The Nissan Z-series is a model series of sports cars manufactured by Nissan in seven generations since 1969. The original Z was sold in October of 1969 in Japan as the at Nissan Exhibition dealerships that previously sold the Nissan Bluebird. It was initially marketed as the Datsun 240Z for international customers. Since then, Nissan has manufactured seven generations of Z-cars, with the most recent—simply known as the Nissan Z—in production since 2022. Main rival cars in the Japanese market included the Toyota Celica, Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi 3000GT and Mazda RX-7. The earlier models of the Nissan Z were built at the Nissan Shatai plant in Hiratsuka until 2000, while the later models (350Z and 370Z) are built at Oppama (2002–2004) and Tochigi (2004–present). Known for their looks, reliability, performance, and affordability, every Z car has been sold in Japan as the Fairlady Z and elsewhere under the names Nissan S30, Nissan S130, Nissan 300ZX, Nissan 350Z, Nissan 370Z and Nissan Z. History Nissan was a relatively small automobile manufacturer when it entered the international market in the 1960s and partnered with Yamaha to design a new sports car prototype as an update to the Nissan Fairlady. It resulted in the prototype Yamaha YX-30 in 1961. Nissan executives saw the prototype as a halo car that would improve their company's image in the minds of consumers. By 1964, Nissan had realized that Yamaha's DOHC 2.0-liter engine was not meeting Nissan's expectations and the project was scrapped. Yamaha later finished a prototype and took their design to Toyota, resulting in the Toyota 2000GT. Yutaka Katayama, the president of Nissan USA at the time, realized the importance of an affordable sports car internationally. Nissan had already produced the successful series of Fairlady roadsters for many decades that competed mainly with English and Italian roadsters, and product planners envisioned a new line of GT cars that would be stylish, innovative, fast, and relatively inexpensive through the use of interchangeable parts with other Nissan vehicles. Nissan also had the engineering background and product development experience with the recently acquired Prince Motor Company, which manufactured the Prince Skyline (later renamed Nissan Skyline in 1966). First generation: Nissan Fairlady Z and Datsun 240Z, 260Z, 280Z Sales of the Nissan Z-cars (internally also called S30 or Z29) started in October 1969 (for the 1970 model year), with separate versions for the Japanese and U.S. markets. The Japanese