It all began in October 2023, when I drove to the Nürburgring for the European Time Attack Masters final.
Along with all of the on-track action, the event hosted a car meet in the GP Track paddocks. During the wet lunch break, I headed over for a look, not expecting to find anything out of the ordinary parked up. How wrong was I…
There are cars you never expect to see outside of social media. But in this instance, I’m not talking about some one-of-10 hypercar – I’m talking about the far more humble Nissan 400Z, a model not available through official channels in Europe.
I was shocked that someone was crazy enough to import and make a new Z road legal, so I was keen to meet the owner and chat about the process. He was happy to oblige, and we ended up adding each other on Instagram so I could keep in touch for a potential photoshoot.
A few days later, I messaged the 400Z owner and asked if he had any other interesting cars in his garage. It turns out the RZ34 wasn’t his only Nissan – he also owned a 300ZX and a Stagea RS Four wagon!
I really wanted to shoot the Z, and after messaging back and forth, the owner and I started to make plans for another meet-up. This time it would be in France, a five-hour drive from his place, and we’d make a proper trip of it with other friends invited too. I had plenty of time to nail down the details – all the places we’d visit and the roads we’d drive – and to see if I could find another Nissan owner to join us.
Given that the 400Z is a homage to the original Z, my mind was set on finding a clean S30 to shoot alongside it. That turned out to be harder than I thought, as old Datsuns are rare in Germany, let alone in mint condition. Months passed by without any luck, but a week before the meet-up in France, that changed.
While at a car meet at the Hockenheimring, I met Sasha, the owner of a wild 240Z that, after a five-year build, had been finished the day prior. One hundred percent road legal in Germany, powered by a 600hp RB25 and featuring an upgraded chassis and a custom interior – but with an original-looking exterior – it was exactly what I had been searching for. I pitched the idea of driving to France the following weekend, and Sasha couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.
The photos I’ve shared tell the story of our long weekend away. On the Saturday, everyone met mid-afternoon at the first location near Colmar in the Grand Est region of northeastern France, with the Vosges Mountains as the backdrop. The day ended with some rolling shots of the 240Z.
Sunday also started mid-afternoon with rollers of the 400Z, followed by shots of both Nissans parked together. After a good dinner in Strasbourg, we started shooting in a small alley in the city center, then visited a few more locations – some that worked out and others that didn’t – before calling it a night late into the evening.
We spent most of Monday driving and sightseeing, visiting Grand Ballon – the highest mountain in the Vosges – and other iconic roads and locations around Alsace. The day wrapped up with a photoshoot near Haut-Koenigsbourg castle before everyone said their goodbyes and headed home.
It’s funny how a chance meeting turned into this – but that’s car culture for you. A couple of years on from the trip, we’re all still going to car meets and shooting together when we can.
Man I realized that I was a bit harsh on the 400Z sure the marketing was off and it was the slowest of the pack especially when compared to other sports cars of similar value however, there’s still a lot to like about the new Z
It has that old school, back to basics charm that many modern cars don’t have and while it is still on the same 350Z platform that’s over 20 years old with fuel starvation issues it’s still a car that can easily be worked on with great aftermarket support and tuning potential and with the amount of cars on new lots with heavy discounts including the Performance and Nismo models it’s hard not to consider even though the 400Z could’ve been a lot better on an all new, sophisticated platform the fact that Nissan is still making the 400Z shows that they still care about their enthusiast market as well as their brand heritage and legacy
Hopefully when Nissan is able to get some cash flow going that they’re able to make another Z sports car that’s all new and better than the one we have now and still has the turbo V6 and manual and still is affordable at least for the time when it comes out
I agree on so many points ! Now we get to see them being sold in Switzerland which is close to where I’m located so I hope to spend more time with them
I didn’t know the marketing was not good since we don’t have it here in France barely anyone knows about the car, we had some weird looks towards us when driving in the city !
Awesome story, ts is what a love for cars does
Thanks a lot ! It’s crazy what cars can do, to me this is what it’s all about, meeting new people, creating friendships and memories …
Absolutely stunning shots
Thanks a lot, I did my best at the time ! There’s definitely some things I would do differently today, but still happy about them