Nissan is milking the flagship GT-R’s success at the Nurburgring with a special commemorative edition of the 370Z for the European market.

The 370Z Nurburgring Edition is patterned after the yellow Nissan 370Z that took part in the Nurburgring 24 hour endurance competition recently. The special edition model which comes with significant performance upgrades is reportedly limited to just 80 copies and will cost €50,400 ($71,000).

MotorAuthority: Each vehicle features a numbered plaque, as well as unique 19in OZ Racing alloy wheels shod with 285mm tires in the rear and 255 tires up front, plus a Cobra performance exhaust system. A special ring card with €150 ($212) of credit will also be offered to customers, which they can use for public track days on the Nurburgring circuit.

Apart from the new exhaust system, the car’s powertrain has been left untouched which means it features the latest 3.7L V6 engine with 332hp (247kW) and 270lb-ft (366Nm) on tap. Nissan’s six-speed manual with the SynchroRev Match function is standard.

Road&Track: We’ve reported on this before, but we now have stronger evidence than ever that Toyota is getting back into the affordable sports-coupe game with an all-new model priced at around $20,000–$25,000. This front-engine/rear-drive 2-door will reincarnate the spirit of the 1983–1987 Corolla Levin/Trueno (AE86), a car that’s still popular today, especially among drift enthusiasts. According to our friends at Best Car magazine, Toyota’s code name for this future sports car is 086A. That it’s so similar to AE86 is no coincidence.

Toyota is partnering with Subaru to bring this project to reality. In fact, most of the engineering seems to be coming from the company known for its all-wheel-drive rally cars. Powering the future coupe will be Subaru’s 2.0-liter flat-4 equipped with a new direct-injection system, tuned to produce an impressive 200 bhp and 145 lb.-ft. of torque. We predict the car will weigh about 2700 lb., so expect fairly quick acceleration times, probably around 6.0 sec. to 60 mph. The suspension will consist of MacPherson struts up front and a multilink setup at the rear, with the chassis based on that of the Subaru Impreza and Legacy.

Toyota will mainly be in charge of the car’s styling. Although both Toyota and Subaru versions will be offered, the two models won’t look much different, apart from badging — think Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe.

The car is scheduled to appear sometime in 2011 or 2012. If this future car truly is a reincarnation of the AE86, Toyota and Subaru will have a big hit on their hands.