All-New Nissan Z Sports Car: The First Official Images!

By Erik Johnson - May 28, 2020

 

Nissan teases the possible 400Z, along with the 2021 Frontier, new Pathfinder, and more.

 

What an impact a minute and 11 seconds can have—that's the runtime of a new video Nissan posted to YouTube in which the beleaguered automaker teases more than 10 new and redesigned models coming to its global lineup. The most exciting drop, of course, is the all-new Z sports car, with the video serving as the first official look at the actual car. Viewers are treated to a clear look at the next Z's greenhouse and sloping rear glass, the shape of which is certainly reminiscent of early Zs from the 1970s and '80s, as well as its traditional long-nose proportions. Consider us extremely stoked.

The car looks leaner and more lithe than the current model, which was introduced as in 2008, and the lightened version of a screenshot shows some additional details in the bodyside sculpting. Additional retro cues include the C-pillar-mounted, retro Z badge we uncovered in a patent last March; headlamp/DRL units styled to recall the round lamps of the earliest Z cars; and a bluff rear end. The new Z may also get 400Z badging to coincide with the adoption of a 4.0-liter V-6, although it's just as likely it will use Nissan's 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 as seen in the Infiniti Red Sport 400 models with which it will share an architecture.

 

 
 
 

The other models in the rundown include the Ariya, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Navara, Pathfinder, Qashqai, Rogue, Terra, and X-Trail, all of which are listed in a quick cut of 11 vehicle names near the end of the clip. Earlier, though, as models drive past letters that signify their names, an "M" model appears that seems to be too small to be a Murano—but maybe it is? The Ariya is Nissan's forthcoming EV SUV we expect will be offered to Americans—we recently drove its powertrain in a Leaf prototype—while the next-generation Frontier finally arrives here for 2021. Its engine has already been introduced in the 2020 version of its 16-year-old predecessor.

Among the other models featured in the video, the Navara, Terra, and X-Trail will be for global markets and unlikely to come to the U.S., but the Qashqai should again hit our shores in de-contented form as the segment-splitting Rogue Sport SUV. The next-generation Rogue compact SUV is expected to debut soon, but patent images as well as our own illustrations provided a way early look at Nissan's newest huge-selling compact SUV. As for the all-new Z, look for it to break cover early next year, or possibly even by the end of 2020.

 

 

SOURCE: MOTORTREND