The 2023 Nissan Z has to be one of the most highly anticipated and awaited cars for the longest time. Well, Z fans, you will be happy to note that production of the upcoming sports car is finally underway. This video shows us the Z being put together at Nissan's Tochigi factory in Japan.

Overview

We first learned about the seventh-gen Z all the way back in 2018 that a successor to the 370 Z was being developed. That was followed up by the launch of the Z Proto concept in 2020, and eventually, the production-spec Nissan Z broke cover New York in August last year.

Since then, the Z has also been spotted in the wild where we got an up-close look at the car and even got a taste of what it sounds like. Now, this comes as no surprise as the Z promises to be a cracking sports car, thanks to the legendary twin-turbo 3.0L VR30DDTT V-6 that puts out 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque.

Throw in a six-speed manual (a nine-speed auto is also available) and an estimated $40k price tag on paper ( can't ignore the dealer markups now, can you?) and you have a lot of car for not much money. Well, now we're happy to learn that the Z is finally under production. Apparently, it has been so for a while now, according to NewnissanZ.com, but here are the first visuals of how the car is being put together.

Production of the Z

If you've seen any episode of Mega Factories on NAT Geo, you'll probably already be familiar with how a modern automobile is put together. It involves manufacturing processes like stamping out of the body panels from sheet metal, welding the chassis, primer, paint, marriage (drivetrain and powertrain meet the body), followed by the final assembly and testing.

Coming to the Z line of sports cars, earlier models were manufactured at the Shatai plant in Hiratsuka until 2000, while the 350Z and 370Z was put together at the Oppama and Tochigi plants respectively.

It was also nice to see a couple of R35 GT-Rs on the same line. Some of these guys sure do have the best job in the world. Imagine taking out brand new GT-Rs for a test drive. Now that's more like it.

When Can You Expect to See Them On The Road

According to Car and Driver the Z was delayed for the Japanese market and the cars American release had also been pushed back to Summer 2022. However, Nissan's consumer website still lists the spring of 2022. Watch this space. Prices for the Z have already been announced in Japan.. From the table the base, Fairlady Z starts at ¥5,241,500 ~ $41,076 (based on current currency conversion rates) going all the way up to ¥6,966,300 ~ $54,591 for the top-spec Fairlady Z Proto Spec. (limited to just 240 units) Now, bear in mind that these are Japanese prices and official prices for the U.S. market will be announced by Nissan USA, soon.

Source: Nissan