For the longest time, it was up in the air as to whether or not Nissan would be building a new Z car as a successor to the Nissan 370Z. We begged and pleaded for the brand to keep the Z car alive - after all, it was originally built to conquer the American market - and finally, in recent months the signs have looked positive that the Z car would survive. Last year, Nissan confirmed the Z would live on (although a successor wasn't officially confirmed), and a few months back, we caught Nissan testing a new Z car under the light disguise of a 370Z. But what we haven't known is what the new Z car will look like. That's changed, however, as a report from Autoblog suggests the nex-generation Z will have a design firmly rooted in its heritage.

According to their sources, a design prototype has already been shown at a dealer conference, and those sources have confirmed the Z car will borrow styling elements from previous iterations. The silhouette is unlikely to be changed much from the current shape - a fairly standard shape for most front-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports cars - but the rest of the design elements are said to be all new. That means no heavy facelift as was the case in the transition from the 350Z to the 370Z.

The new design supposedly shapes the front end around that of the original 240Z, featuring a square mouth and round headlights, while at the rear, the taillights take influence from the 300ZX of the 90s.

Big changes are in store for the interior of the next-gen-Z, where the new model is apparently due to get a fully modernized infotainment system and an interior design closely linked with the stunning cabins of the current Altima and Sentra sedans. This would mark a massive departure from the 370Z's current interior, which looks incredibly dated.

There has been much speculation that Nissan would team up with Mercedes-Benz for a co-developed Z car/SLC-Class in much the same vein as BMW and Toyota have on the Z4/Supra twins, but new rumors suggest that Nissan will source a powertrain in-house, calling on the 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 from the Infiniti Q50 and Q60.

In its most potent Red Sport guise, this engine is good for 400 horsepower and is likely to be paired with a nine-speed automatic gearbox. True to its heritage, the Z car will remain rear-wheel-driven. It's not the first time we've heard the twin-turbo V6 rumor, as at the 2019 SEMA show, Nissan showcased the bi-turbo V6 in the Nissan Project Clubsport 23 show car.

At this stage, it's all speculation, but we'd love to see a retro-inspired Z car, or at the very least, Nissan's IDx Nismo concepts brought to life in production form.