Gene play – X and Z

The retro styling bug bit the world sometime around the mid-2000s. Spurred on by the success of the Ford GT, a modern mimicry of the original, iconic GT40, the US led the charge of retro styled machines. Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford, all played around with the romantic notion of bringing back the heyday of the 70's muscle car mania.
Others followed, but with less mainstream success. Only a handful of manufacturers attempted to get into the retro styling scene, and the Nissan 350Z, a modern interpretation of the original Fairlady Z, stood out. In recent times, Nissan lay out a series of concept cars based on the sparkling period of Nissan's history from the 70's, with the IDX concepts.
Now, its all modern reinterpretation. While the Americans continue to unabashedly ape their forefathers in terms of design, the Japanese are playing a smarter game. They take bits and pieces and piece it together within a modern design language to arrive at a shape that is not instantly familiar, but is appealing. Its almost like a reward system, the manufacturers challenging car geeks and design aficionados to relate the old and the new and find the bits of shared DNA.
Toyota did a brilliant job with the GT-86, blending old and new in a package that was ultimately newer rather than older. Honda's take on this modern reinterpretation business came in the form of the CRZ. The name itself is a giveaway in most cases, but it's decidedly more subtle than that. The rear hatch and the slab of glass separating the bottom of the sill and the rear windshield harks back to a shape that many considered to be odd but somehow appealing back in the 90's. The whole character of the CRZ exudes a similar vibe to the CRX, a tribute to a legend.
Why the CRX? The CRX was a street legend more than a sales hit (although sales were through the roof as well). It was the pioneering Honda for street racers worldwide, and on the cracked tarmac of Sylmar, California, legends were made or broken on whether modified CRXs could keep up with muscle cars or not. It was the birth of a car culture that would survive decades, with domestic-import rivalries springing up, slow legalization of drag racing, and sub-10 second quarter mile runs from Hondas with tiny engines.
While the CRZ is far removed from the street drag racing stardom which shot the CRX to fame, it's a fitting tribute, and a way of looking to the future. It's Honda's way of legitimizing hybrid technology for the masses, making it look cool and hip.