2005 Nissan 350Z Roadster vs. 2005 Ford Mustang GT Convertible

The queue starts forming on opposite sides of the domestic/import Maginot Line when it comes to choosing between a Mustang GT and a Z-Car--either the Mustang tugs at your heartstrings, or you wouldn't be caught dead in one. Forget that one seats four and the other two. The real question is, which car makes the most convincing icon?

The Ford GT may headline the company's 2005 Year of the Car campaign, but the new Mustang is where the showroom action is. It's been 26 years since Ford rolled out the last all-new Mustang, so interest in the freshly foaled ponycar is understandably high. Fueling the anticipation is the heritage direction the car's design took. The not-so-subtle J Mays rehash blenderizes 1967-1968-vintage proportions with details from 1965-1966 and 1969-1970 models. That just about covers Mustang's glory years, when competitors threw Camaros, Firebirds, Barracudas, Challengers, and Javelins into the booming ponycar market swelled by prosperous Baby Boomers coming of driving age. The long-hood, short-deck look that vaguely suggested European GTs of the time Cinderella'd a pensioner's Ford Falcon into the signature ponycar. Today's Mustang owes much of its DNA to a dumbed-down Lincoln LS with strut front suspension and a live rear axle, but the effect is much the same.

When Carlos Ghosn helped Nissan pull out of its death spiral in the late 1990s, the company needed an image booster to rally the troops. During most of the previous three decades, the Z-Car filled that role. But a low-volume sports car built on a dedicated platform was out of the question considering Nissan's dire straits. So Nissan took a page out of Ford's book and spun the 350Z off its all-new Skyline sedan (Infiniti G35 in the U.S.). Though Nissan used the original 1970-1978 Datsun 240/260/280Z as psychographic inspiration for the new Z, designers ditched the retro look in favor of Ajay Panchal's sculpted and chiseled new-age exercise. The idea was to capture the spirit of the first Z without relying on its styling cliches. It helped that the Skyline's chassis was no mongrel--a front/mid-engine layout, slick-shifting six-speed manual, and lightweight aluminum suspension made a convincing argument. With a price starting under $30K, 350Z sales soon rocketed past the Z4, Boxster, TT, SLK, RX-8, and S2000 and challenged the Corvette for a while for the title of best-selling sports car. The 350Z has helped rekindle interest in Asian rear-drive performance cars, a genre that nearly became extinct in the mid-1990s. And, as the brand's icon, the Z gives Nissan the performance high ground over dowdy Toyota.

As you might expect, the Mustang GT and 350Z are two entirely different experiences on the road. "The Z-Car is the carver and the Mustang is the cruiser," says Motor Trend road-test editor Neil Chirico. Think of the Mustang GT as Jake LaMotta, a punch-drunk heavyweight making a comeback from the brink of retirement. With a 300-horse V-8, it still packs quite a wallop. The 350Z, on the other hand, is Jackie Chan, kickboxing the competition with faster moves, quicker reflexes, and a more animated personality.