The Tamon Design 370Z

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

Today I was talking with a client who asked me what I felt about the Tamon Design RC370Z which debuted just recently in Tokyo. Not only was I happy to answer his question, but I was glad because it reminded me that I’ve wanted to blog about this car for the past couple of weeks now.

On January 5th I put up a sketch here by Tamon Design which showed the concept of the car in early form. At the time I was extremely excited by the very unique image on the sketch and I was prepared to be blown away by a very controversially designed and aggressive car whenever it did materialize in the flesh.

When I arrived at Makuhari Messe for Tokyo Auto Salon a day before show started, I was surprised to see this car before my eyes so incredibly soon after being introduced to it by the concept sketch. What happened next for me was really interesting…I looked at the car and felt like saying “that’s all!?” Now this first reaction did not make much sense to me then and it does not make much logical sense to me now, but let me try to explain the feelings that seeing this car the first time represents.

First of all, the sketch is insane and had me looking for a loud and controversial car. Yet, this car at first glance looks surprisingly normal. Especially normal for a widebody 370Z with every panel replaced and widened or elongated (the front and rear bumper are longer). I expected a big visual impact, like seeing a Top Secret widebody 350Z for the first time. Honestly, I was a little disappointed at first based on my expectations. But that was not the car’s failure, that was my failure for expecting a big impact at first glance.

The beauty of this car when seeing it in the flesh is that it is an aggressive new vision of what a 370Z should look like and a complete widebody conversion, yet at the same time it is elegant and tasteful enough to be a subtle package at the same time. A subtle and integrated widebody is not too common at Tokyo Auto Salon and I may not have been ready for it.

To say it simply,this car grew on me. My first reaction was feeling a bit letdown, but as I walked around the car and continued to stare at it the details and thought put into it, the car started to show itself. The conclusion after a couple of days of walking past the car is that this car is essentially a gentleman’s widebody Z. I think most people who buy a widebody kit want impact, yet this car is different than I expected and perhaps different than most others have expected as well. It is well integrated, clean, tasteful and simple while at the same time being boundary pushing. This in itself defines the beauty of demo cars as an art form.

I especially love the long nose rear bumper which elongates the rear of the car and specifically the rear fender exists which are scuplted beautifully into the rear bumper. The front grill was less impactful and impressive in person than the sketch led me to believe, but it was also more acceptable of a look for a daily driven car without being too gaudy. The rear diffuser was a bit too SLRish for me, but it is clean and does the job nicely.

Overall Tamon Design (which is basically one guy who does this essentially more for the art/hobby than for a living) did an excellent job on this car and hopefully he is proud of what he has achieved with it. It is the perfect car for the Z owner who wants a more refined gentleman’s type widebody, a category which I’m not sure has existed in the aftermarket until now.