Enthusiast cried to Nissan for another sports car. They also had a list of demands. Probably the most important one was to make the car inexpensive and affordable. Nissan agreed and went into conceptual designs with the Z, contracting the designs to Nissan on Japan, Nissan of Europe, and Nissan's USA California design stuidos. All turned out interesting and different concepts.
In 2000 Nissan nearly went bankrupt. Lackluster sales and a poor brand image were crippling the Japanese company. Renault, a French car manufacture, stepped in and bought out Nissan and brough them back from the depths of dispare. The was, at one point, a worry that the new Z would not make it past a concept.
Renault is forntuantely an understanding company and allowed Nissan to go on with it's Z efforts. In 1999, Nissan showed off a premature Z concept called the "Field of Dreams". The car there was nothing more than a tibit to intiece the public, and it did.
In 2001 Nissan showed to first produceable concept, the 350Z. The Z numbers have always designated their displacement in liters, and the 350 is no different. The basis of the new Z is the highly successful VQ-Series engine which is cheap for Nissan to produce and makes good enough power for a sports machine.
The engine is a VQ35DE 3.5 liter, 24 valve Dual Overhead camshaft (DOHC) V-6 making 287-bhp, the most of any naturally aspirated Z car. The engine spun a 6-speed manual transaxle, another first for any American-sold Z car, and shuffled the power through a carbon driveshaft to a viscious rear differential and then to the rear wheels.
The new Z does, however, weight a lot. She is a big lady. At over 3,400 pounds, she isn't light like the original Z cars. Acceleration and other performance areas thus take hits. Still, the 350Z does 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds, making it the quickest naturally aspirated Z yet.
At $28,970, the 350Z is inexpenssive by today's standards for the performance it brings to the table. Still, the Track Model, which adds forged 18 inch BBS rims wrapped in performance rubber, Brembo disc brakes, and more, will cost north of $34,600, which strays away from the bargin the Z once was. And, if Nissan answers the enthusiast's cries for a Twin Turbo model, the price could easily head over $39,000. The Roadster is already at $35,000 and is the slowest of all available models.
We do know that Nissan has made a concerted effort to reinvent the Z here. It has listened to it's loyal followers and the people who asked for a new Z stepped up and bought one when Nissan delievered. It's these kind of customer/company relationships that allow car manufactures to strive and survive.