In case you missed it... 400Z Teaser

"I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker" (qaaaaa)
09/10/2020 at 08:00 • Filed to: None

If the video didn’t embed, click !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Seems they’re putting a stick in it after all!

DISCUSSION (13)

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 08:51

Def manual... I’m still unclear if an actual product is going to come out of this tease? “Proto” doesn’t inspire confidence. A show car concept prototype won’t cut it.

Although, honestly, the market for a F/R manual two-door sports car right now is miniscule. A results-oriented business would never do this at all . (Which is why Toyota, who are a business, rely on BMW and Subie to scratch this itch.)

But, if it’s a terrible business decision? I’d expect Nissano-Datsun to jump right in.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/10/2020 at 09:16

It’s not supposed to be released til like 2023 I think? Though apparently it’s also on the same chassis as the 370Z.

These are somewhat niche cars. I don’t really know what they get cross shopped against except maybe a V6 Camaro or an Ecoboost Mustang?

hillrat > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/10/2020 at 09:17

All true, but isn’t this the kind of bad decision making we all come here for? Both corporate and personal? Companies building a car to satisfy a few internet car forums and people buying questionable cars with salvage titles to return them to their former glory?

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 09:19

I’m still going to leaf this one alone...my IDx burns are still raw.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 09:26

Yeah, and if they ape the early 240Z it’ll pick up a lot of nostalgia types— much like the Mustang did when it went all retro.

I like that pic of all the Z cars side by side. They have built some truly hideous looking cars since the original 240/260/280.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > hillrat
09/10/2020 at 09:28

Yeah, plus the folly of some of Nissan’s weird decisions across the board. No matter how good the 400Z and GTR are? They can’t erase the brand tarnish of Altime-Juke-ish-ness.

hillrat > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/10/2020 at 09:34

You see, I don’t hate the Juke. I understand what they were going for, something different and I will not hold it against a company that they do the exact thing we SAY we want them to do. Would I buy a Juke? Definitely not for myself, but I don’t mind that it exists. The Altima OTOH, has no reason to exist if it can’t reach Camry levels of reliability.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > hillrat
09/10/2020 at 09:40

Oh, I don’t hate the Juke (and the NISMO’d version has some soul) but it represents that “Think Different” kind of take Nissan’s been doing in the last 15 years—- much like the Quest with no center stack or their Salvador Dali CUBE car. “Interesting design choices but why the fuck do they rattle like loose change in the dryer?”

I dunno. Seems like their pursuit of “differentiation” is usually a hare-brained design concept, which oddly then has the build quality of a 1991 Kia.

I “get” what they are trying to do... but the result still has to function like a car. hell, even a basket case company like Mazda can offer a car like the 3 or 6 with a solid, reliable build quality. Nissan seemingly can’t. It’s weird.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
09/10/2020 at 09:41

Hey, if they want to market with nostalgia, may as well style it after the 370z

Discerning > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 09:45

Hope: new chassis with stronger foundation that tracks well and has good feedback . Revised or new gen manual. Lower output VR30 available in lower trim for cheap.

Suspicion: same old chassis with minor tweaks. Same old manual with notchy feel. Only high output VR30 at a premium price even though the VR30 has lower output option at reasonable cost that is virtually identical minus turbo component.

I really want something like the new supra, but more attractive and with a manual. Come on, Nissan - renew my long lost faith

feather-throttle-not-hair > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 12:59

It’ll also steal sales from Miata and gt86 customers worried about going fast, or WRX vape bros who were just going to take the rear seat out anyway.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > feather-throttle-not-hair
09/10/2020 at 14:28

WRX, sure. I don’t think it’ll steal Miata or Toyobaru sales. They’re not comparable.

feather-throttle-not-hair > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/10/2020 at 20:57

Ehh. I couldn’t quite bring myself to replace my old 350Z with a BRZ. A few years later i even kind of toyed with the idea of replacing it with a Miata.

Obviously i’m an anecdotal sample size of exactly one, but I would absolutely cross shop all three if I were in the market for a new car.

The 350Z wasn’t quite halfway between a Miata and a Mustang, but it was somewhere in there. Easily more “tossable” than any Mustang i’ve ever driven, but fast enough to keep up with the V6 Camrys of the world.