With the 370Z’s successor pretty much revealed, there’s a sense of anticipation to when will Nissan finally put its long-serving sports car to sleep for good. As it turns out, the 370Z’s demise will be a gradual one as the sports car won’t be axed right away. Instead, Nissan decided not to offer a 2021 370Z, which means the latest you can buy is the 2020 model year.

The Nissan 370Z’s days are numbered but it’s not dead-dead yet. A report coming from Motor Authority says that according to Nissan spokesman Dan Passe, “the 2020 Nissan 370Z will be extended into the 2021 model year while the world waits for the new Z car expected for 2022.”

As we said, the 370Z is gently being put to sleep after Nissan decided that starting with the 2019 model year, the roadster would be excluded for the range. Then came the 2020 50th Anniversary edition, once again hinting at the current Z car’s career end. Not offering a 2021 model year is just another phase in the sports car’s retirement.

Come 2022, Nissan will have a brand-new sports car to fight against the Supra. The coupe version is set to arrive first, but a roadster variant might follow suit. What’s more, Car and Driver expects the new Z car to up the ante when it comes to cabin quality, which would place it in the position to do battle against the likes of BMW Z4 and Audi TT. We’ll have to wait and see whether that’s the case.

Few details are known powertrain-wise, with the usual suspect being a twin-turbo V-6 displacing three liters – think the same unit that powers the Infiniti Q60, tweaked to crank out around 300 to 350 horsepower. A Nismo badge might be etched onto the new Z a couple of years after it debuts, which could see output rise to 400 horsepower in the context of a reduced curb weight.

Going further, while the Q60 offers all-wheel drive, Nissan will surely keep the Z car rear-wheel driven. A standard six-speed manual is the main gearbox pick, although we expect Nissan to introduce an optional seven-speed automatic aggregate.

The good news is that an unveil could happen this summer or towards the end of this year, with the 400Z slated to go on sale in 2022. There’s absolutely no word on how much it would cost, but if Nissan takes the fancier interior route, then it might hit the market with a $40,000 sticker. We’ll probably learn more as the new Z car makes its official debut.