The Updated Nissan Fairlady Z (Z34) NISMO, from GT Spirit (1/18)

It's no surprise I'm a sucker for anything Nissan, particularly work by NISMO, their in-house tuning department. Enter the Fairlady Z, better known under the bland and boring name of 370Z here in the U.S. The Z receives a new bodykit, new wheels, a duck-tail spoiler, and splashes of red to make it uniquely NISMO. Whether you like it or not, current NISMO styling trends dictate that there must be red trim throughout the car (see: GT-R and Juke), and such is the case here.

The 370Z underwent a significant facelift at one point during its long, strung-out production run, and this model reflects the most current NISMO version. The original NISMO, with (in my opinion) a sleeker and more simplified look, larger wing spoiler, and lack of tacky, red trim, has also been done by GT Spirit in a white colorway. I am still in search of that one, but as a huge fan and obsessive Nissan collector, I'm glad that GT Spirit gave us both variants. For the completists or those who think silver is too plain, the model shown here is also available in black as an Asia-exclusive colorway.

Whatever I may have thought about the way this car looks in its real form is irrelevant when it comes to the model. It's not unusual to realize that cars have a tendency to look better in miniature form than they do in actual scale. I might even be starting to like this Z after all. Credit to GT Spirit, who once again pulls out all the stops and makes a perfect replica of the car - not a single area of complaint whatsoever.

Speak of the Devil: AUTOart's 1/18 Wangan Midnight "Devil" Z

This is the Devil Z. The dark blue Nissan Fairlady Z S30 that is said to be possessed by an evil being. A car that's a death trap for its owners, luring them in with its beauty and performance, then suddenly and unforgivingly losing control at all the wrong moments.

I'm not one for manga and have never read any of the Wangan Midnight comics, but I'm a big fan of the movie adaptation, which I've already rewatched more than a few times by now (thus, everything I know is based solely off that). It is a million times better than the sorry excuse of a movie that Initial D was. If you've never watched it, it's waiting for you on Youtube:

In summary, the movie is about a guy who discovers the Z in a junkyard and, despite learning of its dark history (to make things more cheesy, the previous owner had the exact same name and died from driving said car), refuses to part with it. He forgoes school and instead spends his time building it into a street racer to face the rival Porsche 930 Turbo "Blackbird". He crashes it not once, but twice, and rebuilds it each time, much to the dismay of deceased-previous-owner's-sister-who-happens-to-be-Blackbird's-girlfriend, who does all she can to destroy the car, including stealing it and attempting to drive it straight into the ocean.

At the end of the day, the Devil Z lives on as we ponder what its next move will be.

The 1/18 model of the Akuma no Z, as it's called, by AUTOart is perhaps the most highly anticipated release this year at this scale. And why not? It has the JDM factor, it has the classic tuner, and it has the pop culture factor going for it. AUTOart never has any set release dates for its products, so all of us were left in the dark as we watched it get delayed time after time. I once thought the Z was never going to be released at all this year. Therefore, it came as a surprise that they were made available just last week, at which point I promptly put in my order.

And of course AUTOart delivers like they always do. Fans of the classic Japanese tuner style with the deep-dish Watanabes, stretched tires, and flared fenders will love this one regardless of their interest in the Wangan Midnight series. Look how close that front chin is to scraping the ground and how close the tires are from rubbing the fenders. Check out the cambered front wheels. It's a miracle that the wheels can turn and roll at all, but they do.

Those who favor the Blackbird should be excited that AUTOart will also be releasing it, likely sometime early next year. Pairing the two opposing beasts together should be a must for any eighteenth scale collector. The Devil Z is the underdog; the Blackbird the perennial champion. Two ultra-performance cars that were designed and heavily tuned to withstand sustained driving at top speed.

May the rivalry live on.

The Devil Z next to Maisto's Datsun 240Z.