Nissan 350Z
The Nissan 350Z was a two seat sports car manufactured by Nissan Motor Co, LTD. The 350Z is the fifth generation of Nissan's Z-car line, originally introduced in 1969 (as a 1970 model year) as the Datsun 240Z. The 350Z entered production in late 2002 and was sold and marketed as a 2003 model. It was currently available in several trim packages and is sold as both a coupé and roadster. It was Nissan's only sports car from 2003-08 for North America (and it was the first North American Nissan sports car since the 1998 240SX and 200SX), when the 2009 GT-R and its successor, the 2010 370Z would replace the 350Z as the brand's sole sports cars.
After the Nissan 300ZX was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 1996, Nissan initially tried to keep the Z name alive by re-creating the 240Z the following year. The car was conceived by Nissan's North American design team in their free time, and the concept was introduced in a four state Road Show in July 1998 to various car media, dealers and employees. Yutaka Katayama, regarded as the "Father of the Z" unveiled the Z concept sketch to the public when he received a motor industry award. The design, representing a modern vision of the 240Z, did not please the original 240Z designer Yoshihiko Matsuo, who compared it to the Bluebird and Leopard
The first concept model was produced for the Detroit Motor Show for the following January then later at the Los Angeles Auto Expo. Nissan was unhappy with the first design as they felt the original 200 bhp (150 kW) 2.4L engine known as the KA24DE that was going to be assigned made the car more underpowered, they also felt the car was considered too "retro" or too "backward" resembling a futuristic 240Z thus a redesign was commissioned. During a press conference in February 2000, president Carlos Ghosn announced plans to produce the car as he felt the new model would help to assist the company's recovery.
A redesigned model, the Z Concept, was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show two years later, which was similar in body shape but with a new front end. The car then underwent a minor redesign and was eventually assigned the VQ35DE engine, hence becoming known as the 350Z. The car would break its tradition of being of the first Z not to be produced at the Shatai plant.
Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_350Z
Related Pages: Nissan 240SX, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Cars
