Next Nissan Z scooped

One of Japan’s most iconic cars is making a comeback. A descendant of the game-changing 240Z from 1969, Nissan’s all-new Z-car (code-named Z35) will honour the legendary Datsun with a stylised 21st Century reinterpretation of the original’s long nose, short deck and perfect proportions.

Forty-four years ago, that first Z was designed to appeal mainly to buyers in its biggest market, North America, and the new model will be no different: get a load of the dynamic silhouette in this illustration of how Holiday Auto Magazine sees the next-generation coupe.

While the car will feature a sleek, low-slung body, it will also be downsized from the current 370Z to dimensions that resemble to original Z. And that means it will lose around 50mm in width from the current model’s 1845mm. Our insider says more lightweight high-tensile steel will be used to reduce kerb weight by up to 200kg, to a class-leading 1300kg.

According to a source close to Nissan, the all-new Z35 will be powered by a choice of V6 and four-cylinder petrol engines – to start with. Company bosses want to phase out the V6, although a small but strong six-cylinder fan base may lead engineers to retain a V6 in its engine line-up.

Nissan feels that it has to ‘wean’ the motoring public off the V6, which has been the Z’s mainstay powerplant since the beginning, and switch to a more fuel-efficient four.

We are told that the new four-cylinder will be a 2.5-litre turbo-petrol unit incorporating direct-injection, making the coupe capable of at least 230kW.

However, our insider says Nissan bosses are so concerned about fuel economy and CO2 emissions that they will almost certainly force their engineers to reduce peak power to around 208kW.

For a gutsier Z, customers will be able to look to the company’s in-house tuning arm Nismo, which is rumoured to be working on a 230kW-plus performance leader.

Nissan’s Z33-series 350Z of 2003 was a big hit with enthusiasts globally, and its relatively low sub-$60,000 starting price helped make it successful in sports car terms in Australia.

With the Z34 370Z of 2009, Nissan created a good-looking, sharp-handling coupe, but it pushed up the base price up (to around $70,000 in Australia) to target rivals like the BMW Z4, Porsche Cayman and Audi TT, which hurt sales around the world.

Now the new Z35 must pick up where the Z34 -- oops, we mean the Z33 -- left off and reinvent the Z-car all over again. That means downsizing its body, engines and sticker price, without losing its unique and compelling design.

Expect to see Nissan’s next Z unveiled in concept form at the 2014 Detroit motor show in January, before the final production version debuts a year later at the same show with a pricetag starting under $US30,000 – meaning less than $60,000 when it arrives Down Under later next year.

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