Author Topic: Q418 - solved - Nissan Fairlady Z prototype  (Read 1781 times)

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Offline Quiller

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Q418 - solved - Nissan Fairlady Z prototype
« on: April 16, 2009, 09:11:38 AM »
For a score, open the door to the answer! What's the make and model designation of this car?
« Last Edit: November 16, 2024, 05:24:34 PM by Wendax »

Offline Quiller

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Re: Q418
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2009, 07:00:52 AM »
Shunted upstairs

Offline faksta

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Re: Q418
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2009, 08:20:46 AM »
Nissan 350Z prototype?

Offline Djetset

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Re: Q418
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2009, 02:06:36 PM »
Likes slightly like an Ohno Naomi.  Don't suppose it is though for a moment!
A car is for life, not just for Christmas.

Offline Quiller

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Re: Q418
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2009, 06:03:03 PM »
Faksta is quite close ...

Offline faksta

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Re: Q418
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2009, 11:50:57 PM »
I now know that it is a project that should have become a replacement for 300ZX, but instead 350Z was produced. The rear end reads Fairlady, if I'm not mistaken.

Offline Quiller

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Re: Q418
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2009, 04:29:50 AM »
That's close enough. It's a Fairlady Z prototype, as seen in the Nissan Museum

Offline Carnut

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Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2012, 07:30:33 AM »
What's this and from when does it date, for 1 point?:

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2012, 05:19:34 AM »
Experts?
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Offline dzima1985

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2012, 10:59:09 AM »
Ohno from Japan?

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2012, 11:26:36 AM »
Ohno from Japan?

Oh no, but it is from Japan..!
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Offline dzima1985

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2012, 11:45:49 AM »
I accidentally found! ;D (in Google Search - "Nissan concept 1990s")
1997' Nissan Mid Sport Concept - one of some prototypes of Nissan 350Z.
Interesting puzzle, Thanks. 

Offline Arunas

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2012, 03:42:23 PM »

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 2171
« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2012, 04:50:52 AM »
I accidentally found! ;D (in Google Search - "Nissan concept 1990s")
1997' Nissan Mid Sport Concept - one of some prototypes of Nissan 350Z.
Interesting puzzle, Thanks. 

That is indeed what it is, although Arunas seems to be surprised by it!

Here's a bit about the story:

QUOTE
In the 1990s sports-car revival, the one that gave rise to the 1997 Nissan Mid Sport concept car, the emphasis was on emotional style, refined-but-attainable engineering and reasonable price.
The Japanese Bubble Economy mindset of the 1980s that had sired the high-tech, high-price Nissan 300ZX, Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7 and Mitsubishi 3000GT had gone bust, and in North America, the volume market for sports and GT cars went along with it.
None of this was lost upon John Yukawa, Chief Product Specialist, Product Planning and Strategy at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi, Japan. He recalled, "The 1990-1996 300ZX was priced too high for the brand." So work began on exploring the possibility of a lower-cost, more-basic sports car.
In 1997, a front mid-ship concept, dubbed MS for "Mid Sport," was built. (In a front mid-ship design, the engine's center of gravity is positioned behind the front wheel centerline.)
The low-slung coupe was based on the platform of the Silvia (the former 240SX coupe in North America) and featured a highly tuned 2.4-liter dual-overhead-cam 4-cylinder pushed as far back as was feasible to achieve a near-perfect front/rear weight distribution. A prototype was brought to the U.S. for evaluation and driven at Nissan's Arizona Test Center.
The consensus? The MS was a fun-to-drive sports car that would be less expensive to build than the 300ZX. But was it a Z? The evaluators deemed the 4-cylinder MS to be unsuitable. Z cars had always been powered by 6-cylinder engines.
Yukawa and a small band of devotees, both in Japan and the U.S., continued to think about ways a new Z might one day enter Nissan's lineup. But in the mid- to late 1990s, economic conditions were not ripe to expend a significant amount of time, energy or funds working on a small-volume car, no matter how symbolic.
Nevertheless, the dream that a new Z might someday return as a symbol of Nissan's spirit remained very much alive.
UNQUOTE
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Offline Arunas

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Re: Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2012, 05:53:49 AM »
I am indeed! Never seen it before and found only one more pic if it on the net. It seems it was a proto of 350z never oficially presented.

Offline Carnut

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Re: Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #15 on: October 26, 2012, 07:37:17 AM »
I am indeed! Never seen it before and found only one more pic if it on the net. It seems it was a proto of 350z never oficially presented.

It was the LHD that surprised me.
If dzima hadn't guessed an Ohno from Japan the Japanese element would not have been obvious and I think this puzzle would have taken much longer to solve...
Of course once it was known to be Japanese it was not going to take long..
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Offline Allemano

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Re: Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2012, 12:12:27 PM »
Alas it's a repost. Wrongly titled, though..
http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=7712.0
« Last Edit: October 27, 2012, 01:19:28 PM by Allemano »

Offline Quiller

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Re: Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2012, 08:14:39 AM »
Alas it's a repost. Wrongly titled, though..
http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=7712.0

The 350Z is called Fairlady Z in Japan, so I think the title stands :)

Offline Carnut

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Re: Solved - NEH 2171: 1997 Nissan Mid Sport Concept for new Z car
« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2012, 12:12:21 PM »
Alas it's a repost. Wrongly titled, though..
http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=7712.0

The 350Z is called Fairlady Z in Japan, so I think the title stands :)

Actually I wasn't sure if Allemano meant I'd titled my bit wrongly!  Hence I was happy to leave your title untouched..
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Offline Allemano

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Re: Q418 - solved - Nissan Fairlady Z prototype
« Reply #19 on: October 29, 2012, 03:05:49 AM »
I only meant in the case of two different titles one of these must be wrong..  :liar:

I guess 'Mid Sport' isn't a valid name, isn't it?

Offline Carnut

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Re: Q418 - solved - Nissan Fairlady Z prototype
« Reply #20 on: October 29, 2012, 04:57:29 AM »
I only meant in the case of two different titles one of these must be wrong..  :liar:

I guess 'Mid Sport' isn't a valid name, isn't it?

I'm not sure.  According to the blurb I posted it was "dubbed MS for 'Mid Sport'" but like all protytpes the truth is murky and lost in the mists of time.  I doubt the car had any badges at all and it's just what it would have been known as within the development department.
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Offline Carnut

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Solved - NEH 5060: Nissan Mid Sport Concept - 1997
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2016, 07:11:47 AM »
What's this and from when does it date - for 1 point?:

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Offline gte4289

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Re: NEH 5060
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2016, 01:53:16 PM »
1997 Nissan Mid Sport concept. Looks like this now:

Offline Carnut

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Re: NEH 5060
« Reply #23 on: December 21, 2016, 06:46:05 AM »
Quite so.
Well done.
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Offline gte4289

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