Sage
Staff Emeritus
- 12,533
- United States
- GTP_Sage
From the start, I liked the direction that Nissan was taking with its proposed Z car... sure, the original concept was a bit, underdeveloped styling-wise, but it was still one great-looking car.
When it finally came out in the summer of 2002, I was a bit disappointed while flipping through various car magazines. Yes, it still looked great, but it looked somewhat flabby. For example, Car and Driver's first test car, a blue 350Z, just didn't look right-- especially with that form-breaking spoiler.
Fast-forward to yesterday. My mom was driving to school, traveling on the I-5, in the second lane. Then, a Nissan 350Z merges from on on-ramp into the lane next to us. I nearly fainted. The thing was gorgeous! It's much smaller in person than what you'd expect from seeing it in a magazine. Much, much smaller. The skin is pulled tight over its flanks, and the peeling rear lights only help emphasize that. The paint reflects in an entrancing manner over it.
Too bad it all ended when we had to go onto an off-ramp.
But still, that thing is just so... so... unique and so handsome. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but that clearly hasn't been the case with the Nissan 350Z-- the only way to fully appreciate it is to see it in person.
I'm fully behind Nissan in the current direction that it's heading (who says France isn't a useful country?). Sure, some of its cars a a bit bizarre for most people's tastes-- the Murano, for instance, is a love it or hate it sort of deal. Nonetheless, one has to give credit to Nissan for not only revitalizing its image (just a few years ago, few people would consider buying one), and while keeping good taste. What I mean by that is that it isn't sending out totally bizarre cars (Honda Element, anybody), while still making them very, very unique. And, of course, its gentleman son, infiniti, is getting a great piece of the design pie too.
When it finally came out in the summer of 2002, I was a bit disappointed while flipping through various car magazines. Yes, it still looked great, but it looked somewhat flabby. For example, Car and Driver's first test car, a blue 350Z, just didn't look right-- especially with that form-breaking spoiler.
Fast-forward to yesterday. My mom was driving to school, traveling on the I-5, in the second lane. Then, a Nissan 350Z merges from on on-ramp into the lane next to us. I nearly fainted. The thing was gorgeous! It's much smaller in person than what you'd expect from seeing it in a magazine. Much, much smaller. The skin is pulled tight over its flanks, and the peeling rear lights only help emphasize that. The paint reflects in an entrancing manner over it.
Too bad it all ended when we had to go onto an off-ramp.
But still, that thing is just so... so... unique and so handsome. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but that clearly hasn't been the case with the Nissan 350Z-- the only way to fully appreciate it is to see it in person.
I'm fully behind Nissan in the current direction that it's heading (who says France isn't a useful country?). Sure, some of its cars a a bit bizarre for most people's tastes-- the Murano, for instance, is a love it or hate it sort of deal. Nonetheless, one has to give credit to Nissan for not only revitalizing its image (just a few years ago, few people would consider buying one), and while keeping good taste. What I mean by that is that it isn't sending out totally bizarre cars (Honda Element, anybody), while still making them very, very unique. And, of course, its gentleman son, infiniti, is getting a great piece of the design pie too.
...
It did look smaller than what you would expect. It stands out from the SUV and midsize Xerox machine traffic so well, that I noticed it several car lengths behind me before it was next to me.
Actually, I've seen a bright red 350Z for about a month now, but never up close.
