The Nissan Z has made waves since it was heavily revamped after a long era of stagnation and power creep by some of its rivals. However, the one item that has always been missing is a heritage-flavored model with the company reserving these models for the Japanese market.
However, that’s now changing with the company confirming that it is creating a special retro-inspired Z Heritage Edition for the U.S. that will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Datsun 240Z’s original debut.
Color us impressed
The Z Heritage Editon is based on the Z Performance model which slots below the hardcore Nismo model in the Z family. However, a prominent addition is the Sight Orange paintwork which mimicks the vivid hue that made its debut on the 1969 model with Nissan stylists pairing it with a black decal that runs from the hood and into the roof and trunk. The front fascia gets a retro-style split grille and additional black stickers and heritage emblems around the Z lettering give the coupe an extra amount of swagger.
The interior is largely unchanged and the performance hardware is also untouched which will be good news for Z fans since that means they will still be able to choose between a six-speed manual or the nine-speed automatic. The Heritage Edition is also a near-mirror image of the JDM-only Fairlady Z Customized Edition and look for some Z owners to perhaps play into this by splashing Fairlady badges in all the right places.
How Much?
Nissan says that the Z Heritage Edition will start at $60,275 which is a $6,175 premium over a base Z Performance coupe and is also within spitting distance of the range-topping Z Nismo variant. The company also says that it will be building a limited number of Heritage Editions for the 2024 model year only, but didn’t reveal how many they are building before production stops.
The Z has seen its sales go up since its debut, and the Nissan has proven to be a big headache for the Toyota Supra which saw its sales decline by almost 45 percent for the first half of 2024.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.