Bait And Switch? Nissan's Z Proto May Just Be A Reskinned 370Z

I have said this the past 2 years, but you people don't listen to anything of course.

I stated the Z was canceled in January 2018. A new business case for Z was proposed in the late summer of 2018, which included this final design being settled on. The original program had been shuttered in January 2018 from a new RWD architecture w/VR V6.

Instead of a full redesign, a heavy facelift w/VR V6 on FM would later be issued at the cost of $240 million for 2021.

I said the same thing for the USDM Frontier, which you also couldn't report accurately, despite having spy shots, teasers and specific warnings it was different from global Frontier/Navara.

I am not the only person who said this publicly in 2018 and 2019, but you folks are never investigative (anymore). A lot of that your readers could learn from you, if you paid attention to what happens beyond your bubble of conjecture and fluff.

The reskinned 370Z has been obvious, even before reveal. But the obtuse don't pay attention of course and ignore any warnings/hints. This is NOT news.

The Frontier redo is even lazier.

To fully redo the Z would cost well over $1 billion versus the $240 million this is costing.

The choice was to either invest in a fully new RWD, ICE architecture that replaces both 370Z and FM, providing a new foundation for Skyline/Q50, Fuga/Q70, and revived QX70.

Or revise existing architecture, borrowing bits from CV37 Q60, at $240 million. Ghosn and Saikawa compromised for the latter, something Design Director Alfonso Albaisa fought for, when it was canceled by the same 2 execs.

Only an EV-focused architecture was on their minds and no more unibody RWD ICE Nissan architectures. So a heavy facelift, was the best way to save the Z. Production would've ended by 2020, with no replacement on deck.

Ghosn was deposed roughly 2-3 months later and then Saikawa stepped down the next year.

The "Z" has not had my attention since the original body style.

@MD called this a reskin as soon as it came out.

That's because you can see the 370Z in it.

The 350Z was hastily cobbled together trash from Nissan RWD parts bin. The 370 was a mild re-do with a restyle. Thus the 400Z is ancient and will remain a loser.

It was known from day 1 that it was a reskin. The "I told you so" claims are hilarious. Thanks for the hot scoop! What's next? The Supra engine is from the Z4!?

It's even more hilarious how obtuse and clueless you are to even have the audacity to make such an ignorant inference, when I very much just repeated what I first said two years ago and never changed my perspective, because of my own insight, which wouldn't have been found in news articles at the time.

In fact, why don't you disprove what I said? None of you knew a lick (or simply didn't care), so your "known from day 1" claim is laughable, revisionist BS borne out of weak comprehension.

You either didn't care to know or were entirely out of the loop.

"Day 1" for the incoming iteration was a few years ago, which you again knew nothing about at that time.

I recall all discourse on this vehicle and nothing aside from an NTC AAMI guy, matches my statements.

Day 1 was not this year nor last year. An empty claim entirely. You people only listened to BS clickbait rumors, full of contradictions and false info.

The glut of users on this website are often willfully ignorant, snark artists who can never substantiate any claims of theirs with concrete fact and instead resort to fallacies and false truths for weak knuckledragging laughs.

It's generally a peanut gallery of toxic ignorance and empty chest beating here over nonexistent substance, so how am I surprised?

As I said before, I knew this was going to be a heavy facelift in 2018 (upon initial approval) and I am the first person to state this here or in a few public forums.

The rest of you in every ill-informed article by "agents" went along with the BS narratives and naively expected a fully new car (or couldn't care less).

It was going to die as of 2.5 years ago, but you had no awareness of that did you? I highlighted it in the spring of 2018 and thankfully it was salvaged in the end per compromise, thanks to the great work of some senior staff during those months.

Once again, I am right in spite of foolhardy skepticism and as usual in response, false pride takes over, pretending otherwise. If you want links for proof, I can provide them. I honestly don't care to provide them, because you can use Google if you truly wish to.

That is why I am annoyed at this article, as I pointed it out years ago and it should not be a point of contention now by the "writer" (that it's a rehash), simply because he chooses to stay in the dark and not do advance research as a writer.

Other than listening to stupid rumors in 2018-20, none of you were ever promised a full Z redesign. Any "100% new Z" rumors that you heard prior to 2018 were valid, because that was in the cards then. After 2017 any such rumors were outdated or made up. News is often slow to pick up with actual internal movements.

Thus, you personally knew nada from "day 1", to even be mentioning the revisionist drivel that you just did to amuse yourself. Very easy to do that in this place, than try to be credible, as no one cares to verify any BS.

Why don't you prove to us that you knew about what was going

Why don't you prove to us that you knew about what was going to happen in the first place with this vehicle program and that I wasn't the only person to have said the above for over 2 years?

You obviously have no proof, as you were utterly uninformed. A liar entirely.

Next time and for virtually everything else automotive, I do suggest that you people do not rely on simply news outlets to spoonfeed them shallow information.

You people are often lazy and prefer to attack the messenger for exercising due diligence, as opposed to the also lazy writer who does a shit job of reporting in the first place.

Your lazy attempt to invalidate my annoyance at the johnny-come-lately complaints of the writer of this article, were not something I would stay silent over, since you lied.

Don't make up BS and expect me to swallow it, because your ass never pays attention and is forgetful. It's cool to be ignorant (as expected) apparently.

@Carmaker1

Your emotions are getting the best of you, kiddo. Settle down. It's clear you want credit as some sort of Nostradamus predicting that the new Z would be essentially a reskin. Even worse than your need for validation from an automotive site comment section is the quality of your "prediction". Anyone following auto manufacturing at all knows that Nissan is in rough shape and lacking the resources to develop a completely new Z, which would never be a sustained high volume seller. Predicting the obvious or at least "very likely" isn't going to impress anyone, "Carmaker1". It's probably best if you find another site for your "insight". It's not adding much value here. Or at least make your "predictions" more entertaining. Write them in quatrains like Nostradamus.

Nah, I'm just right as always and don't need to "predict" anything. I'm not a psychic, I go off of concrete evidence. "Predicting" is pointless, but maybe that's your thing as product planning ALWAYS changes course.

The writing team of "spies" does a very poor job of informing their readers, so it becomes the work of the readers to find their information elsewhere versus listen to empty thinkpieces devoid of any substance.

Fact is fact and if it's in progress, I will make it known. Please oblige us next time with what is on the upswing, versus spew opinionated drivel of no substance, like any other hick ignoramus here.

You people are all about an circle jerk of hot-heated ignorance, which isn't surprising. I don't predict LOL, I simply report. Nobody can predict anything you lazy thing, except God himself.

Perhaps you can better help the (non)writing team, with your supposedly sound logic. /s

No one could have predicted this horrific yellow color.

But it has a provocative name: neourine