A car with the speed potential and “arrest-me-now” looks of Nissan’s 350 Z should have better rear visibility. Yet the view in the mirror shows a long, flat window blocked at the top by the requisite center high-mounted stop light. I commend Nissan for wanting to put the light as high as feasible on such a relatively low (51.9-in. tall) car, but looking rearward and seeing no farther than halfway up the windshield of a car that’s directly behind leaves you feeling vulnerable.

The 350 Z is a compact vehicle, stretching 169.6-in. overall on a long 104.3-in. wheelbase. Its 287 hp, 3.5-liter V6 pulls around 3,188 lb., or about 11 lb. for each horse, and the drag coefficient is a slick 0.30 (0.29 for the Track Model). The Cd is a bit of a surprise considering that the exterior door handles look like they came off a 1950s-era refrigerator and sit proud of the body.

Appearance is a strong point for the 350 Z. Though the roofline has overtones of Audi’s TT, the vehicle looks clean, fresh, modern, and much better on the road than on an auto show turntable. Drawn tightly about the wheels, the Z has a muscular stance, and details like the door handles, triangular taillights, xenon headlamps, and a minimum of creases add sinew to what otherwise might have been a bulbous shape.

Inside, the Z has a driver-oriented cockpit. No really. The driver’s seat gets an extra bolster on the lower cushion that supports the legs during heel-and-toe downshifting, and all of the gauges, buttons, displays, and controls stop at the center console. The passenger has a broad expanse of empty instrument panel ahead, broken only by the glovebox and a HVAC vent. The door handles, door pulls, gauge surrounds, and gear shift are all either aluminum or trimmed in the material. Unfortunately, the center console isn’t the polished metallic structure of the show car, but rather a smooth gray-black expanse of plastic with a door that covers either the optional navigation system or a small storage cubby hole. Regrettably, the doors on the prototypes wobbled as they opened, though Nissan officials insist this will be fixed in time for production. The only other interior feature that didn’t impress were the door panels. Monochromatic and covered in a fine grain, they looked … cheap.

On the road, however, the 350 Z is everything you’d expect – and a little more. The ride is taught yet compliant, and the vehicle dynamic control doesn’t pre-empt your fun by stepping in early, harshly, or often. It’s possible to push the car into a corner, accelerate through the apex, hit a bump mid-turn, and never feel like the car is going to snap around unannounced. The special driver’s seat bolster does indeed help support the legs while shifting, and the six-speed manual gearbox (a five-speed automatic is an option) is very precise with crisp detents in each gear -- other manufacturers should copy it. Plus, the 3.5-liter V6 engine, as it is in every other application in the Nissan lineup, is extremely smooth and surprisingly powerful.

If anything, the dynamic and aesthetic excellence of the 350Z made the interior shortcomings all the more apparent, but – in its Track Model guise – also provoked comparisons with the Porsche 911 and Boxster, as well as the Corvette Z06. This is high praise indeed for a vehicle that starts at $26,269, rises to $34,079 for the Track Model, and has just two options, a navigation system and side air bags. If you want to understand how Nissan has turned its fortunes around in so short a time, look no farther than the 350 Z.