Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Liveblogging the Nissan Z Proto Reveal

 


8:05 - Good evening and welcome to what will hopefully be a candle of hope and joy in this Hieronymus-Bosch-on-mescaline painting of a year, although with Nissan these days who knows.

Tonight we get what is loudly and clearly NOT the next Z-car, but the concept/preproduction/teaser/trial balloon version of the model to follow in the next few years. The show starts at 8:30, so find a comfortable chair.

8:10 - The significance of doing this is not just about Nissan's next step with its oldest (in America, at least) and probably most culturally significant model designation. It's a read into Nissan's current state as it shows how they move forward past a car that has been on the market for eleven years, with a basic platform stretching back another seven before that.

This car predates the Iraq invasion.

This one was right in time for the Great Recession. (Both photos: Wikipedia)

8:20 - What we have to work off of at this point is a few murky smears of film and some closeups of various retro-ish signifiers, plus a GIF that apparently shows someone operating a manual transmission.

I am concerned. This shot gives me the creeping suspicion that this will be nothing more than another reskin of the current car. The beltline is about the same height in particular.

I suppose we should be excited/appreciative of the manual transmission that is strongly implied, but that depends on a few things - seven speeds? clutchless operation? something else equally irritating? We'll see.

8:30 - Underway with a reminder that the Z name is 50 years old.

Manufacturers, feel free to never use the wub-wub music again.

8:32 - Well, there it is.

8:33 - uhm. That front intake.

8:34 - Lots of Lexus LC in that greenhouse.

8:37 - That interior shot is the best part of the car so far.

8:38 - Great choice of inspirations - easily the two best models in Z history - but not sure how much of that got carried over.

8:40 - oh GOD no not Adam Carolla.

headdesk headdesk.

8:41 - I am considering it a sort of journalistic duty to tolerate this idiot in hopes of hearing something meaningful, or at least knowing when he's done so we can see what comes after.

8:43 - If you are introducing a new model, the time to do the historical highlight reel/slavish cult spotlight is BEFORE there reveal, not after.

8:45 - Car and Driver is saying/confirming twin-turbo V6 and six-speed manual. Wish the rest of us had gotten that news instead of dealing with Carolla.

8:47 - We desperately need to see this thing in other colors: white, red, silver.

8:48 - He did not just say "katana sword." Please.

8:50 - You cannot get a good sense of the body sculpting in this color. Sigh.

Same platform? Same roof peak, same high beltline.

8:53 - It's starting to come together for me a bit more now. Better than the current car, better than the 350Z, if still a bit heavy and they really need to do something about that front opening.

8:57 - Softball questions.

Curious about the metal spars on the roof and how they'll mesh with the body colors. Wonder if the black roof will be standard.

8:59 - Starting to wonder about pricing. This is going to probably be a lot more expensive than the current car - maybe not GT-R territory, but probably past that psychological $50K barrier.

9:02 - Run the hemming and hawing of these folks and I think we're looking at something more Z32 than S30. Okay, makes sense in the modern world.

From the big W again.

If they get even close to what the Z32 was, that will be a massive step forward.

9:08 - Okay, shiny spars stay. Will there be any other brightwork to complement it?

9:10 - Okay, lots of lofty babbling about international influences. Scripted-sounding questions.

Calling off, I guess. We're not going to get any other news from these guys.


It's...okay, I guess? An improvement, at least visually. Will be interesting to see how much turns out to be really new.

Yeah, sorta. Photo: Nissan

Still not happy with that boring rectangle smack in front, but this might work.

9:19 - So what did they really say and what does this say about Nissan? Lots of leaning on a storied past. They can draw a good-looking, if slightly conservative, GT car. Nothing seems startlingly progressive or ambitious - the likely-recycled platform which is approaching age of consent is disappointing - but it's generally appealing on what was probably a minimal budget.

On some level I give credit to Nissan for even giving us a new Z car. I'm sure that the business case was not an easy sell in the modern environment and especially given Nissan's troubled situation.

Much left to learn. Let's see how it is as a car instead of just a styling study.

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