Z

Make
Nissan
Segment
Coupe

It feels like only yesterday we drove the Nissan Z for the first time. Since our time with it at the launch event, Nissan has begun shipping cars to dealers all over the place, including both American soil and US territories like Guam. Now, it looks like Nissan is already working on ways to keep its new sports car fresh-faced and competitive.

In a video released last week, we see two Nissan Zs following each other in a highway lane. The cameraperson passes the first car, which appears to be a production-spec Z car with the Performance package, judging by the wheels. But toward the end of the 50-second clip, the cammer passes the second Z that's in front. This is where it gets interesting.

A couple of details stand out. The front bumper is camouflaged but has clearly adopted a different shape from the one we've already seen. The front plate bracket being moved upwards seems to confirm this suspicion. On the current Z, the bracket is much lower.

You'd be right if this bumper looks slightly familiar to you. The shape is very reminiscent of the Fairlady Z Customized Proto showcased at the Tokyo Auto Salon. One commenter pondered that maybe the car in the video is being hot-weathered tested for sale in Japan? This is one plausible theory as Nissan typically reserves the 'Fairlady' moniker only for the JDM market. If that's the case, we'd be bummed out to miss the new nose. Nissan caught some flak for the current one before the Z debuted, and fans are still a bit salty about it.

Other possible theories are that Nissan is simply jumping the gun with a teaser and prepping a facelift nice and early to avoid supply chain issues further down the line, or perhaps the brand is already prepping for a NISMO version of the new Z, which could adopt different styling cues to help it stand out.

For now, your guess is as good as ours, but we'll instruct our spy photographers to be on standby. If Nissan really is testing updates for the Z, we will likely see this car again, and you can bet our spies will be waiting with cameras in-hand.