Putting a lot of speculation to rest Nissan just revealed the 2022 400Z. Today Nissan outlined its plans to reinvent itself in the wake of huge losses over the last year. Part of the presentation included a teaser video of future products. Freezing the video reveals the next Nissan Z sports car, much of it hidden in shadows. So here it is; an official 2022 Nissan 400Z sneak peek.

Nissan has abandoned any pretense of the previous Z

Right off the bat, you can see it has abandoned any pretense of the previous Z. The proportions have almost reverted back to the original 240Z from the 1970s. Gone is the flat roof that climbs from the back straight up to the A-pillar. The silhouette now has a more traditional Z look with a longer hood than previous models.

The rear shoulder is much more pronounced than any Z since the original. It lost that feature with the 300ZX of the 1980s. Besides reverting back to an original styling feature of the Z it gives a muscular look to the rear quarters. Another step back to the original Z is the DLO or side window graphic. It looks to be almost a dead ringer to the original 240Z. 

It remains to be seen if Nissan is borrowing or building on the roots of the 240Z

Those two features will label the 400Z retro but it remains to be seen if Nissan is borrowing or building on the roots of the 240Z. One thing definitely not like the original is the daytime running lights. Nissan really wants the viewer to see them in this video. 

It looks like the grille opening will be a lot larger than Zs of the past. Of course. That’s in keeping with current trends. But that traditional Z hard break from the hood to the grille is right there. 

The “400” in the new 400Z name comes from the 400 hp 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6. It’s the same engine as found in the Infiniti 400 Red Sport models. There is no reason not to expect both an automatic and a six-speed manual transmission. Nissan has perfected the current 370Z’s rev-matching feature. We’d like to see it applied to the new 400Z.

12 new Nissan models will be released over the next 18 months

Nissan is planning on releasing 12 new models over the next 18 months. The new Rogue is the first to debut. It will be followed up with the Frontier pickup, Pathfinder SUV, Infiniti QX60, and the production version of the Ariya concept. We have already seen early test mules of the 400Z but expect to see much of it in the first half of next year. 

One model not shown in the teaser is the GT-R. Take that however you want. Nissan might be dropping the sports car or just heating up speculation about it. 

Though the Z is a minor vehicle as far as Nissan’s numbers go, it is in many ways the soul of the company. That it has taken this long to finally see a new version shows how far Nissan has fallen. But with the plans revealed today, it knows it dropped its guard badly and plans to make up for it in the next 18 months.