Nissan trademarks Z Warrior nameplate

Nissan Australia has filed a series of intriguing new Warrior trademarks, including one for the Z sports car, suggesting an all-terrain version of the popular rear-drive coupe could be in the works.

The ‘Z Warrior’ nameplate was one of close to a dozen Warrior-related applications filed with IP Australia last week, all exclusively under Class 12, (automobiles and parts thereof).

The glut of Warrior trademarks come just a couple of months after Nissan’s local boss, Andrew Humberstone, backed an expansion of the Premcar-facilitated Warrior program.

“We are in discussion with Bernie and team about future product and what we can do going forward,” he said in June 2024.

“So absolutely dialogue is open, and we have a portfolio of products we are looking at and obviously really focusing on what do our Australian customers want and what models we think we can expand the Warrior brand into.”

Any and all of Nissan’s current products would be ripe for a “bandwidth” expansion like the one bestowed upon the Navara and Patrol off-roaders – the X-TRAIL and Pathfinder SUVs chief among them.

But that doesn’t rule-out an all-terrain makeover for the low-slung two-door Nissan Z sports car.

Porsche and Lamborghini have each thrown their hats into the all-terrain supercar ring, both met with overwhelming positivity and success, proving there’s absolutely a market for cross-country performance cars.

Even Ford is reportedly looking to get in on the act as well with a mud-plugging Mustang Raptor fastback.

A jacked-up Nissan Z Warrior is far from an alien idea, seeing as Nissan has already toyed with just such a concept via the one-off Safari Rally Z Tribute vehicle shown at SEMA last year, saluting the Datsun 240Z that won the 1971 East African Safari Rally.

Said concept vehicle rode 51mm higher than normal on KW Safari suspension, 17-inch NISMO Safari wheels shod with mud-loving Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tyres.

Other enhancements included full underbody protection, NISMO Off-Road LED lamps, a new coolant expansion tank, heavy-duty clutch, roll cage, racing seats and some extra firepower for the twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6.

Premcar has already demonstrated its chassis-tuning prowess, given that current Warrior vehicles offer considerably more ground clearance and capability than their donor vehicles, while at the same time delivering noticably improved ride and handling – even with all-terrain tyres.

None of current crop of Nisan Warrior vehicles boast any extra firepower than before, meaning a potential Z Warrior wouldn’t need its cylinder heads cracked open or turbochargers replaced.

Perhaps a final drive gearing tweak would be on the cards, depending how significant the wheel and tyre combination changes theoretically were.

The finished product would then be offered as a low-volume special similar to the established Warriors and provide sports car fans with a homegrown all-terrain alternative to the standard Z and track-focused Z NISMO.

Images generated by AI

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