Green Sports Cars Have a Moment

First, some housekeeping. It never occurred to me that I would relaunch Sped on July 7. And that the car that would serve as a key source of inspiration is the Austin 7. This was pointed out to me later in the day after the post went live and I laughed to myself.

Sadly, I don’t have anything to coincide with July 9 because I decided to appreciate the color green, and the sports cars recently announced to wear it. What’s amazing is that the cars in question are two of the oldest in the market, yet are seeing a surge in sales due to scarcity.

We’ll start with the Nissan Z. This generation of the Z wears retro details of the previous Z cars such as the 240Z, 280Z, and 300ZX, yet it rides on a chassis first revealed in 2002 for the 350Z. Some 20-odd years later, the platform is good enough to use for the current Z, only Nissan decided to attach no numbers to the name.

That was in 2023. For 2027, it gets an updated face with new wheel designs. There are no mechanical changes, though if you ask me, it doesn’t need it. I was lucky enough to drive one a few years ago and prefer it to the BMW-derived reborn Supra.

The highlight is the Shinkai Green Pearl Metallic paint that’s available going forward. Together with the updated 19-inch wheels, the 2027 Nissan Z is so pretty it hurts. As if it needed to deliver a TKO, Nissan went ahead and combined the green paint with a new brown interior color for a classic throwback.

You can get it with an automatic but you want the six-speed manual.For a car slated to be cheaper than most Mustangs–let alone BMW–400 horsepower has never looked so beautiful.

Part Deux

The second half of green heartache refers to a car I actually own. The Mazda MX-5 is delightfully analog like me and for 2027, the company saw fit to finally add green to its paint palette.

Other changes? Ummm. Well, Europe gets new wheels but not us. We got a slew of updates for 2024 but don’t be fooled. This generation of the Miata has been on sale largely unchanged since 2015. How do you improve perfection?

It turns out the answer lies in Zinc Green Metallic. Lord knows how many times I’d been tempted to throw caution to the wind and blow a thousand dollars to wrap mine in some shade of green and this doesn’t make it easier. My 2021 Miata has never seen a garage and I’m glad I went with white. Hindsight is a powerful thing.

Anyway, Zinc Green is a winner for the Miata and it gives me hope for the future of sports cars. With new tech dragging quality down with the hybrid kit and caboodle, there’s an ongoing debate as to whether ‘old’ new cars are still worth it. If you ask me, it’s an absolute yes.

So keep buying them. Life’s short enough as it is so enjoy yourself.

-TA