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New Nissan Z Safety Car Unveiled for the Super GT Series, Handover Set for This Weekend

Having very big shoes to fill, Nissan’s new Z has further tapped into its motorsport heritage, with the Japanese automaker turning it into a veritable Safety Car.
Nissan Z Safety Car 9 photos
Photo: Nissan
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Set to make its debut in the third round of the Super GT series, operated by the GT Association, Inc., at the Suzuka Circuit, it will be handed over this weekend, the automaker says, on May 29. Shortly after the ceremony, it will start performing its duties that include pre-race inspection of the track, and leading the full-blown racers when accidents happen.

This year, we began competing in the Super GT with the new Nissan Z GT500,” said the brand’s chief of Motorsport, Takao Katagiri. “Now the Z (the safety car was a donation) – the embodiment of Nissan DNA – will support the series’ safety.

Compared to the street-legal Nissan Z, the Safety Car wears special attire, with sponsor logos adorning its body, alongside the typical decals, and additional lights mounted in the grille. It has a black roof, with a light bar attached to it, and rides on black multi-spoke alloys. The normal sports seats were replaced by bucket seats, complete with five-point racing harnesses to keep the pilot and copilot secured.

Unveiled almost one year ago, the Nissan Z will start arriving at dealers in the United States this summer. Pricing will start at $39,990 for the base Z Sport, and at $49,990 for the Z Performance, before the $1,025 destination charge. Limited to 240 examples in our market, the Z Proto Spec will kick off at $52,990.

No matter which one you go for, all of them pack the same engine under the hood. You are looking at a 3.0-liter V6, with twin turbocharging, which develops 400 hp and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) of torque, mated to either a six-speed manual or a nine-speed automatic transmission available across the range.
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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
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After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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