Nissan is bringing a 240Z back to life for SEMA, and it did not build it alone. The Datsun S30 Concept, created with Formula Drift champion Chris Forsberg, takes the original Z car and rebuilds it with the heart of the current one. It debuts at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, November 3 through 6, and it is the kind of heritage play only Nissan can pull off: the company that built both cars, old and new, is the one mashing them together.
A 240Z shell with a modern Z underneath
Under the long hood sits the VR30DDTT, the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 from the current Nissan Z, fitted with Garrett PMAX turbochargers, NISMO cold-air intakes, a heat exchanger, and a carbon-fiber engine cover. It drives through the FS6 six-speed manual from the current Z, with a NISMO R200 limited-slip differential and a NISMO twin-disc clutch and flywheel. A Radium Engineering 10-gallon fuel cell finishes the drivetrain package.
Nissan makes no output claim for the concept itself. In production Z trim, the same engine makes 400 horsepower, but the concept’s number is deliberately left blank, which is honest: this is a show car built to be looked at and argued about, not a spec sheet.
Carbon everywhere, painted Seiran Blue
The bodywork tells the same story as the drivetrain. The front fenders, hood, air dam, bumpers, hatch, and spoiler are all carbon fiber, keeping weight down on a car that was light to begin with. It wears Seiran Blue paint, NISMO LM-RS6 forged wheels in 17×9, and NISMO 40th-anniversary decals that nod to the performance division’s history.
Stopping comes from Wilwood: six-piston calipers with 300mm rotors up front, four-piston calipers with 280mm rotors at the rear. The suspension is Techno Toy Tuning’s Evolved billet setup, the kind of hardware that says this car is meant to be driven, not just displayed.
See it at SEMA, not in a showroom
The S30 Concept is on display at the SEMA Show, November 3 through 6, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in Nissan’s booth, number 21521 in Central Hall. It shares the stand with the Sentra Spec-V Concept, the Project NAT2 Z, and the Z Kaze, which makes the booth a decent argument that Nissan still cares about enthusiasts.
It is not for sale. Some of the NISMO parts on the car are available through dealers, which is the closest most of us will get to owning a piece of it. That is fine. The S30 Concept works because it respects the original 240Z without pretending to be one: classic shape, modern engineering, and a builder who actually drifts Nissans for a living. If you are at SEMA this week, it is worth the walk to Central Hall.
