The Nissan Z could be getting the safari treatment soon, following in the footsteps of high-dollar, off-road sports machinery like the Porsche 911 Dakar and Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato. Nissan has filed a trademark for a mysterious “Z Warrior” nameplate in Australia, which hints at the possibility of a factory Z made for going off-road, according to Carsales.
The Nissan Z Warrior was among a number of nameplates the automaker filed trademarks for in Australia where the carmaker partners with off-road specialist Premcar to upfit the Navara pickup and Patrol SUV for journeys into the bush. Nissan Oceania Managing Director Andrew Humberstone visited Premcar over the summer to celebrate an expansion to the homebred “Warrior” program. And Humberstone hinted at the program including other models from the Nissan lineup in the future, per Carsales.
A Nissan Z Warrior would likely add modifications to the exterior, suspension, and a moderate lift to fit off-road wheels and larger tires. Throw in a few other goodies like underbody protection and auxiliary lighting and you can easily have a gnarly new model. There’s already precedent for such a Z, which Nissan showed off at SEMA 2023 as a nod to the Datsun 240Z that won the East African Safari Rally in 1971. Nissan’s Safari Rally Z Tribute showed us what an off-road Z could look like. And it looks damn good.
The one-off Nissan Safari Rally Z Tribute featured all the mods you would expect from an off-road model as well as engine modifications, boasting a more powerful twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. A production Z Warrior, however, would likely skip the engine mods and just beef up the running gear. If anything, it could get the Nissan Z Nismo’s mildly more powerful engine, as Carscoops reports.
A trademark filing is far from a guarantee of an upcoming model, but the Z is reportedly among the models being considered for an off-road variant. It’s unclear if the Z Warrior would be sold exclusively in Oz or if it would be exported around the globe. Markets abroad, including those in Europe and the Americas, have shown they are eager for off-road sports cars: just recall the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the aforementioned 911 Dakar and Huracán Sterrato.
Those are high-cost machines that’d hardly be considered rivals to a Nissan Z Warrior, but the humble Z could bring the price of off-road sports coupes down from the stratosphere. Navara and Patrol Warrior models from Premcar carry a healthy premium over their standard counterparts, ranging from around $8,000 to $17,000 AUD, or about $5,300 to $11,400 USD at current exchange rates. If the Z Warrior sees the light of day, it would probably land at the upper part of the price premium from Premcar, likely adding over $11,000 (or more) to the regular Nissan Z’s price tag. A 2024 Nissan Z Performance starts at $54,110 including destination.
