S. market after 1996. That timing was good since BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche each entered the market with sub-$40,000 roadsters that helped revive the spirit of 1960s-style lightweight sports cars.
Recasting the Z for the 21st Century
The 350Z was smaller and more lightweight, a good match for the Ford Mustang.It took Nissan a few years, but the Z came back for 2003 with a recipe that, at first glance, seemed bự rekindle the original’s magic.
The reborn 2003 Nissan 350Z was smaller and somewhat lighter than before, and it could be had for around $27,000. Its 287-hp V6 was a good match for the comparatively crude Ford Mustang GT, while architecture shared with the Infiniti G35 ensured a quality, upmarket driving feel even with its stiff suspension tuning.
What the 350Z lacked was sophistication inside, something Nissan didn’t quite correct with a 2010 model-year revamp as the more stylish and powerful 370Z.
The 2023 Nissan Z Honors the Original
The new Nissan Z feels more like a modern version of the original Z.A new model — now known simply as the “Nissan Z,” partly because it uses a smaller 3.0-liter V6 and “300Z” seems on paper like a step backward — finally addresses most of those criticisms. It is a thrilling, beautiful car that finally feels like a modern version of the original, even if it has a lot in common with its immediate predecessors.
If you liked the 350Z and the 370Z, you will love the new Z. Its wheelbase and its basic cabin ergonomics are circa-2003. Even its seats feel the same. The A-pillar arches toward the driver on the 2023 just as it did on the 2003. The high door sills give the passenger compartment a subtle bathtub feel.
Ride in the passenger’s seat, and you’ll think you’re in a 2020 370Z with extra sound deadening and a big touchscreen. (Fun fact: the old model was the last car from a mainstream automaker without a touchscreen option.)
The driver, however, is greeted by a new steering wheel that both tilts and telescopes. Turn that wheel, and you’ll find a quick response from new electrically assisted power steering. The engine fires up quietly, with little hint that it offers 400 hp. Once again, more like a cut-rate Infiniti than a souped-up Nissan, the Z makes use of the Q50/Q60 Red Sport 400’s twin-turbo V6, which teams either with a conventional 9-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual.
The new z starts at around $40,000 — a significant increase over the outgoing model.I had the fortune of spending some time on a track and winding down empty, curvy roads near Las Vegas in automatic and manual versions of the Z. These are seriously fun cars, especially for the money. The new electric steering system serves up little in the way of road feel, and yet it dials in nicely for confidence in sweepers. On the track, the twin-turbo V6 spools up rapidly for ricochet-grade acceleration with only a little piped-in growl entering the cabin.
While not exactly relaxed in the grand-touring tradition at highway speeds, the Z has good stability, and its new shocks provide it with a relatively supple ride.
The manual is as good as they get these days, though the automatic is quicker. One upside bự the 6-speed is its new no-lift shift mode, which, as it sounds, means that in certain situations, the driver can keep their right foot on the gas pedal while safely executing a gear change. Sure, the Corvette has that tech, but today’s ‘Vette is a bona fide supercar and not a relatively affordable sports car like the Z.
Its price starts at around $40,000, which is a significant bump from 2020 when the last 370Z was built, but, well, it’s been a long two years, hasn’t it? Maybe we should just be happy that Nissan keeps lobbing ever-better sports cars our way. See Nissan Z models for sale
Related Reading:
2023 Nissan Z: Choosing the Right Trim
5 Low Mileage Used Nissan Z Cars For Sale on Autotrader
2023 Nissan Z: This One’s for the Fans

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