OK. Time for my not too humble opinions.
BMW Z3 - Love the Roadster - especially the rearching of the rear fenders to
give it a more rounded look - hate the coupe - looks like a CRX with a BMW
front clip - yick!
350Z - could care less - I have never been much of a fan of the Z car. It
represents a market that I have never been enamored with - the GT coupe. To
me, a sports car will ALWAYS be a roadster of some kind. The ultimate
roadster imho is the Cobra - in any form except the Daytona coupe of course.
I love the Datsun Roadster, but it is far from perfect - but then again, I
don't want perfection in a car. To me, it is far more important to be able
to work with a car's shortcomings and enjoy the ride (sorry about stealing
that quote Nissan) Getting something out of the car on a personal level
from the driving is more important than who I am impressing with it's
design. I think that Thomas in Sweden hit the nail on the head. The 350Z
is not designed for the types that like the Roadster, nor for the types that
like the early Z cars. If it had been, it would be a failure. To be
successful, it needs to appeal to the current sporty car market. That
explains the similarity to the cars that everyone has pointed out.
Personally, it looks like someone sectioned the roof/windows from a 300Z and
grafted them onto an Audi TT. Once again, I don't get excited about either
car, but there should be enough of the most recent Z to keep the folks that
want to have the latest Nissan sporty car happy, as well as more of the
modern styling queues which the same crowd will likely want. The drawback
imho is the price. Nissans are still not seen as expensive cars to the
general population. That may hinder sales, but I doubt that the styling
will kill it.
As a closing thought, remember that most of the established US automotive
press dogged the Roadster when it came out, and still gripes about it in
retrospect. The foreign magazines were more kind. I think this is a
subconscious disdain for Japanese autos. If the Roadster had an Alfa Romeo
badge or some British Leyland badge on the rear, it would have been revered.
For those that want to flame my opinions, fire at will.
Sidney Raper
1964 1500
1967 SRL311 00060
1967 SRL311 00076
Jacksonville Florida
http://www.geocities.com/roadsternut/index.html
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