The Nissan Z Proto is packed with retro design elements, so let’s take a tour of our five favorite retro touches (plus an additional one). For a full breakdown of the Z Proto, check out our reveal post here. We go over the powertrain, technology, and many other aspects of the Z Proto that make it tick. With that, we will dive down the list.
Nissan was completely old school on the Z Proto badge. The Z on the rear pillars is a beautiful recreation of the original Z emblem on the 240Z, and is an element that we hope will translate directly into the production car. It’s big enough to be noticeable without being flashy, striking a nice balance in design.
The second badge worth mentioning is the “Fairlady Z” badge on the trunk lid. It is oriented diagonally, just like so many decades ago. The fluent script font is a direct callback to the original logo, although the color is new. Nissan hides “Fairlady” and uses a white logo for the “Z”. Add a touch of modernity to the logo with this color scheme. We dig it.
The simple and pretty silhouette of the car aside, these taillights can be the best part of the whole design. Younger people will better relate to them, as the design is inspired by the 300ZX. They are redone with modern LED lighting technology, but are still housed within a full-width rectangular black section on the rear bumper.
The twin stacked light elements are exactly how we remember them. And while its 3-D effect is more eye-catching and modern in nature, it’s still a clean and refreshing design. Nissan killed it with the lighting elements, and the next item on our list further reinforces this claim.
What is a Nissan 240ZG? It’s a 240Z, but the “G” stands for “Grand”; check it out below. It was built as a Japan-only homologation car for Group 4 racing. Nissan didn’t make many of them, but the most prominent design feature is a new nose and headlight design.
We’ll let Alfonso Albaisa, Nissan’s chief designer, explain: “The ZG has clear dome lenses on the headlight hubs, which under the light emit two circular reflections on each headlight. We liked that unique feature and found that it fit naturally with Z’s identity. “
Those reflections from the dome lens are recreated with the design of the LED running light seen here. The lights themselves are obviously no longer circular, but Nissan still used its heritage to shape its design. Works well with modern lighting technology.
The grill is probably the most controversial part of this car. Some of us like it. Others hate it. However, Nissan didn’t just pull the perfectly rectangular shape out of nowhere. The designers basically took the original 240Z grille and stretched it vertically. Look down.
On the original 240Z, there was a chrome bar that divided the grille into two smaller rectangles. That’s no longer the case with the Z Proto, as the grating is just a large, shadowy mouth. Chrome doesn’t seem like the answer this time, but a horizontal body color bar might be. Maybe something like this Photoshop creation?
That would more faithfully represent the original and also calm people who disagree with the design. You just need to know that the look didn’t come out of nowhere – Nissan was trying to make it look like the 240Z.
The most prominent interior recoil feature is the three gauges at the top of the dash. Nissan has changed the location and orientation of the gauges compared to the 240Z, but the triple gauge setup is still here. They look more like the same caliber setup as the 350Z and 370Z, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with adding some of those modern Z’s.
Yes! It has three pedals and a gear lever with six forward gears. Bravo, Nissan. We cannot praise this news enough, because it is not a fact these days. Toyota hasn’t done it with the Supra in America, but Nissan has found a way with the next-gen Z. Consider us happy.
