Nissan’s resurgence strategy and subsequent bravado. In February, Nissan President and CEO Ivan Espinosa remarked to The Drive, “Nissan is back,” and in April, claimed that “sports cars are central to our identity as a company.” Words are easy, but today the car manufacturer backed up its statements by unveiling a new Nissan Z concept featuring a factory T-top, a trait that disappeared from sports cars over twenty years ago. Count us astonished!
Ponz Pandikuthira, Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer for Nissan North America, shared with The Drive in an exclusive dialogue that the Kaze concept—that translates to “wind” in Japanese—was developed by a skunkworks team within the organization as a passion project. While it may officially be a concept, Nissan appears firmly committed to transforming it into a production vehicle.
Nissan confirmed to The Drive that the T-top panels of the concept utilize the identical securing and releasing mechanism design as the Z32 300ZX 2+2 parked in my garage currently. This means there are pins that extend at both ends: one connects to the A-pillar and windshield header while the other connects to the C-pillar, activated by a lockable flip-out handle in the panel.
Significantly, the Kaze concept’s T-bar is much broader than the T-bar on the 300ZX, certainly for modern safety standards.
The concept showcases a Pacific Teal paint job to evoke ’90s sports car culture. As a nod to the import-tuner culture, it features a lightweight vented carbon fiber hood, along with fender flares and a custom carbon fiber body kit to enhance the car’s stance.
Nissan discovered and refurbished 18-inch, multi-piece, forged Nismo LMGT2 wheels for the Kaze. They measure 10 inches wide in the front and 11 inches in the rear. Compared to the Nismo Z’s wheels, that represents an inch smaller in diameter, the same width up front, and half an inch wider at the rear.
Inside, Nissan embraced the ’90s vibe further, contrasting the teal exterior with a white leather interior accented in carbon fiber. Bose speakers are nestled in the headrests to ensure tunes remain audible when the top is removed. That speaker technology would have been highly useful 36 years ago.
The project team even designed bags for the T-top panels to match the car’s color, ensuring everything fits underneath the rear hatch, akin to my 1990 300ZX.
Beneath the hood, the Z’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 has been enhanced with components from GReddy, including a Supreme SP exhaust system, front-mounted air-to-air intercooler kit, and an Airinx air-filter kit. If there are additional special parts in the offering, Nissan remains tight-lipped about them. Beyond the powertrain, the suspension system has been “thoroughly upgraded with Nismo components,” as per the company.
After ZCON wraps up on Saturday, September 26, the Z Kaze concept will be showcased at the Japanese Classic Car show on Saturday, October 3, at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California.
The Z Kaze concept follows closely on the heels of the 2027 Z receiving a refresh that addressed loud critiques of the sports car’s front fascia. The concept also emerges right after the automaker’s executives indicated their intentions to revive a lineup of sports cars and confirmed that Nissan will offer heritage parts in the U.S. Pandikuthira even mentioned to The Drive that he would “like nothing more” than to witness the reintroduction of the Z convertible.
Could it be possible for Nissan to regain its excitement again?
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