Watch out MX-5 – Nissan is getting ready to give the 370Z a baby brother Auto Express has learned that the Japanese manufacturer is planning a new small sports car to rival the popular Mazda roadster.

The open-top, rear-wheel-drive two-seater would mix stunning looks with storming straight-line performance. It would also take the fight to other forthcoming compact sports cars, such as the Honda CR-Z hybrid and Toyota’s next MR2 which we revealed in Issue 1,055.

Styling cues are set to be taken from the 370Z and Nissan’s Urge concept, which was seen at the Detroit Motor Show back in 2006. And there is certainly a gap in the range for the new model. The brand hasn’t had a presence in this sector of the market since production of the legendary 200SX ceased in 1998.

The sports car would get a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine delivering in the region of 200bhp. That would propel it from 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds and on to a maximum speed of 140mph, while promising low emissions and impressive fuel economy of around 35mpg.

via Auto Express .

However, these rumors have probably been going since the last S15 rolled off the production line in 2002 and a two seater roadster is a bit of a departure from the sports coupe format.

I thought I’d attempt to bring the various rumor pics together and as such I’ve included a gallery of the various renderings and mock-ups that have been created over the years (mostly by Japanese car magazines), you can see the wide array of designs that have been thrown up.

As well as the look of the car there have also been some pretty out-there rumors such as the new 200SX being AWD and running a Subaru Boxer engine.  RWD is usually dropped in favour of FWD due to it being cheaper so I can’t imagine the more expensive AWD being chosen over RWD to be honest.

I fully expect the rumor mill to continue running on overtime with this one.