Hear what the creator of the first model of the legendary Z has to say about the new 370Z. We have taken this article from AutocarUK.
“Autocar’s Japanese correspondent Peter Nunn recently spent some time with the creator of the original Nissan Z-car – the Datsun 240Z – Yutaka Katayama.
Nunn took Katayama out in the Nissan 370Z Roadster to see what the 100-year-old thought and you can see the pictures from his visit by clicking on the link below.
Katayama was initially a fan of the car, but felt it was overly complicated.
“Two hundred years ago we were riding horses, but we’ve lost that feeling of uncomplicated freedom nowadays,” said Katayama. “A horse has no tachometer or whatever, but man can still control the speed and enjoy riding the horse. Keep it simple – that’s the way it should be.”
Katayama, who recently renewed his driving license for another three years, also bemoaned the price of the new model. Nunn describes what Katayama’s ideal modern Z-car would be.
“To Mr K, the Z-car should be simpler – styled like a thoroughbred, but with a price accessible to young people,” says Nunn. “It should offer the same kind of character and involvement that you can get from a Mazda MX-5, or even a Caterham.”
What interests Katayama in the motoring world nowadays? He likes the idea of an electric hybrid Z, but is concerned about the weight of the batteries. What about the Tesla? “No interest!” said Katayama. Without any sound, maybe they will have to use a bell.”
Katayama has been impressed with the Toyota FT-86 concept, which he saw at the Tokyo motor show. A Subaru-engined, rear-drive coupe “is something like a new Zed should be”, he said.
Katayama, who himself drives a Nissan 350Z, has been a frequent visitor to the UK. “Driving with the top down in Britain is fantastic,” he said with a smile. “That’s the place to drive a sports car.”
Chat content sourced from AutocarUK
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Brain less Japos tried hard to copy 924 in 83 came out with z series sports and failed miserably due to engine failures in 90′s they almost out of the race both Nissan and Honda nsx Biggest engine failure stopped farmula involvement from Hoda with engines catching fire due to wrong use of mapping, piston materials as farmula engines generally can not be bought and copied just like Nissan copied porsche engines and Honda copied BMW diesel engines
Dear Ravish,
Seems you are well honed in Formula 1 technical stuff and it’s history. Japanese oftenly blamed for designing products similar to other manufacturers but they are making affordable cars which are huge hits among almost all markets. So does it really matter?
Ravish,
Your comment doesn’t make very much sense. The Zcar was first released to the US public in 1969, not 1983. The engine design was internal combusion, but that’s all it really shared with Porsche engines. It is not a boxer or air-cooled engine. The layout is completely different, and if you’re going to claim that they copied internal combustion, you’d have to go all the way back to Nikolaus Otto to give credit where it is due.
In any event, Mr. K’s outlook appeals to me because he holds the automobile in such high regard. It should be something a driver can connect to when driving, not something that should be eliminated from the driving process as much as possible.
So without getting into who copied whom, I’d say that Mr. K found a way to refine the automobile into what I want it to be: a machine made to be driven.