An 85-Year-Old Just Proved The Nissan Z Is Still A Driver’s Car
An 85-year-old Florida man was arrested last week after allegedly street racing his Nissan 350Z against a Chevrolet C5 Corvette at 110 mph on a public highway. Both drivers denied the racing allegations to responding officers, but the speeds were hard to argue with — and both were booked on street racing charges. The driver called the 350Z his favorite car and insisted he was simply out for a drive.
The age is the headline, sure. But the more interesting story is the car. The Nissan Z has been doing this for more than 50 years — pulling in drivers who actually want to use what’s under the hood, regardless of age, background, or the legality of the venue.
A 350Z, A Corvette, And 110 MPH On A Florida Highway
According to reports from Carscoops, the incident unfolded on a Florida highway when officers clocked the 350Z and a C5 Corvette running side by side well past triple digits. The 85-year-old behind the wheel of the Z maintained he wasn’t racing — he was just driving his favorite car. The Corvette driver said the same. The police disagreed.
The 350Z involved here is the Z33 generation, produced from 2002 through 2009. It came from the factory with a 3.5-liter VQ35DE V6 making 287 horsepower in base trim, later bumped to 306 hp in the revised HR variant. It’s a rear-wheel-drive, two-seat sports car with a short wheelbase and a chassis tuned for driver engagement. In other words, exactly the kind of car that invites this sort of behavior — and has, consistently, since the nameplate launched in 1969.
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Why The Z Has Always Attracted Drivers Who Push It
The original 240Z arrived in the U.S. in 1970 as a legitimate sports car at a price that undercut the European competition by a wide margin. It was fast, it handled, and it was affordable enough that real people — not just collectors — could buy one and drive it hard. That combination set a template the Z nameplate has followed through every generation since.
The Z31 300ZX of the early ’80s brought turbocharging into the mix. The Z32 300ZX, built from 1990 through 1996, came with a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 producing 300 horsepower — numbers that competed with anything on the road at the time. The Z33 350Z brought the formula back to basics after a hiatus, and the Z34 370Z stretched that run through 2020. The current RZ34, badged simply as the Z, pairs a 400-horsepower twin-turbo V6 with either a six-speed manual or a nine-speed automatic. Each generation has been, above all else, a car built to be driven.
That accessibility — relative to a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari — is a big part of why the Z attracts genuine drivers rather than garage queens. You can track one, autocross one, or apparently run one at 110 mph on a Florida highway, and the car will hold up its end of the bargain.
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The Z’s Street-Racing Reputation Is Baked In At This Point
The grassroots racing culture around the Z is decades deep. The 240Z was campaigned in SCCA competition almost immediately after launch, and the Z32 300ZX became a staple of the import drag scene in the ’90s. The 350Z showed up in Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift — which, regardless of how you feel about the franchise, put the car in front of a generation of future enthusiasts. The current Z already has a growing aftermarket behind it and a loyal tuner community that’s been building on VQ and VR30 platforms for years.
An 85-year-old getting arrested for allegedly racing his 350Z against a Corvette fits right into that lineage. Not because street racing is something to celebrate, but because it confirms what Z owners have always known: this is a car that makes you want to use it. That’s not a bug. It’s the whole point.
The Z has never been a car for people who want to look at their investment appreciate in a climate-controlled garage. From the original S30 to the RZ34 sitting in showrooms right now, it’s been a driver’s car first. An 85-year-old running 110 mph in his favorite car is a strange headline — but as evidence of the Z’s enduring street credibility, it’s hard to top.
Sources: CBS12, Carscoops
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