new prototype has shown up at Nissan’s facilities at Germany’s Nürburgring. The mule utilizes the body of a 350Z, but it has been altered considerably suggesting that it’s an early mule for an new model. Our sources on the ground in Germany report that the car looks like it has a shortened wheelbase, and there are some riveted sections in the roof that seem to support that observation. It appears that the roof line of this mule has been cut and shortened.
This prototype has surfaced just days after a story broke in AutoCar (http://autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/225906/ ) which claims that Nissan has begun development of a new rear-wheel-drive sport coupe using the Urge concept car as its inspiration. This mule could be the first evidence that something like the Urge is heading toward to production. Whatever this mule represents, it was running with a Porsche Cayman, so Nissan is engaging in some lofty benchmarking for this car’s driving dynamics. Given that the Cayman is an obvious competitor for the 350Z, we have to leave open the possibility that this is an early prototype for the next-gen Z-car, but this mule’s altered proportions suggest something different. If this a mule for the Nissan Urge, then budget-minded enthusiasts should have another enticing buying option in a couple years.
As this car hits the track in Germany, we’ll be working to gather more information."
it looks cool, but i don’t know if i like the way the roof looks, it’s too narrow and pointy i guess… i dunno. i still think they should bring back the 240.
You “roof people” realize that has nothing to do with what the car will look like, right? You can’t judge the look of this car in the slightest, because they are intentionally concealing it. The idea of a lighter, smaller, more affordable RWD from Nissan is amazing though, I would definitely buy one if it doesn’t end up being a total POS.
as long as the car doesn’t look like that i will be happy!!! i hope to god thats not the new 240!! they are getting to outa hand with this futuristic looking crap!! bring back the s13 with some more sexiness and umphff!!! the flip lights sold me when i first saw it!! i love how slick it is with the lights down, and how cool it looks when they are up. this sleeper style is pretty sweet. I’m actually very curious as to how you do it?
Concept cars are ways of testing new developing technologies. Neither of these 2 pictures represents an accurate look ahead at any new nissan design. Companies use their concept cars to gauge reactions and test new technologies ALL in one car, then these new technologies are applied to different models in different ways.
i understand that, i’m just sayig i hope to god they dont look like that when they come out! they need to bring back the s13, thats all there is to it!!
not a word of a lie, i forget where i read this, but toyota wants to bring back the ae86 but the marketing division and a few other fatcats advised against it.
the senior execs at toyota are the ones who wanted to bing it back, older guys who lived through the ae86’s riegn
Well they better decide soon lol cuz this whole “jdm, drift, wangan” trend has been going on for some time now, and just imagine if they decide to release something like that later on when the mass youth market has changed over to another trend…
I just hope if they do bring it back…its RWD…there not many cheaper RWD cars they are all $$$ so who knows…personally i dont want them to bring it back …it would ruin 240sx name i think just leave it be is how i see it maybe support the olde cars by making new 240sx but the exact same as the cutrrent s13 14 and and maybe bring the s15 here as a 08 model haha
Miata is a cheaper RWD car. Why would you want a heavier, worse handling and more than likely less powerful version of it?
Less powerful because, they’re not gonna build a smaller, lighter version of the 350z and still have a VQ35 in it.
Why does everyone keep saying Nissan needs to bring back ‘cheap’ RWD coupes?
The 240 was NEVER cheap.
Let’s have some fun for a second.
Original purchase price for an 89 S13 in Japan was 2117000 yen.
So that’s about $18,000 us.
Sort of cheap. Now, let’s also remember this was in 1989 dollars. So in 2006 dollars? That would be (considering standard 3% inflation per year) about $31,000 US.
But that would be in Japan, so not taking into account all the levies and taxes on foreign vehicles (couldn’t find a sticker price for a 240). IIRC the S13 was hovering just under 30K Canadian, the S14 could nose over the 30K mark.
So really, the 240SX was much more inline with the 350Z as far as price tag.
Not like the 88 200SX, which was just over $15k.
The 300ZX … shit, the 93 could easily be well optioned to over $50K!
