For days I've been staring at this Nissan 350Z, and the only thing I can think is, damn, that thing's got the nose of an Evo X. Every time I look at this picture, I can't help but wonder if whoever designed that Weber Sports kit was consciously "inspired" by the snout of Mitsubishi's newest turbo-charged sedan.
This thought doesn't last for long, as my A.D.D.-addled brain almost always immediately conjures up memories of the cars I saw at DAMD's booth at last year's Tokyo Auto Salon. There I saw Daihatsu Kei cars rockin' Chrysler 300C grilles Subaru Legacys posing as Audis. Hmmm... Perhaps this Z is trying to pass itself off as having been made by another manufacturer; that does seem to be a hot new trend in Japan. But the 300C and Audi have a definite "bling" factor to them; both of those cars carry a lot of status--especially in Japan. As good as the Evo X is, no one would want to put a Mitsubishi nose on another car for no reason. It just doesn't have enough spizzarkle.
But this new front end really does make this Z look good. It's just too bad that we'll likely never see it here. This Project Z was built to compete in the Japanese D1GP series, and from the looks of things, Project isn't exactly interested in shipping the car over here for U.S. D1 competition. Project is also not interested in dishing the dirt on this Z, so check out the few facts the company is willing to share in our Fast Facts box.
Fast Facts Nissan 350z
Owner Project
Hometown saitama, Japan
Daily Grind Building brakes for your ride
Power 350 ps
Under the Hood Engine built by Prime Garage; NOS system; SplitFire electronics; ARC/Coolmax cooling system
Drivetrain ORC/Ogura Clutch; GT L.S.D. Pro/Nismo limited slip differential
Rollers Rays Gram Lights 57F-pro
Stoppers PMU Forged Sport 4pot Slim with 300mm rotor (F); Forged Sport 4po t/ 4pads side-B with 332mm rotor (R)
Stiff Stuff DG-5/GP-Sports shocks; Espelir Springs
Outside Weber Sports body kit
Inside Takata harnesses; Recaro seats; Key's Racing steering wheel
www.mackinindustries.com (ARC/Project /RAYS); www.mynismo.com