Nissan celebrates sportscar heritage at Goodwood Revival

Nissan is to highlight over 40 years of sportscar heritage at the Goodwood Revival this weekend (September 17-19) as it proudly displays the company’s modern day 370Z and GT-R alongside the classic cars to which they owe their heritage.

As has become customary at the Goodwood Revival modern vehicles appear in the “Earls Court Motor Show”, a recreation of a period exhibition with modern day cars appearing alongside their historic counterparts.

On show will be the precursor to the modern Z car - a 1971 Datsun 240Z Works Rally Car built by the company’s competition department in Oppama, Japan. Based on the original ‘Z’ that was first launched in 1969, this particular car competed in the RAC Rally before becoming a regular on UK rallies until 1975.

Rediscovered 20 years later, it was lovingly restored to its 1971 RAC Rally starting condition and is one of the best surviving examples of a genuine early ‘lightweight’ works rally car. Visitors to the event will note that the acclaimed modern-day 370Z muscle car has many visual clues in common with the original.

Also being compared to its original will be Nissan’s flagship supercar – the GT-R – which will feature alongside a 1970s racing model – the 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000 (KPGC10) GT-R. Believed to be the only example of its kind in Europe, it was used as a race car and track day car in Japan until 1985and then stored for almost 20 years before being restored to its former glory and imported to the UK in 2006.