Try to buy a new Nissan 370Z. Just try! See what happens. You probably won’t have much luck, as 2020 model year examples of the sports car have all but evaporated at dealer lots across the country, CarsDirect reports.
Now, this isn’t surprising. Nissan told us last year was to be the end of the road for the 370Z. The outgoing model is making way for its replacement — supposedly just called the Nissan Z even though “400Z” seemed like a thing for a hot minute. Sure enough, nationwide searches for a new 2020 370Z on Nissan’s website and Cars.com return no results. Zilch. Nada. Crickets.
So today we find ourselves delivering a eulogy that, at some times over the past 12 years, seemed like it would never come. The 370Z, by all rights a perfectly competent rear-wheel drive sports car that people only grew weary of because it overstayed its welcome, has finally been allowed to pass into the next realm.
In 2015, Michael Ballaban opened his review of the 370Z Roadster asking “when was the last time you thought about a Nissan 370Z?” That was six years ago. Our original review of the 370Z coupe began by calling it a “seriously high tech car,” mostly on the basis of its SynchroRev Match system. How times have changed.
Sure, the 370Z got long in the tooth, and the lack of updates while its competitors enjoyed midcycle refresh after refresh didn’t help it age gracefully. But the 370Z was exactly the car enthusiasts beg for all the time — something simple and analog, with sufficient power sent to the proper wheels through the proper transmission. Little in the way of frills, and while it looked nice enough, nobody would’ve ever described the exterior as terribly flashy. It was an honest coupe.
People always say they’d buy this or that old car if the manufacturer never relented to the bean counters and still built the dang thing. Well, Nissan did build it, and kept doing so longer than anyone asked it to. Maybe start warming up to the idea of snagging a used one now before the script flips in 15 years and well-sorted, reasonably priced examples become hard to find.
At least the next Z seems as though it’ll be pretty honest, too. Rumors point to perhaps 400 horsepower from a twin-turbo V6 — 70 more ponies than the 370Z — with the six-speed manual back by popular demand, for those who want it anyway. (Spy photos have teased an automatic version with a weird flip phone-looking shifter.) Forthcoming emissions laws would appear to make this an impossibility, but in the off chance the new Z survives as long as the old one did, we’ll be reconvening here in 2033.