Ven

How you ask? Let's reference these pictures again





The car carries more presence for many reasons. First off, the 370's flared fenders are a LOT more aggressive than the 350s. This can be seen from the front and the side. Then you have the crease on the front fenders which carries back to the doors which then goes to the classic Z 1/4 window. The 350z just has a simple line that goes all the way back to the tail lights.

The 370z also has a smaller greenhouse height (door sill to roof) than the 350z. This is evident by side by side pictures where it's clear that the 370's hood and door sill sit higher than the 350 but the roof does not (they're about the same height). This gives it a squashed look and adds to the aggressiveness.

To top it all off, it has the fastback roof to give it that long hood/short deck look that resides on every other Z besides the 350. There is no confusion. It doesn't matter if the original 240 designer liked Jags, the fact remains that all Zs prior to the 350z shared the long hood/short deck trait and the public liked it. The 350's canopy sits in the middle of the car. You say people are attracted because the confusion they get when trying to figure it out what it looks like. It looks like nothing else, it has its own look unlike the 350z which was being compared to Audi TTs ect.

Sure some people don't like the fangs but it does add to the car (those who don't like it simply paint them black). I'm not even going to discuss the differences between the Nismo versions of both cars because I think most people here will agree the Nismo 370 looks much cleaner than the Nismo 350.

As others have said, when placing the two side by side, the 350 looks dated. Not that it looks bad, but it just looks plain.

Again, a lot of the hype of the 350z was the 6 year absence, that you can not deny. It doesn't matter if it didn't look like the old Zs (although that's why some didn't like it), the fact that a Z was being offered again after so long is what got the attention (and price/performance).

lugrug

Personally, I see a good bit of resemblance between the 300ZX and the 350Z

Ven

The only thing similar I see is the shape of the door windows. Other than that, you could go on a stretch and say that the rear 1/4 windows are similar but that'd be a very far reaching stretch.

orangeflash

iTrader: (2)

this is like comparing the Ferrari 360 and the F-430... They BOTH look damn good!!! Both are timeless!

scrapser

iTrader: (1)

I've always been amazed at how two people can look at the same object and have completely different experiences.

da_cheif

in some ways its like booty opinion.......lol

35oZephyR

iTrader: (4)

There was also a huge percentage of people who did not care for the Z's lineage or the "return of the Z car". They just snatched one up because it was a simple yet beautiful car.

I've never quite encountered another imported platform that pulled so many people from different ends of the automotive world. European, Domestic, Brand-biased import fans..we came from every corner.

There was a time when you couldn't open up ANY magazine and not see the 350z used in a tire ad, wax ad, shaving cream etc... You couldn't walk into a toy store and not find a hotwheel, model car, or generic remote control car without the Z's resemblance.

As much as I like the 370z design, I don't think it will have that same kind of impact. Looking back 10-20 years from now it would probably just be *blip* or a small direction change in the evolving shape from which the 350z design was derived.

I will eventually move on to newer and better Z's but I will never deny the fact that the 2002 "renaissance" design of the Z-car was quite revolutionary.

da_cheif

i agree........the new z has only one thing i wished my 350 had........that new engine and paddles.........i know a turbo would possibly cure that......but here in michigan i doubt if there is the kind of available installers that they have in the southwest.....so i fear the headaches involved in going to a turbo kit.....

Ven

Yet they also snatched it up because of the Price and Peformance which I already mentioned. Keeping that in mind, having the name "Nissan Z" surely helped as well.

You talk about magazines using pictures of the 350, again, it was the return of a sports car. None of the other major import manufactures had brought anything to the market ever since all the 90s imports disappeared including the RX-7, 3000GT, Supra, 300ZX ect. The Z was the one to make the return at an affordable and still great performing car ala 240Z. You can't bring up magazines and not bring up all of them talking about "Return of the Z". It was the IT sports car. The "New" kid on the block who already had a large history.

Of course the 370z will be another continuation of the Z line, it didn't have the grand entrance of the 350z. Keep in mind the 370z is a evolution of the 350z, not a revolution. Two very different words there... The entrance of the 350z was more of a revolution.

newtkindred

I think many of us were anticipating the return of the "Z" or a symbol of the once popular affordable Japanese sports cars like the Supra, RX7, 300ZX, 3000GT, MR2 and so forth. It was that absence and the 350Z being the first to return, and the "Z" name, that made it so popular. There was nothing else out to take the stage at the time. There was not the competition that there was before in that market and there still isn't. That is one reason I have much respect for the 300ZX Twin Turbo, it could hold it's own in stiff competition and was put up against the Vette in numerous comparisons in its time.

I do not see how the 350Z is "revolutionary', exterior or mechanically. I would not argue that it is not a good looking car. It is. But it is a basic shape with basic geometry. The platform is a platform shared across many of the rear engine Nissan products.

The 370Z seems to be a more maturation of a first attempt of the reintroduction of the Z. Taking a good thing and building upon it and refining it. The 350Z to me cut a few corners in order for Nissan to cut cost. The 370Z took the "value" up a notch by offering a product that looked and performed better than its outgoing model with marginal increase in price.

35oZephyR

iTrader: (4)

Couldn't have said it better myself.

My point is, it wasn't just hype or the return of the "Z-car/ import sportscar". The design had gobs of presence back in 2002.

And I do agree with you, the stock 350's lines are a tad plain, whereas the 370z could use some toning down. It's reminiscent of the transition between the 240z and 280z.

lugrug

My point was that by these pics, the 300ZX was as similar to the 350Z as the 350Z is to the 370Z if not more so. You could almost make a case that the designs are circular and now the 370Z is going back around to the 240Z in styling ques.

Ven

Maybe I should've specified. I say the 350z is "revolutionary" as in going back to the performance for a cheap price that the 240Z started (maybe return to roots is better). No, it was not revolutionary mechanically or exterior wise.

I agree with what you say.

Ven

I haven't seen many people say the 300zx is as similar to the 350z as 350z is to 370z and I'll have to disagree as well but we all have different eyes I guess...

lugrug

Top of the door line back to the rear, roof shapes definitely more alike, tail end slight lift (if you look past the wing), back windows more similar in shape, hood to quarter panel transition, etc. As you say, I haven't heard anyone mention this, but I do have eyeballs.

Ven

With those type of "similarities" we might as well go on to say they both have round wheels.

Cane

Profile wise they look similar but the 350 and 370 definitely look more alike than either of them compared to a 300. Also using a photograph with Nissan lighting and cameramen compared to obviously different conditions in the other photos isn't the best way to show objectivity in this kind of stuff although that will be hard to do with our biases.

When you compare the cars from other angles than just the profile; the 370 really looks very similar to the 350 imo. Sure its not a carbon copy but its nowhere near as substantial a difference as comparing a 300z to a more modern Z car.

The 350z got the looks so right in the first place that'd it'd be foolish of Nissan to do anything else than what they did to the 370z imo - why fix something thats not broken kind of deal.

In any case hopefully that bastard Jeremy Clarkson will make a worthwhile review on the 370z unlike that rage-inducing one he made on the 350 years ago lol.

scrapser

iTrader: (1)

I think a lot of the points being made are an exercise in splitting hairs. I agree the 350 and 370 look more alike then either compared to the 300 or 240 series. The 370 does have the 240 hint as well and for those who know the 240 shape it's easily recognized. Unfortunately the long nose, short tail combined with the high hood and fastback rear make the car look bloated with a pug nose in profile. I expect some to disagree and this is not an argument. Also the large flat areas around each fender add to the impression that the wheels are too small for the car. I mean look at that yellow car...the wheels look tiny! This is also an issue with the 350 mainly due to the wide fender clearance.

I also agree the 350 design was spot on and commanded respect right from the start. It may be basic and plain to those who like lots of do-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs to make their car appear unique but as I've said several times, all those additional "features" come across more like a mozaic than a theme. It's just too busy looking. Nissan tried to improve on the appearance of the 350 with the 370 but just like climbing a mountain, once you reach the peak there's no place else to go except down.

This is just my opinion but I do not think a car that needs mods to make it look "right" in the owner's eye can be considered a successful OEM design. It would irk me to buy a car then have things painted or removed to clean up its appearance. Mods are meant to enhance a car...not correct it. But to each his own I guess.

I look forward to the next Z that is as different from its predecessors as the 350 was when it was first introduced.

phos

I don't know much about cars, or design, but here's my .02:

While the 370's engineering upgrades are beyond reproach; aesthetically I find that while it does look more like the 240, that's not to its benefit. It's as if the designers were trying too hard to get a '240 on steroids' effect, by crinkling the metal with sharper folds in an origami fashion which might look sharp on a 3D CAD screen, but in full scale real life becomes an aerodynamically tweaked baroque exagerration.

Wider is good. Narrowing the lights not bad; it's more efficient -that ruthless boomerang- than 350's bulbous and shiny headlight metal. The 370's shorter hatch is tougher, meaner, in a pit bull way; if you like that, fine, although Porsche's rear engine uses that brutish chop for aid in cooling, like a VW bug, while no front engine needs such a shape.

The Jaguar's classic shape, to which the 240 owed its inspiration, derived partly from its in-line 6's & the later V-12's, which made a longer hood for the longer engines; a V-6 is going to be higher and shorter, resulting in a stockier front end.
{ Btw, they did have a delicate tinyness to them, now, didn't they: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...riesoneJag.jpg }

The 350 series managed to contain this (v-6) bulk within an elongated line of functional elegance, with minimal extrusions to the body, bringing a heavy hood over a high, and spacious cabin, down a long ski-jump hatch back. The minimalism is all over, and in, the 350, and overall minimalism is forever, btw.

My '08 though, is full of curves, lines and attitude of its own, incorporating many past ideas in a new package, which is what the 370 design attempted; yet it put more 240 and 911 in the blender, inflated fenders that risk a petty clownishness with ever larger wheels and tires. Perhaps by 2012, if there's any oil left to run these things, the 09 will be a shot in the design dark, and a more creative, yet restrained Z interpretation will emerge, though I wouldn't, and won't, be waiting for it.

35oZephyR

iTrader: (4)

^^^ That was awesome.
You're not a man of many posts, considering you've been on here since '03, but damn sir that was well said.