Contributed
The Nissan 350Z. Available from Fidelity Motors by order only.

Mario James, Sunday Gleaner Writer

WHEN JAGUAR released the E-type in 1961, it set a trend in 'autodom' that others would have to emulate, somehow, to survive. Two-door, two-seat configuration. Low-slung long front, petite derriére. Sugar scoop headlights, powerful engine (if a little long in the tooth at the time; the venerable XK engine was already 13 years old).

What it brought to the table that was new was its unitised body construction with a spaceframe that picked up all of the suspension mounting points and housed the engine. It also had a very novel independent rear that, to this day, is still copied. The car, despite its length, could dice it with the best canyon runners of the time, some costing more than three times as much, yet set ride standards for a decade. Such was the genius of Sir William Lyons' band of intrepid engineers.

Out of the closet

One upstart car company that came to market with an 'E' clone was Datsun. It launched the 240Z in 1970. It heralded the Japanese way of doing things; their product came to market faster, was cheaper to own and operate, yet still had performance that could put a smile on your face. The Z car has since morphed through quite a few generations, each successive generation building on the market share gained by the previous model.

Nissan came out of the closet, doing away with its Datsun trading company in 1984. The Z32 Nissan 'Fairlady' 300ZXwas dubbed by the motoring press as a 'poor man's supercar' and was a technological tour de force, but economic conditions prevailing in the late '90s forced the manufacturer to pull it from the market (it was pulled from American shores much sooner).

But Nissan understands the value of a halo car, and by 2002 had produced the current model, the 350Z. Although all Z models have the same basic formula - rear-wheel drive, big six-cylinder engine, two seats/front engine layout - and the same E-type silhouette, this car has taken the layout to a level of purity that, like the E-type, might be imitated, but not duplicated.

The car is much smaller than its pictures suggest. It is more a car one straps on than one straps in. The dimensions shrink around you while under way; the fluidity designed into the controls makes the tactile experience so much more enjoyable. The Z's controls don't click; they 'snick'.

The dash layout and ergonomics is slighted towards smaller folk, that is apparent, but for a five-ten bloke like me, Nissan's 'gentleman-ised' sports car was just the right size. The cockpit is divided into two distinct pods as the high centre tunnel acts like a partition. The layout works, and the view out front is almost devoid of bonnet unless you set the power seats to their highest position. And at 240kph, what a view that is! This is one of the cars we tested in Portugal, and all that old-world sophistication seeped into the cockpit; the sights, sounds and smells of Cascais shattered by the rorty yowl of six cylinders bunching together to produce 306 hp and 268 spine tingling pound foot of torque.

Classical memories

Redline is an event in this car, the induction harmonics combine with road noise to produce a special kind of magic at 7,500 rpm. The coastal roads of Portugal early in the morning are filled with emptiness: Just after dawn, when the sky isn't fully up and fishermen are the only folks on the bike-trail that runs the length of the road, Automotives is listening to the song of the VQ35HR at full chat, feeding the car into the long sweeper curves that seem to breed in this old, old place.

The engine is set so far back in the chassis that it has made up its own classification - FM (front mid ). The cornering response is so polar - the newest Z feels like it is turning around a poel mounted just in front of the rear bulkhead. The roadster amplifies the experience, as its chassis seems to be hewn from a solid hunk of metal; the four tyre contact patches feel like extensions of the steering impulse, the wheel alive with road undulations. The conversation between the fingertips and the Bridgestones is full duplex, The gearbox precise, the ratios right.

If I had to fault it, the boot is a tad small for two days worth of luggage for two to go romping 'round the country in. And it is a GT. But for us car guys with cholesterol-filled cloggy arteries, this is one designer drug that is best taken in small doses.

mario.james@gleanerjm.com.