Nissan Z-car

"Z-car" redirects here.

Z-car usually refers to a series of sports cars manufactured by Nissan Motors Ltd.. Sales started in Oct. of 1969. Sold in Japan as the Nissan Fairlady Z, they were exported as the Datsun 240-Z.

The Nissan Fairlady Z used a 2000 cc L20A engine, the export Datsun 240Z used a 2400cc L24 engine. Nissan also offered a limited production performance model in Japan in two configurations; the Nissan Fairlady Z-432 and 432R. The Fairlady 432's were powered by a DOHC 2.0 liter S20 engine.

Even with their good looks, reliability, and strong performance, they have been remarkably affordable automobiles. The Nissan Z cars also currently hold the record of best selling sports car series of all time with around 1,685,000 in five generations.

History

Nissan was a relatively small company that had visions of greatness. In the early 1960s, Nissan had partnered with Yamaha to design a new sports car prototype. As no strangers to the sports car game, company executives rightfully saw it as a halo car that would improve its image in the minds of consumers. By 1964 Nissan realized that Yamaha's DOHC 2.0-liter engine was not meeting Nissan's expectations and the project was scrapped. Yamaha then later finished a prototype and took their design to Toyota, and the result was the building of the Toyota 2000GT. Yutaka Katayama, the president of Nissan USA at the time, had realized the importance of an affordable sports car. Nissan had already produced the successful series of Fairlady roadsters that competed against English and Italian roadsters, and product planners envisioned a new line of GT cars that would be stylish, innovative, fast, and relatively inexpensive by sharing parts among other Nissan vehicles. Prototype work began in 1966 with a clay mockup. The 240Z design project was primarily comprised of 10 people.