Photo: abimelecdesign/instagram
Less than two months separate us from the official introduction of the new Nissan Z (August 17 in New York), which shouldn't be too different from the Z Proto bomb the carmaker dropped last September. The newcomer doesn't have an easy job, since it pays homage to all the generations before it, as, for instance, the taillight design harks back to the 300ZX—light clusters have always been a big thing with these sportscars, which brings us to the digital build we have here, a rendering that portrays the 300ZX with Lamborghini Diablo pop-up headlights.
In case the link between the Z car, which was built between 1989 and 2000, and the Italian exotic Lamborghini produced from 1990 to 2001, sounds familiar, there's a reason for this.
The mid-cycle revamp of the Lambo (1998) saw this losing the pop-ups in favor of fixed units borrowed from the 300ZX, albeit with Lamborghini adding a carbon fiber lip to cover the Japanese automaker's logo—Audi, which had acquired the Raging Bull, was looking to keep costs under control, with work on the Murcielago successor already underway at the time, which is why it reached it licensing deal with Nissan for the headlights.
Having reversed the headlight swap, digital artist Abimelec Arellano (a.k.a. abimelecdesign) set out to give the JDM toy a complex transformation, albeit while staying true to the era in which the machine was born.
Drawing inspiration from Japan's D1 drifting championship, the pixel master studied iconic builds such as Haraguchi’s Mazda RX-7 FC and the BLITZ ER34 Skyline.
For one, the chrome vinyls, which match the finish of the deep-dish Work VSKF wheels, while sponsor decals can be found all over the body.
Note that the quarter panels are extra muscular, while the vehicle has been gifted with yellow-tinted Lexan T-tops. The latter are a hint towards the outlandish nature of the cabin, which includes a late 1980s Chrysler digital instrument clusters, 1957 Cadillac glitter seat fabric, and others.
As usual with the work of this artist, the devil is in the details. For one, zooming in on those headlights, we notice these show their "age", as they might on a real car, with one of the units sitting lower than the other.
The mid-cycle revamp of the Lambo (1998) saw this losing the pop-ups in favor of fixed units borrowed from the 300ZX, albeit with Lamborghini adding a carbon fiber lip to cover the Japanese automaker's logo—Audi, which had acquired the Raging Bull, was looking to keep costs under control, with work on the Murcielago successor already underway at the time, which is why it reached it licensing deal with Nissan for the headlights.
Having reversed the headlight swap, digital artist Abimelec Arellano (a.k.a. abimelecdesign) set out to give the JDM toy a complex transformation, albeit while staying true to the era in which the machine was born.
Drawing inspiration from Japan's D1 drifting championship, the pixel master studied iconic builds such as Haraguchi’s Mazda RX-7 FC and the BLITZ ER34 Skyline.
For one, the chrome vinyls, which match the finish of the deep-dish Work VSKF wheels, while sponsor decals can be found all over the body.
Note that the quarter panels are extra muscular, while the vehicle has been gifted with yellow-tinted Lexan T-tops. The latter are a hint towards the outlandish nature of the cabin, which includes a late 1980s Chrysler digital instrument clusters, 1957 Cadillac glitter seat fabric, and others.
As usual with the work of this artist, the devil is in the details. For one, zooming in on those headlights, we notice these show their "age", as they might on a real car, with one of the units sitting lower than the other.
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