Nissan working on FR-S/BRZ competitor?

When Subaru and Scion finally debuted their sibling sports coupes, the mass of buyers absolutely frothing at the wallet for a chance to buy one has served two purposes: firstly, it has made a ton of money for both Subaru and Scion, and secondly, it has reminded pretty much every other manufacturer that there actually is a strong and enthusiastic market for small, affordable, and lightweight, rear-wheel drive coupes. 

Of course, if there was one manufacturer that shouldn't need reminding of this fact, Nissan would be it. And in fact, they didn't. Prior to the economy's lemming-like leap in 2008, Nissan was reportedly working on a modern day equivalent of the old 240SX sports coupe to slot into the lineup substantially below the Z-car's price point, but was forced to kill the project when the money ran out. However, now that Scion and Subaru have set about cleaning up in a market that's nearly untapped, Motor Trend is reporting that Nissan has booted that project back up, albeit with some changes. Now called the Mini-Z, the project is rumoured to be inspired by the 2011 Compact Sport Concept shown at the Shanghai motor show, and will apparently utilize a shortened version of the Juke platform. Sadly, this precludes any rear wheel drive aspirations the Mini-Z moniker might inspire, instead relegating the project to front- and all-wheel drive only. Further details are pending. 

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