The Nissan 'Z-Proto' Concept Version Of The 370Z Successor Arrives This Month
Mark your calendars - we now know the date of the ‘400Z’ hype train’s first stop. Nissan has released a teaser video for the ‘Z-Proto’ which merely states “coming soon”, but take a look at the description, and you’ll find 16 September listed as the date of the grand reveal.
As implied by the name, it’ll be a prototype previewing a production car which will - at long last - replace the ageing 370Z. Power is expected to come from Nissan’s VR30DDTT 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6, giving an output of around 400bhp. Rumour has it a manual gearbox will still be involved, despite stick shift becoming increasingly unpopular with sports car buyers.
Anticipation for the 370Z’s successor has been mounting. Last year a 370Z-based test mule was spotted at the Nurburgring, and more recently, Nissan trademarked an all-new Z logo, which is also shown in the teaser video at the top of this page. We even have a rough idea of how the Z-Proto will look, thanks to the car’s appearance in promotional materials a few weeks ago (below). This dispelled rumours floating around a few years ago that suggested the next Z car would be a high-riding crossover.
The programme has seemingly survived drastic €2.8 billion cost-cutting measures at Nissan, which were said to threaten the future of the current 370Z and GT-R in Europe. Amidst that backdrop, a slow-selling, high-investment sports car doesn’t seem like the sagest of choices, but thankfully, it looks Japanese company wants a more emotive choice amidst its many crossovers.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
“With manuals becoming increasingly unpopular for car enthusiasts.” Excuse me but what type of car enthusiasts have you been talking to. Pretty much every single one that I’ve ever talked to has said to me that they will absolutely refuse to buy a sports car if it doesn’t offer a manual transmission. So I feel like you’re reaching incredibly hard there and really need to rethink your entire rhetoric surrounding this.
You’ve misquoted me there - I said “becoming increasingly unpopular with sports car buyers”. The people actually putting the money down tend to prefer automatics.