Nissan will show a Z car prototype on 16 Sept

Nissan has announced that it will make another announcement on 16 September 2020. That announcement pertains to a prototype of its forthcoming new Z car; the successor to the 370Z, and the latest in a long, fine line of Japanese sports cars.

Nothing other than the date of the announcement has been revealed, along with the pronouncement of “50 years of passion, innovation at its core, modern technology and a nod to 50 years of heritage”. And a very, very moody teaser shot (above). Why so serious?

Nissan boss Makoto Uchida recently told TopGear.com to ‘be patient’ when pushed on what form the next Zed will take, though he did offer up this: “Z is an exciting car that we would like to bring back, knowing our strengths in sports car driving pleasure.

“It is a traditional car, but the Z is also one of the hearts of Nissan when it comes to the driving pleasure,” he added.

‘Sports car driving pleasure’. ‘Traditional’. These are good car words, and from that we can ascertain… probably not much, actually. Will it remain a naturally aspirated machine, or sport a turbo? Will it offer more than the outgoing 370Z’s 325bhp, or much more, say… 400bhp? Will it be offered with a manual gearbox as well as an auto?

We might be a way off before all of those questions are answered. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here's a picture of Jann Mardenborough doing skids in a 370Z Nismo.