| Please don't confuse the GTR and the Skyline - they are completely separate. The GTR is built on its own chassis while MOST other RWD cars in the Nissan family were built on the FM. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_FM_platform ] You are correct that Yama-San was not the head designer of the G35, because he was the Chief Designer of NDA, working on multiple projects in parallel - including the Titan, G35, etc. That being said, in the conversations I've had with him, he did have a hand in the front end design of the G35 Sedan, which is virtually same on the coupe. As I said, specifically in the vertical headlight design echoed in the Japanese submission for the Z33 (where he was Chief Designer for the Nissan Global Design Center) Nissan swapped NDA and NDJ heads at about that time. I've seen what was his corner office at NDA - it's the biggest one there ;) :I wouldn't say the Z and R chassis have nothing to do with each other. The G35 (based off the same platform as Z33) as we know it here in North America is known as the Skyline (V35) in Japan (and V36=G37). Also, the HEAD designer of that vehicle was Hiroshi Hasegawa; not Toshio Yamashita according to Nissan itself. :Furthermore, Hiroshi Hasegawa is also responsible for the development of the R35 (as well as GT-R concept in 2001), according to the same source. So if there is a correlation to the Z32/G35 as you say, then there is also a correlation to the Z32/R35. The correlation between Z33 and R/V-chassis is no question.
1993 Ultra Red Z32 TT Convertible
2011 Electric Blue D40
1997 Cobalt Green S14 (project fun 2.0) The Z Car Club of Northern Virginia
"boobies have power" - Bernie(NoVA) |
