Nissan Club Celebrates Z's 40th Birthday with 'Back to the Future' Photo Shoot

Joining the festivities for the Z's 40th anniversary, the folks over at the NICOClub, a forum dedicated to Nissan and Infiniti cars, published these two black and white photos of the first 240Z and its modern day successor, the 370Z. The original picture with the two pre-production 240Zs and a Datsun 510 support car that were driven by Datsun engineers was shot in October 1969 on Van Buren Street in downtown Phoenix.

Nico Club forum member 'AZhitman' and his pal re-staged the photo shoot at the same exact location during a test drive last year replacing the 240Zs with two Nissan 370Zs and the Datsun with a new Nissan Maxima that were positioned in the same way as they were 40 years ago.

PS: We digitally enhanced the second photo with the 370Zs to give the impression of an aged effect

Via: NICOClub , Photos: AZHitman

Nissan 350Z Dragster that hits 60mph in 1.2 Seconds to Race at Santa Pod

The first ever Pro Class 350Z to be seen in Europe will perform at the FIA European Finals at the Santa Pod Raceway in the UK that runs from September 10th to 13th, 2009. Created by owner and driver John Bradshaw, the Project Zed dragster is powered by a Nissan 350Z 3.5-litre V6 engine producing almost 1,900 horsepower.

"It's incredible to finally have the car ready to test now and we are all very excited by its potential. It really is a car that is capable of setting records around the world and just shows what a Nissan engine is capable of producing," said Bradshaw.

The hand built dragster, which will be the only Japanese engined car to compete in Mainstream drag racing at this year's Santa Pod, is said to accelerate from rest to 60mph (96km/h) in a mere 1.2 seconds while 0-168mph (270km/h) comes after only 4.1 seconds and 0-215mph (346km/h) in just 6.6 seconds.

Nissan, which is supporting the Project Zed dragster, will have a stand at the show displaying its latest road-going sports cars, the GT-R and 370Z.

Senner Tuning Mods the Nissan 350Z

While most tuners are working on the new Nissan 370Z, Senner Tuning decided to show some love for the previous 'Z model by releasing a new sport package with styling and mechanical enhancements. The body mods consist of a front apron, a large rear wing, new side logos and LSD doors complemented by a new set of 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in beefy high-performance tires (245/30 up front and 275/30 at the rear).

Senner's offerings for the 350Z Coupe and Roadster also include a lower suspension kit and a power package that boosts the 3.5-liter V6 engine's output to 338 horsepower.

Video No2: Nissan 370Z First Drive with Interior Shots

Following on the heels of Motortrend magazine (check out the video by clicking here), Edmunds' Insideline has also released a video of its first encounter with the all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z after the Japanese firm invited a group of journalists to test drive a pre-production prototype model. If we'd like to make a short list of the most important changes on the 370Z these would include: the shorter wheelbase, the Infiniti-derived 3.7-liter V6 engine, the less fussy design and the better quality materials in the interior. Hit the jump to watch the video. -Continued

2009 Nissan 350Z Roadster Pricing Announced

Even though the new 370Z Coupe will be introduced at next month's LA Auto Show with sales scheduled to begin early next year, the roadster version of the current 350Z will continue to be available for an undetermined period of time. The only noteworthy change for the 2009MY 350Z Roadster concerns the addition of a new Moonlight White exterior color. The 2009 model is offered in three trims, Enthusiast, Touring and Grand Touring with prices set at $36,870, $39,220 and $41,570 respectively for models equipped with a 6-speed manual gearbox. -Continued

If you happen to prefer an auto box, in which case we'd advise you to look for a less sporty vehicle but if you insist, Nissan charges an extra $1,000 for the 5-speed automatic transmission.

2009 Nissan 370Z Partially Revealed on Need For Speed Undercover Game

The forthcoming Nissan 370Z is exactly what we'd call one of the best kept secrets of the auto industry. So it comes to no surprise that the 350Z's successor was partially revealed in one of the teaser films for the Need for Speed Undercover video game that is slated to be in stores North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21. Along with the above screenshot that was sent to us by our reader Marcus, we also managed to take a few more shots ourselves from one of the videos on the NFS website. -Continued

If you happen to have any doubts that these pictures actually depict the new 370Z that is expected to be revealed at next month's 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, just click here to see a screenshot of the Japanese sports coupe that was taken during an official Nissan presentation earlier this year.

Thanks for the pic Marcus!

Datsun 240Z - Fairlady Z Retro Concept with a Touch of GT-R

Looks like the Datsun XLink concept that was created by Benjamin Nawka at Nissan’s Yulon Design Center (see here) has given birth to a newly found interest for the long-gone Japanese brand. This modern interpretation of the iconic Datsun 240Z / Fairlady Z of the 1970s is the work of a Polish designer Jacek Kolodziejczyk who goes by the alias 'Iacoski. The Fairlady Z Concept study combines the classic lines of the original 240Z with several design elements from the new Nissan GT-R such as the front grille, the side air vents and the headlamps. And while it may never go into production, the end result is pretty dang cool. What do you think? -Image gallery after the jump

Source: Iacoski , Via: Jpcnews

2009 Nissan 370Z Spied on the Road

Even though the new 370Z is just around the corner as Nissan is planning to unveil its next-generation sports car at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, camouflaged prototypes are still making their appearance on U.S. highways. This particular 370Z prototype was scooped by VWVortex forum member “LivingVoice” somewhere in the States. As you can see in the photos, the new 370Z seems to have retained the 350Z’s basic design, which is something totally okay with us. Hopefully Nissan won’t replicate the current Z’s interior in terms of the low-quality materials that seemed out of place in a car like the 350Z. -One more image after the jump

Via: Autoblog.com , Source: VWVortex