Last week we showed you a leaked photo of an upcoming 2016 Hot Wheels release for a Nissan Fairlady Z. Now we have some official images, courtesy of the car’s designer himself, Jun Imai! Additionally, Jun has provided us with some insights about what inspired this design.
The most obvious inspiration is from Jun’s personal 1:1 scale “Kaido Z,” what started life as a US-spec Datsun 260Z. Jun then modified it with Japanese aero parts and a G-nose, all built entirely in his own garage.
The Hot Wheels car’s official name will be the Nissan Fairlady Z, and as such it is right-hand-drive. There’s already a Hot Wheels Datsun 240Z (two, if you count the original Z-Whiz), so this casting provided an opportunity to go all-out in grand Japanese style.
Like the real car it’s based on, this Fairlady Z has been heavily street-modified, with flares that push the rear out significantly wider than the front. The numbers on the hood, incidentally, are a serial number identifying this car as a pre-production prototype and will not be on the production model.
The blue and black paint matches the color scheme on Jun’s real car (a maroon and pink version in an earlier leaked photo is not an official color). Both cars’ turquoise livery was inspired by the Formula One cars of Japanese real estate company Leyton House. A list of sponsors on the sides include Jun’s Kaido House logo, Yokohama Tire, Speedhunters, Hot Wheels, GReddy, and of course, the JNC inkan.
The rear features a molded ducktail spoiler and a tail panel fitted with Nissan Skyline “afterburner” taillights, modifications popular with the kaido racers of the era. To quote Jun, “If you could open the hood, you’d find a stroked 3.1 liter inline-6 with triple carbs.”
Jun is particularly proud of the amazing level of detail of the interior. The diamond-stitched racing seats, triple-pod dashboard, spare tire well and rear strut towers were all painstakingly recreated, something not often seen on a 1:64 scale car.
Despite its low ride height, the Fairlady Z unofficially clears the popular 9-inch loop of Hot Wheels track sets. The car wasn’t intentionally designed for it, and collectors probably won’t care much but it is, after all, a toy car.
Because this model takes after Jun’s personal ride, we at JNC are proud to be part of this very special car. For those counting, this brings the official list of JNC inkan’ed Hot Wheels cars to 17.
- Nissan Skyline GT-X hakosuka (2011, white/green, red JNC inkan)
- Mazda RX-7 (2012, black/gold/red, gold JNC inkan)
- Mazda RX-7 (2012, blue/white/orange, orange JNC inkan)
- Mazda RX-7 (2012, white/gold/red, red JNC inkan) — Kroger’s/Ralph’s exclusive
- Toyota AE86 Corolla (2013, black/white, black JNC inkan)
- Toyota AE86 Corolla (2013, white/black, black JNC inkan)
- Toyota Celica 1970 (2013, red/black, black JNC inkan)
- Mazda RX-7 (2013, silver/blue, blue JNC inkan) — Treasure Hunt
- Datsun 620 (2014, orange, black JNC inkan)
- Datsun 620 (2014, blue, black JNC inkan) — Kmart exclusive
- Datsun 620 (2014, red, black JNC inkan)
- Datsun 510 wagon (2014, red/white, blue JNC inkan)
- Datsun 510 wagon (2014, dark red/white, blue JNC inkan) — Super Treasure Hunt
- Datsun 240Z (2015, black/blue/gold, blue JNC inkan)
- Datsun 510 wagon (2015, yellow, dark blue JNC inkan)
- Datsun 240Z (2015, white/blue/red, blue JNC inkan)
- Nissan Fairlady Z (2016, blue/black, white JNC inkan)
Special thanks to Jun Imai. Bonus photos below.
Another great design Jun !
Yeah, these pix take the leaked pix and smack them all over the place. On the leaks, you could barely tell it was a new mold.
Cannot wait to have this in my case.
Thanks for the awesome little cars Jun! They bring a lot of joy to the world. Or at least mine. 🙂
GIMME!
It’s so pretty 😀
I want to know why this car doesn’t have a front lip?Was it so it could fit on the track? it looks like it might not fit on the track especially the banks turns with those fender flares in the rear. Also, don’t hate me for this, but you have the White, and Gold and Red rx7 listed as a Ralphs Kroger exclusive, which is was not, it was a mystery car that could be found where the bagged mystery cars were sold. Just saying, and that rear end reminds me of a custom of mine, if you’re reading this Jun, good job, thanks for bringing as much JDM flavor as possible with a 1 dollar car. Keep up the good work.
This was intended to be a fairly faithful replication of my personal car, with the exception of the RHD and Skyline-style taillights, which is a mod I intend to make. That is why there is no chin spoiler or headlight covers. The fact that it unofficially clears the loop is a freebie; this car was not intended for track play but any time this works out, we see it as a plus because there will be kids out there who will grab this and want it to clear their loop.
I’m pretty sure the mystery packs that contained the white RX-7 were only available at Kroger-owned stores… which include Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, QFC, etc. If you found them at a store that wasn’t any of these, I’ll be happy to correct it.
Many haven’t really seen the newly Revamped and Optimized 1:1 Kaido Z Sans Front Lip And Weight Reduction Enhancements… We will Post Up Pics As Soon As Jun Completes The Tailight Conversion.
The white RX-7 from the Super Speeders blind bags was exclusive to Kroger. No other store received this series. The mystery cars at Walmart are completely different.
Kroger and affiliates…
Another beautiful Hot Wheel Z that I won’t be able to find cause everyone buys twenty at a freakin’ time. Yay!
Jun, I follow your posts on Speedhunters and I follow your posts here at JNC. I’ve been an avid collector of your pieces since the Chicane, and your introduction of my personal two favorites the Hakosuka and Kenmeri into the JDM mix, which started the whole JDM craze among Hot Wheels collectors!
All I can say is thank you for creating such iconic classics and adding them to the mainline of Hot Wheel cars which needed them. You’ve brought JDM cars to the forefront and they are the ones that are flying off the shelves these days! It’s great that my nephew can grow up with the 240z, 510 wagon, 70 Celica and EF Civic to name a few!
A few questions for you:
1. Will the track play issue affect future models? Looking at the M4 and Aston Martin GT3 from this year, their front lips were butchered to seemingly allow track play. I’m hoping this is not the case.
2. It’s hard to find any of your new releases when it comes to JDM cars. Does Hot Wheels record this data and produce more of the cars we want, instead of the lonely peg warmers.
3. When can we see accurate representations of the Evo 1-9, older Wrx STIs, Celica GT4 (yeah I love rally cars), R33 GTR, 2g Mitsubishi Eclipse, 2g/3g Rx7, LFA, A proper scale GTR (Maybe Liberty Walk!), collaborations with RWB, Rockey Bunny, Liberty Walk etc.
Thanks for bringing back JDM to the forefront including in lines such as the Heritage series, Road Trippin and as Super Treasure Hunts. It’s clear they are the ones that fly off the shelves first and the ones people are scrambling to get their hands on. You sure make $1 go a long way Jun!
Thank you
Mike