Nissan Z Kaze T-top steals the spotlight as ZCON 2026 reaches midweek
September 24, 2026 · Mesa/Phoenix, Arizona
ZCON 2026 is halfway through its six-day celebration of the Nissan and Datsun Z, and Nissan has given attendees something substantial to talk about: a modern Z with T-tops.
The Nissan Z Kaze concept made its public debut at ZCON on Wednesday, September 23. Developed by Nissan product planners and designers, Kaze—Japanese for “wind”—uses a custom-engineered removable T-top roof to reconnect the current-generation Z with the open-air cars that form an important part of the model’s history.
And while Nissan officially describes the Kaze as a concept vehicle that is not currently available for purchase, comments from Nissan Americas product chief Ponz Pandikuthira suggest the company is paying very close attention to the response it receives. Speaking separately with The Drive, Pandikuthira encouraged enthusiasts who want the car to “be loud and tell Nissan you absolutely want it,” adding that sufficiently strong public reception could move the idea toward production. That is not a production confirmation, but it makes the Z Kaze considerably more than an idle styling exercise.
More than a roof delete
The T-top is naturally the headline, but Nissan put considerably more into Kaze than cutting two holes above the seats.
The concept is finished in Pacific Teal, deliberately leaning into 1990s Japanese performance-car culture. Nissan added a vented carbon-fiber hood, widened fenders and a custom carbon-fiber aerodynamic package, then went digging through the catalog of Nissan tuning history for the wheels.
Kaze rides on a restored set of genuine 18-inch NISMO LMGT2 wheels, measuring 10 inches wide at the front and 11 inches at the rear. Those aren't modern reproductions: Nissan says the team sourced an original set of the long-discontinued multi-piece wheels and restored them specifically for the concept.
Inside, white leather-appointed seats contrast with carbon-fiber trim, while Bose Personal Plus speakers built into the headrests address one of those extremely first-world open-roof problems: hearing your music after removing half of the ceiling.
The mechanical side received attention as well. Nissan fitted NISMO suspension components to the car's chassis, while the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 uses several GReddy components, including a SUPREME SP exhaust, front-mount air-to-air intercooler and Airinx intake system. Nissan has not announced a new official power figure for the concept.
A very deliberate piece of Z nostalgia
The timing and location of the reveal matter.
Rather than unveiling Kaze at a conventional auto show, Nissan chose ZCON, where the audience is disproportionately made up of people who already know exactly what a T-top Z means.
Removable roof panels became an especially recognizable feature of several generations of Z, and Kaze appears designed to evoke that period without simply dressing the current car up as an old one. The restored LMGT2s, tuner-influenced bodywork, GReddy hardware and teal-over-white color combination push the concept toward the era when Japanese performance cars became cultural icons beyond their home market.
Nissan says the project was imagined around driving California's Pacific Coast Highway on a summer day, with Pandikuthira describing it as a celebration both of Nissan's open-top sports cars and of the 1990s tuning scene that helped build Nissan and NISMO's modern enthusiast identity.
That's a rather more coherent concept than simply saying, “Hey, remember T-tops?”
ZCON has already been busy
The Kaze reveal arrived after two full days of ZCON activities around the Phoenix area.
Tuesday's schedule included registration and the Z Store at the Sheraton host hotel, motorsports tech inspections and the guided drive from Mesa to Tortilla Flat. Karting at Octane Raceway and an evening screening of F1 rounded out the day's official program.
Wednesday shifted attention toward the cars themselves. The ZCCA Judged Car Show ran inside AZ Athletic Grounds in Mesa, with free spectator admission and cars organized by Z generation inside Field House C. The day's social program concluded with ZCON's traditional Hump DaZe gathering at the Martin Auto Museum in Glendale.
What's still coming at ZCON 2026
There is plenty left before everyone points their Zs toward home.
Thursday, September 24 puts the emphasis on driving. ZCON's HPDE runs from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Arizona time on the West Track at Firebird Raceway, with free spectating. Back at the host hotel, the annual diecast and memorabilia exchange runs from 5–6 p.m., followed by special-guest tech talks and stories from 6–8 p.m. and an autograph session from 8–9 p.m.
Friday, September 25 contains one of the week's most important forward-looking events. The annual ZCCA Business Meeting begins at 2 p.m., where member-club representatives are scheduled to hear updates on ZCCA programs and discuss proposals for ZCON 2027. Friday evening then brings the All Nissan-Infiniti-Datsun People's Choice Car Show to the Sheraton's south lawn from 6–9 p.m.; spectator admission is free.
And then comes Saturday.
ZCON participants head to Nissan Technical Center North America for autocross, a parade lap and group photo. Photography restrictions apply at the Nissan facility because future vehicles may be under development there.
The convention closes Saturday evening with its awards banquet and closing ceremonies—and ZCCA's schedule specifically promises the official unveiling of the ZCON 2027 location and details.
That's the point where speculation can become actual news. Until ZCCA makes that announcement, we're leaving the dartboard in the closet.
Kaze will make one more enthusiast stop
For anyone unable to make ZCON, the Z Kaze isn't disappearing immediately after the closing banquet. Nissan says the concept will remain on display at ZCON through September 26 before traveling to the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California, on October 3.
Whether anything comes after that is the more interesting question.
For now, the official line remains that Kaze is a concept. But Nissan has done something unusual: built a functional-looking idea rooted squarely in enthusiast culture, debuted it in front of the people most likely to want it, and then publicly invited those people to make some noise.
If Nissan wanted to know whether the Z community still has strong feelings about T-tops, ZCON seems like a pretty efficient place to ask.
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