370 mm

This story originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of OVERDRIVE. Nissan has launched the car in India today, January 20, 2009. The car is launched in 6-speed manual and 7-speed automatic versions priced at Rs 53.5 lakh and Rs 54.5 lakh ex-showroom. Full launch story and Indian driving impression coming shortly 

The Z-car used to be the world’s best-selling sports car. Forty years ago, when Nissan’s products were called Datsun, the 240Z caused a sensation.The Datsun 240Z instantly made the traditional British twoseaters out-of-date. No-one else could offer a beefy six-cylinder engine, independent suspension all round and the looks of an EType Jaguar, for the price of an MGB. The Americans adopted it as their own. The Z-car became a symbol of Japan’s new place in the automotive world; it showed that it could make cars that were desirable, beyond mere transportation. 

The Datsun 240Z’s reputation grew from success in tough international rallies like the East African Safari and production sports car racing in the USA. In due course, the 2.4-litre 240Z became the 260Z and then the 280Z and its appeal was widened by a stretched 2+2 version. 70,000 Z-cars were sold in the United States alone in 1977.

Inevitably, the Z-car became bigger and heavier. In 1978 there was the 280ZX, a more luxurious ‘personal’ car that was thought to be in tune with the changing taste of American consumers.That in turn became the 300ZX,with a normally-aspirated and turbocharged versions of the new 3-litre V6 engine. By 1989, this now heavyweight coupe had run its course. Nissan sought to revive the spirit of the original 240Z with an all-new 300ZX, which had a specification comparable with the front-engined Porsches of the time, the 944 and 928.

The new 300ZX was well received but the world had changed. The smaller and cheaper Mazda MX-5 had become the world’s favourite two-seater and Nissan had put its flagship sports model in amongst some formidable competition. The Asian financial crisis (the last one, in 1997, not today’s) put Nissan into a tailspin and 300ZX sales waned. One of the most sophisticated Japanese cars that was also universally admired for its graceful styling, the 300ZX stopped production at the end of the decade.

An unlikely alliance with Renault and a tough guy called Carlos Ghosn put Nissan on the road to recovery. Its American subsidiary was anxious to have a new image car and the studio in San Diego entrusted Ajay Panchal with the design of a new Z-car that could be built on the Nissan’s new multi-purpose FR rear-wheel drive platform.