The Nissan Z-Car Celebrates Mid-Life: the 40th Anniversary 370Z

Last week, I had the good fortune of conducting my business about town in one incredibly bright, incredibly blue, Nissan 370Z convertible. While an enjoyable car in its own right, I couldn’t help but consider how far removed the new drop-top was from its 40-year old roots. Heavy, complex, and expensive, it bore little resemblance to its now-middle-aged relative. But then again, it’s not supposed to. That’s what this one is for.

But if you expect to find a car that will transport you right back to 1970, you might want to keep on looking, because this one couldn’t even spell retro. While the 240Z looked towards its contemporary competitors from England and Germany for its inspiration, it’s pretty apparent that the 40th Anniversary edition 370Z looks towards the future of Nissan’s sports cars for its cues. From its model-specific paint (aptly titled “40th Anniversary Graphite” in the US, it’s known simply as “Quartz” up here) to its red, Nissan-branded brake calipers, to its sinister gloss black wheels, it’s the picture of the modern sports car aesthetic: blackened, businesslike, and brutal.

Inside, it apes the convertible’s monochromatic layout with one massively important difference: colour. Doing away with the black-on-black approach, Nissan’s stylists have seen fit to trim the ominous coupe’s interior with an equally menacing shade of blood red. Adorning the doors, seats, and stitched into various other leather surfaces throughout, it livens up the interior substantially, and when combined with the coupe’s higher header, makes the cabin a far more comfortable place to pass the time. Being based upon the well-equipped Touring model, the 40th Anniversary edition benefits from gloriously heated and mercifully cooled seats; the combination of which is a real boon in a closed-cockpit car dominated by a heat-exuding transmission tunnel. Also, it’s worth noting that all Canadian 40th Anniversary models come fully equipped, which means that the fantastic Nissan navigation and audio integration system comes standard.

Not that you’ll care much, because it just so happens that all Canadian 40th Anniversary models also come equipped with the Sport package. Blessing the sporty coupe with massive four-piston opposed aluminum brake calipers up front (the rears benefitting from slightly less impressive, but still substantial two-piston opposed calipers), fantastically sculpted 19” RAYS super lightweight forged wheels and the obligatory fat rubber to wrap around them, it’s one entertaining car to drive. Although (sadly) available with the same automatic transmission that hampered the convertible, the 40th Anniversary model I tested came with the excellent close-ratio six speed replete with SynchroRev Match; that odd piece of technology that automatically matches engine speed to road speed when downshifting. A component of the Sport package, all 40th Anniversary editions will have the system, and although purists may cry foul, there’s no getting around the practicality of it. Of course, for those that can’t stomach the thought of a computer doing a better a job than their right foot could, there’s always the off button.

And when it comes time to hustle this car down your favourite stretch of highway, I’d be surprised to find a single owner that really cared too much about the intricacies of their transmission’s operation. After experiencing the same powerplant just days beforehand, I was downright shocked to see the transformation that took place when the simple addition of a manual gzearshift. Gone was the lethargy and lacklustre performance I’d known in the automatic-equipped 370Z roadster, replaced by a smooth, progressive powerband and a blessedly responsive throttle pedal. With six gears all within spitting distance of each other, selecting the wrong gear could be compensated for, but selecting the right one was rewarded with a rush of velocity matched only in ferocity by the 3.7 litre V6’s impressive aural signature. Crossing the standing quarter mile in just 13.5 seconds, its accelerative properties were undeniably impressive, but the real fun lies in the car’s expressive handling. With both front and rear strut tower braces speaking to Nissan’s commitment to chassis tuning, one would be forgiven for expecting the 370Z to be nimble, tenacious, and spry when it came time to round a corner... but the reality of the situation is that it’s anything but. Oh sure, put the hammer down on a high-speed sweeper and there’s more than enough grip, but when the road turns from autobahn to backroad the big Nissan starts scrambling for traction in all the right ways. With 1,770 pounds pressing down on the narrower 245-section front tires, and 1,507 pounds divided up between a pair of 275-section rear tires, the 370Z’s propensity for oversteer comes as something of a surprise. A testament to the car’s aggressive alignment and impressive torque delivery, it takes barely more than a prod to swing the back end around on nearly any switchback’s exit, while equally slight trail-braking is all that’s required to get the same effect on any corner’s entry. However, thanks to the combination of the car’s rearward seating bias and progressive power delivery, producing, maintaining, and correcting even the most lurid of slip angles is a relatively easy task. Combine that with the car’s Schumacher-esque ability to fling the tachometer needle around the center-mounted gauge ever-so-perfectly on each downshift, and you’ve got a recipe for one of the most accessible hero cars extant.

Sadly, while there are few cars that look as good leaving their mark on your nearest highway on ramp or favourite stretch of pavement, there are also few cars that look as bad from the driver’s seat when it comes time to negotiate Monday morning traffic. While it certainly has an airier feeling than the roadster (with the roof up, obviously), it’s still an absolute bear to get in and out of and the outward vision is heavily compromised by the rising hood and huge quarter panels. Sadly, the Sport package’s lower(er) spoiler will probably fall prey to the first curbstone it meets, since guessing where the car’s prow resides is a task best left to your local psychic. Likewise, I’ve seen more than a few 370Z roaming Vancouver with tweaked exhaust outlets; the result of backing into a parking stall without adopting the door open, head out approach. Sure, everything comes together at triple digit speeds or when you’re maniacally dialling in that much-needed dab of opposite lock, but stick it in the hellhole that is Vancouver during rush hour, and every single one of the 370Z’s faults start to grind away on your psyche like nails on a chalkboard. Of course, the upshot of that is that the car motivates you to find any excuse to flee the city’s confines and go for a drive, just to enjoy doing what this car does best.

And maybe that’s exactly how a 40th Anniversary edition of the Nissan Z-car should feel. After all, the old 240Z was intended to give less-than-affluent buyers a car with the capability of a German product, the looks of an English one, with the cost and reliability of a Japanese car. And although the $48,498 40th Anniversary coupe may be a far cry from the old 240Z’s base price, it actually works out to be just a few hundred more than what you’d pay for a similarly outfitted 370Z Touring coupe, making it a pretty good deal given both what it offers and the surprising exclusivity that accompanies it as Nissan will produce just 1,000 of these cars. Is it perfect? No, but neither was the 240Z, and look at how fondly it’s remembered. And although only time will tell if this homage will do it’s forefather proud, I can tell you this: driving the 2010 Nissan 370Z 40th Anniversary edition is a memory that I’ll always look back on fondly.