Zvoiture

In these days of scarce E31's....N42 seems a good 2nd choice. steve77

For the past couple months, this place has been HOPPING! The 'Latest forums' moves FAST! Oftimes, I get an e-mail to a post I have subscribed to and I go to read it and it has already moved off the home page. And I check in here several times a day! I have also tried clicking 'View New Forums' at the top of the forum page, but it mirrors the home page (probably the source)......Anyways, the troubling part is that all this new activity can be post-defeating. Have you considered any methods to 'slowing down' or extending the 'new' posts area? Just making it longer or two columns would be nice. Or how about making 'For Sale' posts not show up on new posts (and maybe there are others)? If somebody is looking for something or selling something, I know I just go straight to the for sale forum. As I type this, there are about 6 posts on the new posts page for for sale stuff--some of it months old. steve77

Wow, that's great! A ton of work and somebody else did it... I noticed no BMW or Volvo notes.....ANybody know what the bolt pattern on these are? I have seen older Volvo's with 4 bolts--I have no idea what year, because I am not a fan of the car...they are 4 bolt back when they were 154 and 164....BEFORE they were 740, 760, GLE etc...probably '70's. steve

Maybe the floorboards have finally rusted through and now when you look down, it just SEEMS like you are lower... steve77

This came through on the 510 list...somewhat amusing..thought I would share... Subj: New REVEL Datsun 510 model kit Date: 7/13/2002 6:56:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time From: bre66@(edited) To: bluebirds@bluebirds.datsun510.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Well, I bought one of the new Revell Datsun 510 kits today that are now on the market. For those who are interested, here's a kit review for you: The "new" box art is pretty well done.. The words "tuner series" in a special logo are on the left front corner. The picture of the model is of a dark blue 510 with a big Datsun logo on the hood... ( looking good so far. .. ) On the side of the box, there are four pictures of the optional decals on a yellow car, also showing the interior and motor bay... Inside, you find that this kit is a re-issue of the old and very rare "Brock Buster" car - a model of Pete Brock's personal 510, the yellow Zonker. But this "new" kit, has something interesting in it.. fully molded and hollow vinal/rubber tires! No more SH**y two-piece tires!! The interior is complete stock, with spare tire well as a "glue-on" also. Let's see... parts tree # 1: full dash, back seat, and stock exaust .. stock front seats, battery, and spare tire well here. Parts tree #2: This tree has the hood on it. Also has the race part that replaces the rear seat! ( take out that back seat, I say ..) and the hood also has hood pins molded on it - still. tube headers on this sheet too. Motor/trans. halfs found here also. Finned rear end cover, swing arms, brake petal assembly, stock door panels, steering link, trans crossmember mount, and ..... working hood hinges found on this tree. Parts tree#3: a rear brake light panel that's stock, ( unlike the BRE 510 model ) so you can put a licence plate on it.. complete with licence plate lights, front sway bar, wheel backs, front struts, rear springs, rear Koni shocks, "Spook", front seat bottoms, lower half rear end assembly - I mean, underside part of crossmember with axles and swing arms and R160 unit, ...and front control arms make up this tree. Parts tree #4: The chassis can be found here... with front motor timming cover, front valance panel .. ( now that's a real-life item that's hard to find undamaged these days.. ) Racing steering wheel, motor pully assembly, drive shaft, UPPER half of the rear end assembly - I mean upper part of the crossmember w/ upper half of R 160 unit.. , motor bay fire wall, and STOCK OIL PAN round out this tree. These four trees are molded in white, unlike the Brock Buster kit of yore.. they were butterscotch for the first runs, and yelow for the second run - aka - the first re-issue. Also the body is molded in white - and it still has the pop rivets on the rear flairs, and the hood pins on the trunk. Parts tree #5: This tree is all crome. CLEAN, RUST FREE CROME FRONT AND REAR BUMPERS can be found here!! ( Will SOMEONE out there PLEASE start making new, affordable REAL LIFE CROME DATSUN 510 BUMPERS for the masses ?? Geeez!! ) A set of Weber DCOE carbs w/ stacks.. ( not the best reproduction of webers I've ever seen - better ones in the same scale came be found in Fujimi kits .. ) four cromed Libra wheels.. ( without the center caps .. heh heh heh .. and I have four real life brand new ones still in the origional bags for sale if anyone is interested - pardon the small plug here.. ) a crome valve cover and cromed grill aaaaand.... a crome fire bottle and a crome hood prop as well. parts tree #6 This tree is clear plastic. it has a .. clean .. scratch free, windshield... another 510 part worth re-inventing for the real world 510 owner. Rear window, and two side windows.. and this is the cool part and a departure from the BRE model .. clear headlights. Decal sheet: Now here is something entirely new from Revell. Two different types of body graphics. very well done, at that. one set red, white and blue.. being a red center stripe w/ with white sides and same stripes for the doors, and a large DATSUN logo for the hood that also has the numbers "510" on it... two different licence plates... one that says "Datsun" in the Datsun circle, and the other - you guessed it - "LIL 510" - from California, no less. ( why does California always get picked? I mean we have some really cool 510's out here on the east coast too, ya know. That's it, dang it - I'm making my own licence plate for this model.. I always have too anyway! ) The black decal set has really cool side door graphics that have "510" in them pretty large... and angled stripes. A black windshield banner that says "DATSUN" and also, outdated I think - black with yellow type licence plates that read" MMJ 219 " ... from you guessed it, Califonia. I say out dated because I've seen the more scripty california plates around recently. Can someone out there explain why this kit would have black plates? Anyhoo, the last part of the decal sheet has some neat after market speakers for the doors and rear deck.. some white faced guages, and orange/black parking lights to put on the body. There are also some aftermarket performance stickers on the other side of the sheet.. ( sadly, no "BRE" stickers anywhere.. sob sob .. ) And one last thing I noticed about this "new' kit that's different from the old kits : No vinal hose for your cooling needs. Oh well, can't have it all sometimes.. at least you're getting a FACTORY TACH. !! ( Dude! You're gettin' a Factory Tach.!!!!!!!! ) just like buying a real 510, would'nt ya say??? Go get one while they're availible - they will surely be bought up as fast as they can be put on the shelves. ( mine cost only $11.20 !! ) Keith ( boy I must be really bored on a Sat. night to want to type this long, trivial and useless 510 related Email .. ) 510

I'm really curious about the users of THIS site... If you've got more than one--AND WHO CAN OWN JUST ONE--I'm not sure how you can vote for them...if you check "allow to vote more than once" it still says "you have already voted in this poll"...so pick one! steve77

You, know...it might work good for the dash if you could get it smooth somehow. The dash would have to be out and stripped to get it perfect, and if you could get it smooth, you can actually create texture on a surface with this stuff by fogging quickly with the can several feet away. Just don't put so much on that it 'solves' the previous application. It owuld be interesting to see how long it held up in CA sunsine! steve77

I did not paint my dash. It had gigantic....well, I don't have to describe to anyone here what 25 year old Z dashes look like....I bought a full dash cover from VB and refinished everything else--including that ninja-warrior-thing with the defrost vents in it. There are only two new things: The dash cover and the black shift boot. The rest I painted. If you're coming to ZFEST, you can check it out. The stuff is amazing. steve77

Fortunately for you, tomohawk's don't have rear windows! steve77

Thanks for cleaning that up, Mike...I deleted a bunch of unnecessary space and such, but didn't have time to make it real nice last night... steve77

I had everything out for a carpet and upholstery job, so I epoxied/ filled any cracks and wiped everything down with Acetone real good and sprayed them with Krylon Vinyl Refinishing Paint. I used black, but it comes in several colours, including a cream. As long as you do EVERYTHING, you wouldn't have matching problem. The stuff covered great. Really thick. One coat covered everything. WAAAAAY thicker than spray paint. Hey, 72: do you ever get out to MarinaCross? Are you going to Fremont? We actually have a couple members in Monterey, but that is pretty far North of most of our group. steve77

Has anybody ever compiled a COMPLETE list of automobiles which share the bolt pattern of a Z? Ignoring offset. Just the bolt pattern. If not, post here the cars you know and when we are done, we can compile it and put it in Tech Articles or something.... Toyota Celica Toyota Supra Starion/Conquest Datsun 510 Datsun Roadster Honda (FWD offset) And...? steve77

For popsters, you want a slight gloss or even satin or low-sheen, but not flat of glossy (photo). The canvas is nice, but it should be coated after printing. It also has to be stretched over something. At our gallery, we publish paintings on canvas (a copy of the original painting is printed on canvas) and then they are coated. They look great, but the printer has like 10 billion DPI. steve77

I painted all the panels September 2001. They ahve held up perfectly. Armrests, consoles, top of door, ashtray....EVERYTHING still, looks wonderful. They stuff works shockingly well. My entire interior is a deep, shiney black, like it has a fresh coat of Armour-all on it...but I have never put anything on it. steve77

A friend of mine claims to have used electrical tape over this area. He says as long as you don't stretch it--even a little--it works fine (electrical tape is made to shrink back slowly). Have not seen the long term of this fix, but I can not imagine it holding up very long. He actually used the red of yellow or something to match his steering wheel. Might be worth a try! I refinished my door panels with Krylon Vinyl Refinishing Paint (black) and just sprayed right over the top of the 'wood trim' area and its adjoining 'chrome'. Has held up perfectly. no peels. steve77

Yeah, shocks don't hold the car up much, maybe 50 lbs at most when brand new... each? Just a guess. steve77

My car? Why would I want a poster of MY beater? Now maybe this one: Or this one: Or maybe: Or how about: Or: Ok, maybe: Would these be glossy and UV & Moisture stable? steve77

I parked along side a Camry or Elantra or something the other day and it had decent-looking alloys on it and the center bolt cover had a logo that read "Z Wheels". I assumed this to be the brand name. I did a coulple of searches and didn't turn up anything. Anybody know about these? They were definitely fairly new style wheels. I would be really interested to see the rest of their styles... BTW, most of my searches turned up O.Z Wheels (Italy). These are NOT them. (Damn, those gunmetal F1's are pretty!) steve77

A variety of things could be causing this... A. Somebody has stolen your springs. B. You cut the camber-adjustment holes in the strut towers too large. C. Your tires have been switched with 11.50 X 31 X 15's. D. You own the elusive and VERY RARE Z model produced by Citroen. steve77

For Tokico's, be sure and check out www.autocarparts.com I bought mine from them and they were really great to deal with. Last time I checked, Tokico nons were $110/pr and Illumina's were $220/pr. steve77

share its chassis among three models and so split the bill for development. That's a big edge, because the cost of creating a new model from scratch averages nearly $500 million. The 350Z also shares its V6 engine with the Altima, Maxima, and G35. Among many parts that will be shared are the air-conditioning units. All told, seven different Nissan and Infiniti models will use the Z's basic architecture by 2005, accounting for 200,000 cars a year. Says planning chief Pelata: "We'll have the same kind of economies of scale as the Mercedes-Benz C class cars or BMW 3 Series." When it comes to looks, the Z's shorter overhangs in front and back give it a rounded appearance akin to Audi's successful TT roadster. At the same time, the clean geometric shapes of the door handles, windows, and wheels are meant to identify it clearly as a member of the Nissan family. As for performance, early reviews say that the Z is dead-on in its attempt to strike a balance between sports car zest and value. "If you liked the original 240Z, you'll love the new 350," writes Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief at Car & Driver, who points out that the Z has nearly as much horsepower as a Porsche 911, a car that costs 2 1/2 times the price. Nissan expects to sell the bulk of the 40,000-50,000 Z cars it plans to produce annually in the U.S. The original sketch for the 350Z's angular design was drawn up by Ajay Panchal in Nissan's San Diego design studio, with American buyers in mind. Nissan will debut a roadster version of the 350Z in the U.S. later this year. U.S. dealers are betting that the Z will eventually outsell even the Chevrolet Corvette--which means annual U.S. sales of 30,000 units, a big number for a sports car. Chevy officials, though, insist they don't feel threatened. "Our buyers are Corvette people," says Ken Thompson, a sales manager at Frank Parra Chevrolet in Dallas. "The Corvette has a place of its own." In the U.S., early signs for the Z are encouraging. Advance orders for the car already top 7,800 units. Nissan plans a major U.S. advertising campaign for the Z starting in August. The campaign will feature a new slogan for the brand, similar to the "Shift_the Future" line being used in Japan. Excitement is building back home in Japan, too, where Nissan is expected to sell several thousand Zs a year. Limited edition toy versions of the car are trading on Japanese Internet auction sites. Nissan has begun an aggressive teaser ad campaign, showing a profile of the car under the slogan, "One step ahead: Meet the Z." But even in the birthplace of the Z, some opinion-makers remain critical. Makoto Oura, chairman of Japan's biggest Z car club, says Nissan should have settled for a smaller, 2.0-liter engine and cheaper parts to make it more affordable to average Joes. Although he has one on order, he admits that "I bought it because it's a Z, not because I'm especially thrilled with the package." That concern looks like the one warning flag as the Z begins to roll out. But Ghosn is betting drivers will forget the sticker price the minute they get behind the wheel and shift into first. If Ghosn is right, this car could be his greatest legacy at Nissan--good enough to trade in Le Cost-Killer for a new moniker, Mr. Z. By Chester Dawson in Tokyo, with Larry Armstrong in Los Angeles and Joann Muller and David Welch in Detroit

The Zen of Nissan Cover Story: The classic Z car is back. Can it rev up a tired brand? Business Week - International Edition 07/22/02 author: Chester Dawson Six months after being dispatched by his bosses at Renault to overhaul Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY ) in 1999, Carlos Ghosn had lunch with an esteemed visitor in the company's 16th-floor executive dining room at its Tokyo headquarters. His guest was the former head of Nissan's U.S. sales subsidiary, Yutaka Katayama, father of Nissan's original 240Z sports car. Universally known as "Mr. K," Katayama came to plead a case that had been coldly rejected by Ghosn's Japanese predecessors: Revitalizing the Z car line. To the Z-maniacs who still inhabit every corner of the U.S. and Japan--and who drive their friends and families crazy with their Z fan clubs, their obsessive search for spare parts for vintage models, their weekend rallies--this lunch was a high moment in the history of the automobile. Anyone born after 1965 won't get it, but for 15 years--from 1970 to 1985--the Z sports car was the ultimate thrill machine, an unbeatable combination of rakish lines, raw horsepower, and affordability that young Japanese and American guys found impossible to resist. To this day, middle-aged men who can't remember the name of the girl they took to the prom can still tell you everything about their first 240Z. The inline six-cylinder engine. The 150-horsepower kick. The long nose of the hood. And that first sweet moment on the highway when the Z opened up and showed what it could do. But at the time the 89-year-old Mr. K sat down to lunch with the brash, no-nonsense Ghosn, the Z was headed for extinction. Production had slowed to a trickle as the company attempted to stave off bankruptcy. U.S. sales ceased in 1996. The arrival of Ghosn, whose ruthless downsizing at Nissan-parent Renault had earned him the nickname "Le Cost-Killer," seemed to guarantee that the Z would soon be very, very dead. The unsentimental Ghosn, however, had a surprising answer for Katayama. "When I broached the subject of the Z, his face lit up, and his eyes shone," says Katayama. "I couldn't have been happier with his response." Recalls Ghosn, now Nissan's CEO: "It was obvious. I could not imagine reviving Nissan without putting the Z back on the road." Turns out the Cost-Killer was a Z-man, too. When he worked for tiremaker Michelin in the U.S. in 1989-96, he often took a company-owned Nissan 300ZX for a spin in the mountains near its North American headquarters in Greenville, S.C. Now the boss has something else to tool around in. On July 5, the all new 350Zs started to roll off the assembly line at the Nissan plant in Oppama, Japan. Ghosn himself got the first 350Z produced, a silver 3.5-liter V6 model with burnt-orange leather seats, a 240-watt seven-speaker Bose stereo system, and Nissan's own Carwings navigation and infotainment system. The car doesn't quite levitate, but maybe that will be an option in an upcoming model. Ghosn's decision could be a milestone for Nissan. Although the company has climbed back from the brink of insolvency in the late 1990s, historically Nissan's fortunes have ebbed and flowed roughly in sync with the popularity of its Z cars. The high performance and dashing design of the Z created a halo effect for the rest of the Nissan line, even back in the days when the company was known as Datsun in the U.S. In their heyday in the late 1970s and early '80s, Nissan and the Z were style pioneers, both in Japan and America. "Nissan had the true sports cars," says John Yukawa, who is project head for the 350Z--and who quietly kept a group of Nissan designers working on the Z even when the line seemed headed for the junkyard. "That's why I signed up and why many others like me joined--in hopes of working one day on a Z." But Nissan then forsook its style heritage by focusing too much on bland, Toyota-style sedans. The result was a decade of design ennui for Nissan, and a near-death experience as profits and sales plunged. Ghosn has deftly turned this situation around. Wringing out savings from suppliers and scrapping excess factory capacity allowed Nissan to post a record net profit of nearly $3 billion for the fiscal year that ended Mar. 31--a 12% increase over the previous year. Sales, though, grew less than 2%, to $49.6 billion. Now, Nissan can no longer depend on cost-cutting alone to boost profits. The carmaker can push suppliers only so far. Already, Kawasaki Steel Corp. and component maker Calsonic Kansei Corp. have put Nissan on notice they'll fight further price concessions. To keep the profit momentum going, Nissan sales must rise soon and keep rising. "The real battle for Nissan is yet to come," says Takashi Oshika, a research director at Mitsubishi Research Institute, a Tokyo think tank. Ghosn vows he will boost overall Nissan vehicle sales to 3.5 million by 2005, up from 2.5 million in 2001. And he plans to use the Z, which has a starting price of $26,809, as part of his full-scale sales offensive. Already, Nissan has scored hits with cars such as the new Altima sedan and the G35 from the company's upscale sister brand, Infiniti. All together, Nissan is preparing to launch 28 new models worldwide--from luxury SUVs such as the Infiniti FX45 to U.S.-size pickup trucks and budget subcompacts--in the next three years. One goal of Nissan's big rollout is to shed its dowdy image. As the 350Z heads for the showrooms, Ghosn's big hope is that a bit of Z-ness will rub off on other models, which could translate into higher margins for all Nissan cars. That's what happened when the redesigned, more muscular Altima was introduced last year: The car drew customers into Nissan showrooms, and, even if they didn't buy an Altima, many drove off with a Maxima or Sentra. A smash hit with a Z would draw in tens of thousands more. "It's not just another car in our lineup," says Ghosn. "It's really the symbol of the revival of our company." And the symbol of Ghosn's personal victory, too. A successful Z launch will seal his bid to run both Nissan and Renault in 2005--which would probably make him the most important auto exec on earth. No wonder Ghosn, who's usually big on delegating authority, took a personal interest in this car. Throughout the Z's redevelopment, Ghosn kept designers on their toes, insisting on such details as making the speedometer easier to read and redoing the interior to make it more like Porsche and BMW. In the fall of 2000, at a viewing session in the courtyard of Nissan's main research and development center near Tokyo, he made a snap decision that sent his designers back to the drawing board just days ahead of the planned final design "freeze." The reason? Ghosn didn't like the Z prototype's single rear exhaust pipe. Real sports cars, he insisted, have two tailpipes. "That required a lot of reworking," recalls chief designer Mamoru Aoki. While the new Z pays homage to earlier Zs, with its rear quarter windows and trademark circular "Z" insignia, the overall design is a radical departure from the original. Indeed, Nissan explicitly rejected a retro look for the Z. Instead, it wanted something that incorporated touches of the past--such as the trademark hatch in back--but reflected prevailing moods in the industry. Its broad stance and compact frame clearly echo recent designs by trendsetters such as Audi, BMW, and Porsche. What its designers refer to in Japanese as the car's kibi-kibi ("tight") look mimics a professional racing machine--from the minimalist cockpit to its aerodynamic exterior. "We modeled it after a Formula One car," says Aoki. That's a real makeover from the 240Z's long snout and narrow body--key Z-car DNA that had been retained in previous model changes. Another major departure from the first Z is the pricing strategy. Although Nissan did meet its pledge to keep the 350Z below $30,000, top-of-the-line models approach $37,000. That's way below some rivals, such as the $51,600 Porsche Boxster S, but still not pocket change for the younger drivers who were the original's most ardent fans. The starting price for a 240Z in 1969 was $3,500--half the price of rivals. That's about $17,000 today when adjusted for inflation. This time, company officials say they're not aiming for first-time car buyers and cash-poor youths with a need for speed. Instead, "this is a good third car for somebody with a sedan and a truck," says Patrick Pelata, Nissan executive vice-president, product planning chief, and a former Renault exec and key member of Ghosn's brain trust. So Nissan spared no expense in packing the newest Z with standard goodies--from a powerful 287-horsepower engine to brushed aluminum trim on the dash and separately shaped seats for the passenger and driver. Nissan figures the car will be a hit with thirtysomething lawyers and bankers as well as aging baby boomers with a nostalgic bent. "To me, it's everyman's sports car," says U.S. sales and marketing chief Jed Connelly. But competition is heating up among midrange sports cars, even as demand has fallen in the past decade. In that shrinking market, the Z's price tag may yet prove a liability. "There's not much point in launching a car at an uncompetitive price," snipes Lewis Booth, CEO of Mazda Motor Corp., whose RX-8 sports car, to be launched next year, is expected to start at about $20,000. It was high prices that killed off the earlier Z line. The tab for a fully loaded 300ZX eventually ballooned to nearly $50,000, a big turnoff, even for a high-performance vehicle. To avoid that mistake, Nissan designed the current Z to ..... [continue next message]

The '86-87-ish 300ZXt. steve

FIRST DRIVE Nissan's new Z pays homage to its predecessors without being a carbon copy. By JOHN O'DELL, LATIMES STAFF WRITER When Nissan killed the Z in 1996, there was relatively little grieving. What had started life in 1969 as an affordable basic sports car--the 240Z--had been morphed into a bloated and expensive luxo-boat of a sports coupe, the 300ZX. With the average selling price of the 300ZX hovering around $40,000, the traditional Z consumer--younger drivers in the middle of their career climbs and saddled with new houses, new families and other obligations that kept a lid on disposable incomes--could no longer afford to buy one. But though the Z went away, Z fever never did. There are Z clubs galore, and it seems that every other aging boomer you meet these days either owned one or had a best friend who owned one and let him or her drive it. That nostalgia, and the pent-up demand, bodes well for Nissan as it prepares to unleash a new sports car, the 350Z. It is a Z that pays homage to but doesn't copy its predecessors, a sports car that comes with plenty of power, striking looks and lots of people space (luggage space is another matter) at a price that, by today's standards, is downright affordable. It starts at $26,809 (including Nissan's $540 delivery charge) for the five-speed manual base model and tops out at $34,619 for the six-speed manual Track model with oversize Brembo disc brakes. The only options are a navigation system for $1,999 and a side air bag and side-curtain air-bag system for $569. All trim levels use the same 287-horsepower engine, and for those who don't think 287 ponies is sufficient, Z product line planner John Stramotas smiles and says that "there is a great life-cycle plan for [constantly upgrading] this car." Nissan held the press introduction last month in the Santa Monica Mountains. The fleet was limited to a few pre-production models that had their share of pre-production faults--most noteworthy were a set of auxiliary gauges that were difficult to read when hit by direct sunlight and some flimsy plastic bits, including a hard-to-close flip-up storage compartment cover on the dash. But the suspensions and power trains were just fine, thank you. The 350Z, so named for the 3.5-liter V-6 it shares with other new Nissans, including the Altima, the Maxima and the Infiniti G35, is all a sports car should be. Maximum horsepower is reached at 6,200 rpm (redline is 6,600 rpm) with 274 pounds-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels through a lightweight plastic drive shaft reinforced with carbon fiber. The six-speed manual transmission is a close-ratio model with a shift pattern so short you can work from first through sixth almost on wrist action alone; the automatic has a shift-it-yourself mode programmed to stay in the gear you choose until you shift or hit the rev limiter--no automatic upshifting. I drove base, track and touring models with manual and automatic transmissions--and can say that in all versions, the new Z is a blast to drive, a huge improvement over Zs that came before it and a worthy competitor in the sports car segment. A Z roadster is coming in February. Steering is tight, linear and almost too responsive, the suspension--even in touring models--keeps you glued to the road and lets you navigate curves at speeds you might not otherwise dare. Suspension tuning lets you feel the road but isn't so bumpy you want to pull over every few miles for relief. Torque kicks in early enough to make mountain driving, at speed or simply cruising, a pleasure rather than a chore no matter which transmission is in play. Seats, in textured black cloth, or charcoal, light gray or burnt-orange leather are well-bolstered and comfortable while still grippy enough to keep you in place on the twistiest hairpins. There's no glovebox in the dash--air bags take up that space--and only one, awkwardly placed cup holder that slides out of the passenger-side dash fascia about where a tall rider's knee is guaranteed to snap it off. But there are two cup holders in a small center console tray, and a pair of small covered cubbies in the panel that separates the passenger compartment from the cargo area and holds most of the stereo speakers. That same divider hides a locking compartment large enough for most briefcases and purses. The cargo area is bisected by a rear strut stiffener that displays the "Z" emblem through the rear hatch window. The stiffener is not removable and limits the height of packages that can be loaded on board. But there's enough room back there for luggage for two for a weekend outing, or for a dozen standard paper bags filled with groceries. As to the market: Nissan says it is relying not on demographics but on "psychographics," as it believes this car will appeal to a certain kind of driver across all age, ethnic and income groups. We tested the theory Friday by taking a pre-production model a few places we figured might show how much interest exists. The Silverstone-colored Touring model emptied the place when we pulled up in front of Motorsport Auto in Orange, a parts and restoration palace for vintage Nissan Zs and ZXs and their owners. If the new Z didn't measure up, we figured, who better to tell us than experts in the old ones. Marketing director L.J. Mangune took a ride and said that though he'd devoured all the specifications and technical data, "nothing prepared me for the car in person. It is awesome." We also took our Z to a nearby popular youth-oriented shopping and entertainment mall, where the parking lot is jammed with hot Hondas, muscular Mustangs and other fancies of freeway flight. We parked on the sidewalk at one of the main entrances and waited for things to happen. Lunchtime crowds assembled, people looked and sat inside, and the almost unanimous consensus was that the 2003 model 350Z is a good-looking sports car that will sell well. Santa Ana-based tourism magazine publisher and former 280Z owner Connie Hamilton said the new Z "is priced well" and will attract those, like herself, who ever owned one in the past. Then there was the young woman who was barely out of her teens when the last Z was made. "$27,000! That's ... cheap!" she exclaimed when her companion was told where pricing started for the new Z. Her outburst drew laughs from the assembled crowd, but also a lot of approving nods. If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at http://www.latimes.com/archives.