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Enthusiasts and internet critics have been quick to give a side eye and scoff at Nissan’s comeback plan and subsequent chest pounding. In February, Nissan President and CEO Ivan Espinosa told The Drive, “Nissan is back,” and then in April, that “sports cars are the core of what we are as a company.” Talk is cheap, but today the automaker put up instead of shutting up by revealing a new Nissan Z concept with a factory T-top, a feature that vanished from sports cars over two decades ago. Color us surprised!
Ponz Pandikuthira, Senior Vice President and Chief Planning Officer for Nissan North America, told The Drive in an exclusive interview that the Kaze concept—that’s Japanese for “wind”—was created by a skunkworks team within the company as a passion project. And while it’s officially a concept, Nissan sounds dead set on making it into a production car.
Nissan
Nissan confirmed to The Drive that the concept’s T-top panels use the same securing and release mechanism design as the Z32 300ZX 2+2 sitting in my garage right now. That means there are pins that extend at both ends: one into the A-pillar and windshield header and one into the C-pillar actuated by a lockable flip-out handle in the panel.
Notably, the Kaze concept’s T-bar is significantly wider than the T-bar found on the 300ZX, undoubtedly in the name of modern safety standards.
The concept is painted in a Pacific Teal color to evoke ’90s sports-car culture. As a nod to the import-tuner scene, there’s a lightweight vented carbon fiber hood, plus fender flares and a custom carbon fiber body kit to widen the car’s stance.
Nissan
Nissan found and restored 18-inch, multi-piece, forged Nismo LMGT2 wheels for the Kaze. They measure 10 inches wide in the front and 11 inches wide in the rear. Compared to Nismo Z’s wheels, that’s an inch smaller in diameter, the same width up front, and half an inch wider out back.
Inside, Nissan leaned further into the ’90s to contrast the teal exterior with a white leather interior trimmed in carbon fiber. Bose speakers are installed in the headrests to ensure the tunes stay heard when the top comes off. That speaker tech definitely would’ve come in handy 36 years ago.
For reference, the T-top roof on my 1990 300ZX. Joel Feder
The team responsible for this project even worked up bags for the T-Top panels in the same color as the car itself, and ensured everything fits under the rear hatch, just like with my 1990 300ZX.
Under the hood, the Z’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 has been upgraded 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 any other special parts in the mix, Nissan’s being tight-lipped as to what they are. Outside the powertrain, the suspension system’s been “thoroughly upgraded with Nismo components,” according to the company.
Nissan
After ZCON concludes on Saturday, September 26, the Z Kaze concept will be on display at the Japanese Classic Car show on Saturday, October 3 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California.
The Z Kaze concept comes hot on the heels of the 2027 Z receiving a refresh that addressed loud criticism of the sports car’s front fascia. The concept also arrives just after the automaker’s executives said they were looking at putting together a lineup of sports cars again and confirmed that Nissan will sell heritage parts in the States. Pandikuthira even told The Drive he would “like nothing more” than to see the return of the Z convertible.
Maybe Nissan can actually be exciting again?
Nissan
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
