The Nissan Z Proto Is A Pre-Production Version Of The Next Z Sports Car

The Nissan 370Z has been in the market for more than 10 years now. While the 370Z still drives well and has an old-school charm, it’s a sports car that’s in dire need of a replacement. Fans have been clamoring for a next-generation model of Nissan’s Z sports car lineup, but today, we’re finally getting a glimpse of what the next Nissan Z sports car will look like. Called the Nissan Z Proto, this is a concept car that fuses modern design with retro styling cues from early Z sports cars.

“The Z, as a pure sports car, represents the spirit of Nissan,” said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. “It’s a key model in our Nissan NEXT transformation plan, and it’s proof of our ability to do what others don’t dare to do, from A to Z. As a Z fan myself, I’m excited to announce that the next Z is coming.”

Penned and developed by the design team in Japan, the Z Proto boasts a fresh, attractive exterior design with a silhouette that pays homage to the original model. It sports a bright yellow pearlescent paint–a tribute to a popular paint scheme on both the first generation Z (S30) and the 300ZX (Z32)–along with a black roof. The rear end meanwhile features LED taillights that mimic the design of the 300ZX along with modern design aesthetics. Surrounding the taillights is a gloss black panel that Nissans says sharpens the glow of the taillights. Lastly, there are 19-inch wheels wrapped in bespoke tires, along with dual exhausts and numerous carbon fiber parts.

As for the interior, the Nissan Z Proto has a purely modern aesthetic. Nissan’s interior design team sought advice from professional motorsports legends to give the Z Proto an ideal sports car cabin, both for road and track. This can be seen in the Z Proto’s 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, which features a plethora of information arranged in an easy-to-read manner, such as the redline shift point at the twelve o-clock position.

Nissan says that the Z Proto, along with the production model, will be powered by a twin-turbo V6 gasoline engine. While no horsepower figures have been given, Nissan did say that each new Z model had more power than the model it replaces. Attached to this powertrain is a 6-speed manual transmission.

Nissan did not say when the production version of the Z Proto will be coming out. Though the Nissan NEXT project says that all the cars featured in the video are all scheduled to debut in the next 18 months.