Nissan has announced that production of the Fairlady Z Roadster, sold as the 370Z Roadster in markets outside Japan, will come to an end on September 30 of this year. This likely means there will be no 2015 model year for the convertible 370Z. UPDATE: A spokesman for Nissan has told us “The announcement was for Japanese market only. There is no announcement regarding – and there’s no effect on – 2015 370Z Roadster production for any other market, especially the US.”
The two-seater, open-top version of the 370Z sports coupe was introduced to the Japanese market in October 2009. As of April 2014, domestic sales of the model totaled 798 units, according to Japanese media, a decent sales number for a specialty car in Nissan’s home market.
Nissan has said it will instead concentrate on evolving the standard Fairlady Z/370Z in a more performance-oriented direction during the model’s sunset years. The first evidence of this came just last week with the recently unveiled 2015 370Z NISMO, a performance model with enhanced aerodynamics over the 2014 version and improved handling in the high-speed range.
Throughout its life, the Fairlady Z/370Z Roadster utilized the same 3.7-liter V6 generating 350 hp and 276 lb-ft of torque as its hard-top counterpart. With an available six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic transmission, both offering with rev-matching downshifts, riding on a shortened wheelbase version of Nissan’s front-midship platform it has served its purpose well. However, it has been rumored that the next-gen Z-car will be smaller and lighter than the 370Z, the first time Nissan will have reduced the model’s displacement since the 240Z’s introduction in October 1969.
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