Used Car of the Day: 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo
Today we take you back to the days of my youth and present this 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo.
It's a dark blue and silver two-tone with T-tops. There's a 5-speed and gray leather interior and just 30,500 miles on the clock.
The car is in the possession of original owner and it's based on New Jersey. The asking price is $40,000.
There's not a lot more to the ad copy and sadly just one pic but the car looks clean.
Check it out here.
[Image: Seller]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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There is another, phenomenally great Japanese car, which sold today for only $16k.
A Car fit for an Emperor. The Emperor of Japan, that is.
V12, superb quality (the anti-Nissan!).
It could only be imported to the US 25 years after it was sold, and it is RHD.
The interior is immaculate in a way only top dog Asian cars can be.
If you don't mind the RHD, and if the Cayman is not for you (you might be over 85), then I strongly recommend this one. There are a few more of them in the US market.
PS You can bet this is NOT the IDENTITY THIEF posting as Tassos, can't you?
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/K1mwvzdn/1997-toyota-century
Doug said: "We love the Toyota Century on Cars & Bids – it's one of the best-engineered luxury cars to come out of Japan, and its elegant styling is complemented by an available 5.0-liter V12, which this one has! This Century is also finished in a stunning (and rare) color called Light Greyish Blue Mica Metallic – and it features a long list of luxurious amenities that includes an air suspension system, wool upholstery, massaging and reclining rear seats, rear climate controls, and much more. This Century also comes with a U.S. title, meaning the difficult work of importing it is already done – AND it's offered with the thrill of no reserve!"
Here's an 84 (non-turbo?) with even less mileage for much, much less $$$.
I like these cars, but wouldn't pay that kind of $$$ for either of them.
A 300ZX Turbo almost killed me. In 1985 a friend traded his black '78 Z28 for a black 300ZX Turbo 2-seater. I'd had a 280ZX and was quite aware of the Datsun's propensity for lift throttle oversteer but mine was not a turbo so pretty hard to get in trouble with. Skip was a banker and a pretty conservative guy; I don't recall any smoky burnouts in the Z28 although he was a bit of a hellion off-road in his Jeep. One night after a few adult beverages at happy hour we took a twisty road back home. Skip was on the throttle pretty hard and as we approached a downhill section with a right hander that tightened up after entry, I said loudly, don't back off the gas! As the words left my mouth Skip lifted. The Z started to rotate, and I saw a mailbox through the driver's side glass. We hit the grass and slid about 50 feet before stopping. Whew! No harm or damage done, but we limped home slowly from that point. Shortly after Skip traded the menacing black Turbo for a homely beige Volvo 740 sedan, automatic, no Turbo. He said he didn't need that much excitement in his life! Skip died a few years ago; Cancer did what the Datsun couldn't do.
These were the "buy one and get a free hairpiece" generation of Zs. I was in high school when these came out and while the previous Zs remained the subject of teenage interest, these certainly did not. That's not to say they were bad cars, per se, but they were very naff. 40-something white guys who had moved on from Camaros and wouldn't pony up for a 3 series seemed to be this model's target demographic. I recall voluminous praise for the generation that launched in 1990 because it represented a move away from everything this car embodied.