If recent reports are to be believed, an
all-new Z sports car is being readied by Nissan perhaps with a retro design
inspired by the original 240Z. These renderings may not be from Nissan itself
and are instead the work gun designer Le Yang Bai, but they show how incredible
a 240Z-inspired sports car could look like in the modern world.
Calling the design of the 240Z ‘iconic’
would be no overstatement. Sporting an evocative and sleek silhouette and
complete with a long hood, it is utterly gorgeous and has remained timeless
throughout the decades. Bai’s modern interpretation of the sports car retains
the original’s shape but adds a host of parts that bring it up to modern
standards.
There’s the front, for example. While the
fascia of the 240Z was quite soft and seductive, Bai has tweaked things so the
new car, dubbed the Fairlady 480Z, is much more menacing and aggressive. At the
rear, similar split taillights to the 240Z are featured albeit also modified in
their shape to suit the new personality of the car. There are also a pair of
tailpipes mounted centrally.
Our favorite design element of the entire
project are the sharp fins on the hood which while being purely aesthetic in
these renderings, could be modified to house small cameras. Those familiar with
the 240Z will know that it was often sold with mirrors mounted right above the
front wheels and these fins invoke memories of them. Nissan is going through
some trials and tribulations at the moment but if it was to release a sports
car that looked anything like this, we think it could have a winner on its
hands.
