NISSAN 370Z: The ULTIMATE History

The new 370Z debuted at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Two packages were also on offer. The Sport package, priced from $3,000 came with RAYS 19-inch wheels, Bridgestone Potenza tires, front and rear spoilers, larger brakes, SynchroRev Match, and a Limited Slip Differential. The $1,850 Navigation package also included a 9.3 GB music box hard drive as well as an interface system for the iPod. Those were far from the most important numbers, though. Nissan managed to keep the car’s price under $30,000. The 370Z launched with an MSRP of $29,930. Meanwhile, the upscale Touring grade started at $34,460. It went on sale in North America in January 2009.

Updates were relatively minor to start. 2010 saw the introduction of the 40th Anniversary Edition. This was a Touring model wearing an exclusive “40th quartz exterior color and red leather interior. The model also received a unique wheel finish, red stitching, and a plaque of authenticity. Black Cherry also became an extra-cost exterior color. Changes for 2011 and 2012 were even milder. In the former, a rearview monitor was added to the navigation package. It also added yet another new color in Gun Metallic. The latter saw an oil cooler become standard equipment.

A major refresh was on tap for 2013, and it won’t take long for you to spot the differences. Its distinctive fangs have been removed, leaving a rectangular opening that was somewhat reminiscent of the openings on the 240Z and 350Z. I polled my viewers on which front-end execution they preferred, and the post-facelift mug won out convincingly, taking home 63 percent of the total vote. A commenter in favor of them argued that they distinguished the Z33 from other generations of the sports car. Without them, there just wasn’t very much setting it apart. A few others preferred the cleaner look of the 2013 model. One felt so strongly about it that he put it up - or down - with models like the Juke and Cube.

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SOURCES
www.barchetta.co/370z-sources

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 INTRO
01:13 RANDY RODRIGUEZ
02:37 ENGINEERING
04:31 DEBUT/TRIM LEVELS
07:16 SOLO REVIEWS
09:28 COMPARISON TESTS
11:45 UPDATES