 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring. Click image to enlarge |
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2009 Nissan 370Z
When I first saw the Nissan 370Z in the flesh (at the 2009 Toronto auto show), my first thought was how much its designer drew upon the original, the Datsun 240Z, for inspiration.
Retro is trendy lately, thanks to Ford’s success with the Mustang since its 2005 redesign (and a 2010 refresh). Since then, Chrysler and GM have also gotten into the neo-muscle-car game, with the Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro.
During a recent week-long test drive of the 370Z, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head that Nissan’s latest take on its iconic sports car was also an attempt to bring a bit of the original 240Z of the 1970s to the present day.
 Designer Randy Rodriguez with the 2009 Nissan 370Z; photo by Jil McIntosh. Click image to enlarge |
But does the 370Z’s looks classify it as one of these time-capsule cars? Is this car a shallow attempt to take the iconic Z back to its 1970s heyday? Or is it an honest homage to the original?
Who better to ask, I thought, than the guy who designed it, 32-year-old Surrey, B.C. native, Randy Rodriguez.
“No, the 370Z is not retro,” Rodriguez told me on the phone from his San Diego home. “The Ford GT or Dodge Challenger are retro, because they execute a past design.”
The 370Z, he suggests, simply takes cues from its heritage, with hints from the 240Z and 280Z.
“The 370Z has a stronger connection (than the 350Z) for those who love the older (Z cars),” Rodriguez says. “The older ones are the most pure examples of what the Z embodies, and the 350Z didn’t have enough of that pure heritage.”
 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring. Click image to enlarge |
Regardless of what this car has that its predecessor lacks, the 370Z never failed to turn heads during the week I drove it. Guys looked at it, many asking, just what is that thing? Girls riding in clapped-out Civics gazed longingly, wishing their boyfriends could afford a real sports car. Or maybe those girls wanted the car for themselves: Rodriguez says many women are attracted to vehicles with a masculine aesthetic, which, he adds, makes it difficult to determine which gender a car should be marketed to.
In any event, the 370Z got just as much, if not more, attention than a Guards Red Porsche Cayman S I drove earlier in the summer.
Speaking of Porsche, I don’t know what cars Nissan benchmarked in the process of engineering the 370Z, but the Cayman and its Boxster sibling seem like very clear targets for this car. The Nissan’s performance is very close to that of the Cayman S, but for a little more than half the money: the 370Z starts at 40 grand, while the Cayman S is worth nearly $76,000. For the cut-rate price, you get a 332-hp car that, at least according to the butt-o-meter, goes, stops and turns just as well as the Porsche.
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at 10:58 am
again, this Z looks hot, and I am sure it drives hot. However, in Vancouver where can we take it out and push it to its true potential without getting into trouble losing driver license or even get into jail?
A sport coupe like this with 300+ hp and the tight rigid suspension setup ones will not feel any excitement before it riches 160+ km/h or 200+ beyond.
If a cop catch you at that kind of speed, both the car and license will be gone.
I still missed when I was in Spain and we rented a Euro Ford Minivan with a 1.9L 4 cylinder turbo diesel engine, 6 speed manual trans, Z rated tires and cruising at 190km/hr, see those Golf GTI passing us at over 200km……
In Vancouver ….. .sad….. my CRV fuel cuts off at 180km/h ….. safety reason …… ( I changed my tires to V rated )
at 12:09 pm
What an awesome car. Had a chance to drive one at a Nissan test track in Toronto over the weekend, and I don’t know how fast a Cayman would be around a slow course with tight turns, but this thing felt like nothing I have ever driven. It was low, had lots of torque to pull out of turns, and with traction off can put the back out whenever you ask. As far as a daily sports car, this would have to be one of the best looking, most fun and even most practical out there. Now, all I need is an extra $40K…
at 4:42 pm
Warum ich keinen neuen Z kaufe.
Im Vergleich zum 240z und 260z 2+2 ist der 350z und 370z hässlich und der Verbrauch liegt auch viel zu hoch (20L) in der Stadt, vor 30jahren waren es 15L. Der Motor hat keinen Charakter, das Fahrwerk ist sehr gut. Ich wünsche mir einen echten Retro Z mit einen Reihensechszylinder, vorher gebe ich meinen alten Z nicht auf. Wäre wenigstens ein guter Motor im neuen Z hätte ich ihn gekauft und optisch zum alten Z umgebaut. Beastes Beispiel das Retro geht ist der Porsche 911 seit 1963.
at 4:45 pm
You can say that again!
at 4:58 pm
In comparison to the 240z and 260Z 2 +2 of the 370z and 350z ugly and consumption is also much too high (20L) in the city, before 30jahren it was 15L. The engine has no character, the chassis is very good. I want a real retro Z with a straight six, before I give my old Z does not occur. Had at least a good engine in the new Z, I would have bought it and remodeled the old optical Z. Beasts such as the retro goes the Porsche 911’s since 1963.
at 1:21 pm
Vehicles are never about what you can do with them because 99% of the people can’t even push these cars to the limits. People like the promise of what the vehicle CAN do, not what YOU can do with it. If you haven’t figured out that secret formula yet, you don’t know how car manufacturers work.