Look under the retro-themed sheet metal of the 2023 Nissan Z, and you’ll find the FM platform that has served Nissan and Infiniti sports cars for two decades. And while most stories I’ve written on the topic covered the Nissan side of the family, this time I’m here to focus on the Infiniti G35 and its role as a “donor car”.
The upmarket G35 Coupe, a 2+2, came to the world back in 2022 2002, and shares not just its chassis but also its naturally aspirated 3.5L V6 with the more focused Nissan 350Z two-seater. And it’s no secret that the Infiniti two-door is sometimes made to look like a much meaner machine.
American examples of kits that bring the G35 Coupe closer to a “supercar” look involve the Vaydor Kit that Joker used for his Suicide Squad villain car, as well as the Duraflex Type G Body Kit, which turns the G35 Coupe into a baby R35 GT-R.
Now more than ever, it seems this sort of development divides people, with many car enthusiasts dislinking the “impersonation”, while others still find value in such transformations.
And a recent Japanese event allowed me to come across an Infiniti G35 Coupe that’s been turned into the 240Z, the sports car sitting at the top of the famous Z family tree.
Back in 1969, Nissan swept the world off its feet with the 240Z, as this left behind the 1950s British roadster inspiration of its predecessors, challenging modern—at the time—performance coupes. A lot of the focus covered the US market, where this was sold as the Datsun 240Z (it was known as the Nissan Fairlady Z in its home country).
And while integrating visual elements from the 240Z into a modern sports car can be done—the 2023 Z is the best testament of this—the example we have here has another mission, going for all-out impersonation as stated above.
An Infiniti G35 made to look like a 240Z
The car was displayed at the Nostalgic Two Days retro exhibition held in Yokohama last month. And, since it shared the VRP booth with an actual 240Z and both came in silver, you can easily compare the two. The company in question covers multiple activities and while it does sell retro machines, the G35 isn’t found on its website. And we’ll tip our hats to Albert Wong (aka mjp_s15 on Instagram) for most of the photos in the gallery below, plus those of another 240Z displayed at the event.
Now, while we’ve shown you multiple retromod creations in the past (like this 2004 Chevy Tahoe made to resemble a 1957 Bel Air), this one is giving me mixed feelings. So while the front end works, I can’t say the same about the posterior, with the whole thing simply appearing bloated around that taillight panel.
The Infiniti has been gifted with extensive modifications. These include the retro-themed hood, headlights, front grille, and taillight panel. Then we have the modern bumpers, with the front end packing an unusual semi-widebody approach that aims to bring the new and old styling languages together. Heck, there are even old-school exterior mirrors on the front fenders!
Even so, it seems like a lot of work has been put into the thing, so much so that this gives me the impression it’s a kit rather than a one-off effort. So yes, there are probably more of these around.
