| Message |
Having read the recent thread on the possibility of the
400Z, I thought I'd throw out a thought of my own.
If Nissan really is going to unveil a concept of the Z35
in one month's time, they had to have been working on
it for at least 6 months or longer. Its likely they had a
design ready a long time ago, but idled it due to a lack
of committment ( other projects going on ). Recently,
when Mercedes offered to co-develop the next Z, and
Nissan realized the Infiniti division already had the
underpinnings for it, they found the resolve to say No to
Mercedes. Not wanting to stall even longer with the press
saying how long-in-the-tooth the 370Z was getting ( not to
mention slowing sales), Nissan decided to pull the trigger on
the new Z and found a VP to put in charge of its development
(Alfonso Albaisa). The big question is: how much of a departure
will the next Z be from the last one? It seems
that Albaisa is nervous about the responsibility...this could
be good or bad. I guess we'll see in a month. If people hate the new look,
it will get pushed even further into the future. If the response is great,
it could make it in time for the 50th anniversary of the Z ( which is what Nissan wants ).
Let's hope they took some of the advice Jay Leno gave them in 2012.
|
 |
