What elements does a 350Z have that tie it to the original Z car,

What shows that it is a direct descendant of the 240Z?

One thing that I notice immediately is that when you sit in it. The guages are organized the same and the "high" doors. You know when you sit in your car and you want to put your arm out the window you really have to raise your arm. The bottom of the window is about shoulder height.

Ed,

I noticed the guages, but not the window height-too damn hot out when drove one for the windows to be down.

Will

They are the same?

What elements does a 350Z have that tie it to the original Z car,

What shows that it is a direct descendant of the 240Z?

The name. Gauge layout is similar. Anything else is accidental (or is that incidental?).

What shows that it is a direct descendant of the 240Z?

YOu had to tell us this because it's that obvious, huh?

NOT. :mad:

Nissan wasn't going to build a retro 240Z were they? For the price, the styling, performance and value of the new 350Z is much the same as on the 240 when it came out. Most of the reviews I've read say it performs as well as European cars for less money, in some cases alot less. The styling isn't ugly its just not retro 240-esque enough for some people.

Nissan wasn't going to build another Z you could get into for $20K or less. I don't think they can given what competition is now and what it costs them to develop and build a car like the Z anyway. (Remember, not too long ago, Nissan was in such dire straights that the let the French buy them, not a pleasant prospect for a Japanese car company) They were targetting the same group of buyers as in 1970, a family where dad could drive a sports car to work and the minivan or SUV on vacations.

I liked the new Z alot more once I accepted it wasn't going to be a retro 240 and I saw that it could perform and be alot of fun to drive.

IMO, if they really were going to capture the excitement of the 240Z, they should have priced the 350Z at about $13,000, which sounds affordable to me.

For not building a retro 240Z, Nissan sure spent some money building hype that would have been far more effective with a little more visual similarity! Think about the first reviews, ads, and the Nissan website-not to mention the "factory"(sorry Carl, Chris, and Mike) restoration program-when the 350Z came out-all of it was touting and building predominantly on the 240Z!

Go through some magazines-it is true. If the car had even a passing visual similarity to the 240Z(and not the TT) the marketing machine would have been much more effective, and probably would have sucked more of us in too, instead of fairly effectively polarizing the Z community into those who lust after the 350Z, and those who think it is just ugly on wheels. At the curb the car should have looked at least related. Not a replica, but at least related. The trip to the Altell store I posted about in another thread (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11425&highlight=alltel+240Z post #7) pretty much backs up my opinion. Put a beautiful 240Z and a beautiful 350Z together on any street in America(or anywhere else the cars were sold), and the 240Z will get most of the attention. Every time I take out my previous 240Z I get stopped to talk about the car, people even ring the door bell to ask about it when the car is parked on the street. My nextdoor neighbor has noticed too, he has-and treasures-a 350Z, and by his own admission, has never been asked anything about his car-other than to move it!

I think there would have been more people who might not have spent as much(money, time, and energy) on a restoration to be able to spend more money on a new set of wheels that evoked the same feelings as the rust bucket upside down in the garage, and I don't believe that it would have taken a sheetmetal copy to remind people of those feelings. Headlight buckets and the hatch profile, or the quarter windows with emblems/vents could have done it.

Will

I think a lot of this 240 vs 350 is an emotional one. I still prefer my older vehicles to newer ones. I like my 280z way better than my 280zx. I like the looks of the 300zx better than the 350z.

In terms of being a decent performing good value sports car, I think they did all right.

But I will still prefer the older one.

Since I am lucky to own both a first generation S30 and the latest Z33 as well as the couple that came in between I can openly admit to enjoying the S30 more than the Z33. If I was forced to choose only one and had to drive said car everyday in the snow and the rain I would probably pick the 350Z. I only say that because this weekend I made the difficult decision to part out my '82 280ZX and it is painful sending any Z to the junkyard. Thankfully the 350Z has a timing chain motor and it is fairly easy to perform simple tasks such as the oil change without a lot of headaches (even my '86 300ZX can't claim that feat).

If I were lucky enough to live in California I would have to pick the 280Z as my daily driver.

Great poll!! I own a first gen and the latest 350z. I have to say that both of them are unique in their own ways. The base-model 350z has more in common with the original 240z than most people think. While the 240z is fun to drive, the 350z is also fun to drive. I haven't driven a fancy 350z with traction control and all the bells, but, I can say that $27k isn't that bad compared to $37k for a loaded 350z.

One identical item? The 350z #$@#$ hatch falls down on your head just like the 240z. Go figure....