Nissan has released a fun little Z hype video along with an ultra-shadowed teaser silhouette of what it’s calling the “Z Proto.” That means the company’s hedging the car’s release a little, which is fine. It gives us another excuse to talk Zs.
This clip isn’t particularly substantial but if you like Zs you’ll dig it:
I bumped up the lighting as much as I could of the new-car teaser shot, so it’s as crispy as a Polaroid of Bigfoot but at least we can extract a little more detail from the basic shape. Check it:
The accompanying press release was similarly brief:
We’re reawakening the Power of Z with the new Nissan Z Proto, combining 50 years of passion and heritage with modern technology. Please join us at TheNissanNext.com for the Z Proto Digital Unveil on Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
Nissan HQ is in Nashville, Tennessee, so that’s 8:30 in the evening on the east coast and 5:30 p.m. in California for those of you who don’t feel like Googling “CDT.” For Australians, that’s 10:30 a.m. AEST on September 16.
Anyway, the world’s had plenty of time with the current 370Z (it came out about a decade ago) so I’d say we’re good and ready for the car’s next rendition. Based on what little info we do have, it looks like… a Z. Which is good. So far I’m satisfied with the general shape.
I’m sure most customers will be looking for more advanced connectivity and convenience features than the current car offers, but frankly, all I want to hear is that it will still be available with a manual transmission, rear-wheel drive, and a limited-slip differential.
Retaining the current Z cockpit’s tachometer-centric layout would be nice, too. And of course, I’d like to see the weight down and power up. But I’m sure some compromises will have to be made somewhere.
Better safety and fuel economy would be nice, clean styling, maybe T-tops? Anybody? No? Just me? OK.
You can get 260 kW out of a stock Nismo-trim Z right now, so how about this: A turbo inline-six rated to 298 kW. Eh? Now that would be beastly. I’ll take a V6, too. The Z, of course, has a long history of sharing its basic engine architecture with SUVs and minivans so I won’t get my hopes up too high. And assembly line simplicity does help owners down the road with lower maintenance costs and complexities. We don’t need another GT-R, here.
I do not care if there’s a convertible version, but for real, a Targa or T-roof setup would be pretty sweet.