If you're interested in Nissan as a whole, this is the book for you, but as a Nissan Z fan directly, I expected a tighter centering on that particular car and not quite as disjointed of a view of the history of Nissan. Still a wealth of info, just not exactly what I was looking for. A large display of high quality pictures accompanied the book.

Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance is a wonderful history not only of the Z car but of Datsun/Nissan in the USA.

I never owned one of these cars but drove many of them. Between friends owning them and swapping cars for a day with other car owners at some of the tracks that allowed street cars to compete, I came to appreciate the 240 through the 300. 

As someone who liked the cars but didn't really keep up with every nuance, this book was fascinating for me. I remember many of the older models mentioned here, models other than the Z cars, but did not fully grasp the many differences between them. This is definitely one of those histories that requires moving outside the direct line of Z cars since the success of various models in the US is what allowed Nissan to develop and expand their offerings. So even aside from any parts similarities these diverse models often depended on the success of each other to continue.

I found it interesting to look back on the 240Z styling after so long. I'm not sure I appreciated just how great those cars looked. As far as my personal tastes, I like the 240 exterior as well or better than many contemporary cars of today. But at the time and shortly after (through the 70s) I was mostly driving Chevrolets with a few Mopars thrown in and one Ford, so the styling that appealed to me at the time was the bigger muscle car look.

I highly recommend this to both fans of the Z cars and fans of automotive history. The writing and the images represent a wonderful nostalgic trip (for those around my age) or a great historical record (for all you young whippersnappers).

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

My very first- and second cars were 300zx.  so i knew i had to have this when i saw it.  i found it very interesting.  i'm not a car buff in the least, but my connection to the car kept me very interested.  i found it a good ratio of information to pictures, and it gave a fair amount of space to each of the different z models over time, as well as the manufacturing history.  I miss that car and really enjoyed this book
thanks to netgqlley and Mr, Evanow

Superb history of the Datsun/Nissan Z car, starting with the original 240Z, although it does touch upon some of the earlier cars that led to the 240Z. Excellent pictures, and good coverage of rare variants and special editions.

When I went to college in the 80's, my dad generously sent me away with his silver 1979 280ZX.  I loved that car.  So it was with a sense of nostalgia that I perused Pete Evenow's Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance.  He covers some of the same ground (obviously) as his 2005 book Z: 35 Years of Nissan's Sports Car, but there's plenty new material and photos here for the enthusiast to be enthused about.



Evanow covers the history of the company, the introduction of the Z car, the evolution of the models up to the current manifestation, the 370Z, and the worlds of racing and hobbyists.  The best part of the book was the nostalgia, seeing the older models and the other non-Z Datsun products (just the name Datsun is a bit nostalgic!).  I must say, while the 370Z is a car I would not turn down if it were gifted to me, the look is a bit generic and doesn't match up to the character of the 240/260/280 models.



Fans of the Z cars through the years will want to get a copy of this--but be careful--your next stop will be the Nissan dealer or autotrader.com. . . .




Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Huge fan of the Nissan Z and this book did not disappoint!  I still do not own the car but I could own this book :)
Thank you for the adventure and history.