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Having been on the market since 2009, the Nissan 370Z is long past due for replacement and, at last, the venerable sports car may be about to get a reprieve. Word is circulating that a successor model named the 400Z is on its way, and could be revealed in less than a year… If Nissan can weather this economy long enough to show off its hard work.
The 400Z, as Autocar calls it, is said to be styled after Zs of yore, with a 240Z-like front end and 300ZX-derived taillights. Being a modern vehicle, it’ll have an accordingly updated interior with an infotainment system that’ll banish memories of the 370Z’s ATM screen from your mind. Likewise, there will be all the driver assistance and passive safety tech you could dream of.
Underneath, the 400Z is anticipated to share much of its architecture with the Infiniti Q50 and Q60, which use the most modern version of Nissan’s FM platform. As such, the 400Z will reportedly also borrow a powertrain from the Q60 Red Sport, which has a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V6 that pushes 400 horsepower through a nine-speed automatic transmission, though a manual option has been rumored for the Nissan. Standard models are expected to be rear-drive, though there have been whispers that a Nismo version with all-wheel drive and 475 horsepower could be on the way, and Nissan has yet to count out the addition of hybrid power.
Of course, even if all these rumors are true, Nissan first must survive the economic turndown caused by the coronavirus pandemic before it can give its darling Z a public debut. As Nissan made drastic cuts to its workforce earlier this year, before the virus had spread worldwide, its fugitive ex-CEO Carlos Ghosn made a bleak prediction about its future: Bankruptcy by 2022. For the sake of Z aficionados who have been waiting patiently for the new model, let’s hope Ghosn’s got it wrong.
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