HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice and the Nissan Fairlady Z

Did you happen to catch the new HBO Max series “Tokyo Vice” starring famed Japanese actor Ken Watanabe? It depicts a late 1990s Tokyo where yakuza mob dealings, corrupt police, and national media headlines intersect. Watanabe plays the no-nonsense detective Hiroto Katagiri who intimately drives a reddish/orangish Nissan Fairlady Z. You can say the coupe is another character in the show since it’s intentionally placed in critical scenes of almost every episode.

The Fairlady Z (the original Z aka S30) became an international hit when introduced in 1969. Outside of Japan it was sold as the Datsun 240Z, later evolving into the 280ZX, 300ZX, and so on. The 2-seater, 6-cylinder Fairlady Z coupe was produced for 9 years and sold more than 520,000 units, a record for sports cars within a single model. Today’s 2023 Z marks the 7th iteration of the venerable sports car from The Land of the Rising Sun.