Even before the Nissan Z Proto Concept showed up for the first time, rumors were abound that the final production car named the 400 Z would ship with the same powertrain as the Infiniti Q50 S and Q60 S. This seems to be confirmed now.
A blogger has managed to make these photos of the pre-production car at the Nissan Crossing building in Tokyo, Japan. It is evident that there is a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 in the engine bay. Transmission choices could include six-speed manual and nine-speed automatic, and we expect a mechanical handbrake to be present as well for the sake of tradition. Finally, a high-end Nismo version might also be underway with 500+ hp (370+ kW) under the hood.
Furthermore, when the company premiered its new Frontier and Pathfinder models, it let us a brief glimpse of a yellow Z Proto and a mysterious grey coupe with a bit of extra ground clearance and displaced headlights. While it could just be an early mock-up or design study, recent patent images suggest that such a version may also go into production.
The launch is expected to take place late this year or in the early 2022. The sporty ride will be styled in line with other Z models while getting a much more modern interior complete with a 12.3-inch digital dash cluster and an infotainment system.
The current-gen 370 Z has been in production since 2009.