#Z-Cars

According to Project Cars 3, a video game from Slightly Mad Studios distributed by Bandai Namco, the new Nissan 400Z is shown in their latest downloadable content (DLC) power pack to possess some very serious horsepower.

Everybody knows Nissan’s 370Z has overstayed its welcome. With over a decade of service beneath her belt, the old girl has done her part and now cries out desperately for retirement.

It’s not the car’s fault; Nissan simply hasn’t had anything to replace it with. As such, it’s had to keep sending the tired veteran back to the front. While a successor has been rumored to be in development for ages, little hard evidence turned up to prove its existence.

Meanwhile, the current Z continues to bleed sales. Nissan only managed to move 2,384 examples inside the United States last year — down from a similarly modest 3,468 in 2018. This year won’t be any better for the model, though we now finally have confirmation that Nissan is making moves on the next Z car — and it seems to support rumors that it will adhere to a retro-inspired look. Nissan has filed a trademark patent with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the Z logo looks quite a bit like it did when we were still calling the marque Datsun.

Fifty years ago, Datsun showed New York that Japan was perfectly capable of producing a sporting automobile that offered everything drivers wanted, without breaking the bank. It may not have been cutting edge, but the 240Z was a GT car well worth coveting. Somewhere between the nimble, although sometimes underpowered, European roadsters and clumsy but savage American muscle cars, Datsun’s Z provided a well-balanced package for enthusiasts and racing teams alike.

This week, Nissan’s paying tribute to the vehicle that launched the Z line with the 2020 Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition. Painted to resemble the No. 46 BRE (Brock Racing Enterprises) 240Z that helped John Morton win back-to-back SCCA National Championships in the 1970s, the Anniversary Edition is the upside of living in the past.

Nissan’s 370Z is just shy of its tenth birthday and has really begun to show its age. While it remains a relative bargain if you’re seeking an imported rear-drive sports car, it loses that advantage if you’re willing to consider its domestic rivals. It’s a solid performance package by most metrics. But it’s capable in the same way a retired olympic athlete might be. It’ll still destroy your chubby neighbor in a foot race but not his teenage son, who just happens to be captain of his high school track team.

The company needs a replacement. However, back in October, Nissan’s chief planning officer Philippe Klein was extremely noncommittal when it came to naming the 370Z’s successor. “It’s an interesting question because there is a lot of passion people [have for] this vehicle,” Klein said at the Tokyo Motor Show. “This vehicle is still very alive but at the same time it is in a segment that is gradually declining, so that is making the [business] case more difficult.”

So that’s it. The Z is dead. Case closed… or is it? Apparently, Nissan hasn’t given up on the Z after all.