Nissan marks Z car's 40 years with special edition
10-15-09, 05:44 AM
#1
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Nissan marks Z car's 40 years with special edition
Nissan marks Z car's 40 years with special edition
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0U0YHuhCN
Forty years ago, America was introduced to the Z car. It gave Datsun--now Nissan--a performance pedigree in the United States. And it elevated to revered status Yutaka "Mr. K" Katayama, the man who fought his bosses in Japan to replace the Fairlady name with 240Z. Katayama celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 15 in Japan.
Nissan is commemorating the Z car's arrival here with a 40th anniversary model that goes on sale next spring.
The anniversary Z is a 370Z Touring coupe with the six-speed manual transmission and the Sport package--which adds automatic rev-matching to the shift system, a limited-slip differential, bigger brakes and 19-inch Rays forged wheels. Added to that is red leather covered seats and door inserts, red stitching throughout the cabin and a handful of commemorative badges inside and out. Each anniversary Z is painted in "40th Quartz" and comes with a red satin car cover.
The engine is the Z car's standard issue 332-hp, 3.7-liter V6.
The price? Nissan says we'll find out next spring.
Z car milestones
Oct. 22, 1969: The Datsun 240Z (Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan) goes on sale in the United States.
1974: The inline six-cylinder engine grows to 2.6 liters and the name changes to 260Z. A 2+2 model is added.
1975: The engine grows to 2.8 liters and the name changes to 280Z.
1979: Second-generation 280ZX is introduced.
1981: 280ZX Turbo joins the lineup.
1984: Nissan launches third-generation 300ZX with 3.0-liter V6.
1990: Fourth-generation 300ZX arrives, with 222 hp. 300ZX Turbo follows with 300 hp.
1996: Nissan drops Z car from U.S. market.
1999: Nissan shows a 240Z concept at the Detroit auto show. But it is rejected for production.
2001: Nissan shows a reworked Z Concept at the Detroit auto show. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says the car will go into production.
2003: Fifth-generation 350Z goes on sale with 3.5-liter V6.
2008: Sixth-generation 370Z unveiled at Los Angeles auto show.
2009: A convertible version of the 370Z goes on sale.
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0U0YS5wO7
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0U0YHuhCN
Forty years ago, America was introduced to the Z car. It gave Datsun--now Nissan--a performance pedigree in the United States. And it elevated to revered status Yutaka "Mr. K" Katayama, the man who fought his bosses in Japan to replace the Fairlady name with 240Z. Katayama celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 15 in Japan.
Nissan is commemorating the Z car's arrival here with a 40th anniversary model that goes on sale next spring.
The anniversary Z is a 370Z Touring coupe with the six-speed manual transmission and the Sport package--which adds automatic rev-matching to the shift system, a limited-slip differential, bigger brakes and 19-inch Rays forged wheels. Added to that is red leather covered seats and door inserts, red stitching throughout the cabin and a handful of commemorative badges inside and out. Each anniversary Z is painted in "40th Quartz" and comes with a red satin car cover.
The engine is the Z car's standard issue 332-hp, 3.7-liter V6.
The price? Nissan says we'll find out next spring.
Z car milestones
Oct. 22, 1969: The Datsun 240Z (Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan) goes on sale in the United States.
1974: The inline six-cylinder engine grows to 2.6 liters and the name changes to 260Z. A 2+2 model is added.
1975: The engine grows to 2.8 liters and the name changes to 280Z.
1979: Second-generation 280ZX is introduced.
1981: 280ZX Turbo joins the lineup.
1984: Nissan launches third-generation 300ZX with 3.0-liter V6.
1990: Fourth-generation 300ZX arrives, with 222 hp. 300ZX Turbo follows with 300 hp.
1996: Nissan drops Z car from U.S. market.
1999: Nissan shows a 240Z concept at the Detroit auto show. But it is rejected for production.
2001: Nissan shows a reworked Z Concept at the Detroit auto show. Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says the car will go into production.
2003: Fifth-generation 350Z goes on sale with 3.5-liter V6.
2008: Sixth-generation 370Z unveiled at Los Angeles auto show.
2009: A convertible version of the 370Z goes on sale.
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0U0YS5wO7
10-15-09, 06:15 AM
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Test-drove the Nismo a few weeks back.. stunning!! I REALLY like what they've done... if you could get the Nismo with the smaller spoiler rather than the huge wing..........................................
10-15-09, 07:07 AM
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Absolutely LOVE the fact that Nissan has kept its sports cars (Z, GT-R) alive through the decades. There have been periods of hiatus but they always bring them back in one form or another. Now if only they would resurrect the Silvia.
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10-15-09, 05:30 PM
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I liked the Imola Red that BMW used to use on the E46s, other than that though, haven't been too fond of red interiors. Although, my friend had red in his CLS which looked pretty nice too.
10-15-09, 06:15 PM
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I just started to see a few of these around. I must say they are a great looking car with performance to match. But Nissan should go over the top and put out a really powerful version (375-400 hp).
10-16-09, 01:53 PM
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The 370 is growing on me, but unfortunately I haven't seen much of them on the road. It seems as though the 350 was much more popular when it launched. A product of the current economy I suppose.