Nissan IDx is dead, but 370Z to slim down

Nissan’s cool little rival to the Toyota 86 will never see production, but the next 370Z could head into cheaper territory.

Nissan chief creative officer, Shiro Nakamura, revealed to Autoblog at last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hour race that, “I think IDx will not be produced.”

“We are studying a couple of different concepts, because the sports car market is becoming smaller globally,” he adds.

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“We would like to do something, I personally think, is more [in the] original concept of Z, which is ... more practical and appealing to younger customers.”

Nakamura also hints that the progression to the 370Z as a larger, heavier and more powerful 350Z might not have been the right way to go.

“We are questioning ourselves in repeating the 350, 370. We don't want to create 390Z, right?" he jokes.

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When Autoblog put to Nakamuru whether he would like to challenge the Toyota 86 and Mazda MX-5, the creative officer replied, “we may not necessarily go into the same category. Personally I see other options that are very interesting.”

And the idea of a 370Z moving downmarket and becoming cheaper? “We still need time to finalize this. I mean, we have a couple of ideas.”

Former Nissan vice president Andy Palmer championed a duo of IDx prototypes when they were first revealed at the 2013 Tokyo motor show.

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One a hybrid, the other a nuggety, rear-drive sports car referencing the Datsun 510, Palmer said he hoped both will be built.

Since Palmer left the Japanese brand to head up Aston, things went quiet on the IDx front and several executives have since whispered of its demise.

Now all but confirmed to be dead, rear-drive coupe enthusiasts will have to bank on a lighter, cheaper next-gen Zed car.