Japanese Culture and the Z

fastsach

Some interest was shown by the guys that responded to my post under newbie in the roadster section and the more I think about it the more I believe that some of my experiences with Nissan in Japan would be of interest.
As I mentioned I was with Nissan over 27 years in various capacities from tool maintenance to Purchasing and have been to Nihon (they don't call their country Japan) 27 times.

First and foremeost is that the Z is not made by Nissan per se. They have another name (can't remember) and are considered a contractor. There are three different distinct manufacturing arms of Nissan in Japan. Passenger cars/light trucks (Infiniti and Nissan), heavy trucks and sports cars. The sports cars section only makes the Z and GTR (I think) in a seperate city I have never been to. All of the arms are allowed to use the other's assets to test and ask questions. The Z is seperated so that the bureaucracy and scrutiny of the larger machine does not interfere with their art. The hierarchy of management and decision making is not readily understandable to the western mind and that is another subject but believe me this structure is needed and can change any April (Japan's universal fiscal year start).
The Z folks are the elite and that's where everybody wants to go but few do. What goes on there is kind of private and the rest of the world, including Nissan people, only see the end result of their efforts.
The Z is a piece of technological art and represents what the human species is capable of producing right now (in their opinion). As soon as it's launched and in production the team sets out to raise the bar for the next model and starts anew.
I can go on and on, believe me.

I have to admit I have never even ridden in a Z post the 300ZX but will get my roadster as a lease from Nissan in February. Damn the time is going slow..................

Sach