(first posted 8/25/2015) Throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, Nissan Motor Corporation’s Z car was simultaneously the company’s flagship, one of its sales leaders, and its most recognizable product. Replacing it was a tough job, but Nissan largely succeeded with its replacement – which is this car, the 300 ZX.
While not as iconic as the first 240-Z, the 300 ZX managed to strike a balance between performance, luxury and style – a balance essential to success in the upper end of the 1980s sports coupe market. This particular car is a 1985 Turbo, representing the second year of the 300 ZX’s production run, and is in very good original condition.
The original Z car, launched as the Datsun 240-Z in 1970, was one of that decade’s most significant cars. With a beautiful design, exciting 6-cylinder performance, and modern engineering, the 240-Z quickly catapulted itself to the forefront of the sports car market. It also transformed Datsun into a car company to be taken seriously, particularly in North America. Over the following 13 years, the Z evolved into the 260, and then the 280, gaining weight and engine displacement, but gradually losing sportiness.
For the 1979 model year, the Z car was redesigned as the larger 280 ZX. It was a completely new car, but the design was so similar to the original that many buyers assumed it was simply an update of the previous model (it is longer and more angular, with a number of detailed changes, if you look closely).
With the 280 ZX, the car’s balance tilted towards luxury and away from sportiness. Although the engine was relatively robust (particularly in turbocharged form, as added in 1981), it was far from the lithe GT car introduced in 1970. The ZX was panned by some critics as being an overweight boulevard cruiser simply coasting on its predecessor’s reputation. However, the public disagreed. The 280-ZX was the most popular Z car ever, indicating that some combination of sportiness and luxury was important for sales volume.
Despite the strong sales, it was clear that Nissan needed a completely new car. With strong new models competing for sports coupe sales, a design that harkened back to 1970 didn’t cut it any longer.
With the introduction of a replacement car, Nissan had the chance to start anew and reinvent the Z car. And that’s exactly what they did. The new generation 300 ZX was introduced for the 1984 model year.
Like its immediate predecessor, the 300 ZX was available as a normally aspirated car in 2-seater or 2+2 guise (shown above, riding an 8” longer wheelbase), as well as the turbocharged version like this featured car, which was available only as a 2-seater.
The overall shape followed trends in the early 1980s performance car market, with an angular design, a flat, sloping hood, and pop-up headlights. Uniquely, the rectangular headlights were half uncovered, creating this model’s most distinctive design feature – an interesting counterpoint to the 240-Z, whose round, scooped-out headlights set that model apart from other cars.
Only the most minor hints of continuity with the previous model remained – one can see traces of the earlier design in the wheel well bulges, tail light design, and the round gauges in the center of the dash. The 300 ZX design is a busy one – not flowing and graceful like the 240-Z – but it accomplished its goal of looking appropriately modern, muscular and sophisticated.
Mechanically, the 300 ZX retained a 6-cylinder engine, but replaced the previous model’s straight-6 with a V-6, this one at 3.0 liters.
In turbocharged form, this car’s engine produced an impressive 200 hp (by way of comparison, a 1984 Corvette produced 205 hp). Although many 1980s-era turbocharged cars suffered from significant turbo lag, and a remarkable lack of power at low rpm’s, the 300 ZX did not suffer this malady, the result of an engine that was already powerful in normally-aspirated guise (160 hp as a non-turbo).
The 300 ZX Turbo was a very drivable performance car, with smooth power delivery, even when coupled to the optional automatic transmission.
The Turbo could reach 60 mph in just 7.5 seconds, which placed it in elite company in its day. Additionally, this car featured an improved suspension, including novel “electro-adjustable shock absorbers” – adjustable to one of three settings (soft, normal or firm) by a switch on the console. According to contemporary press reviews, the switch was not just a gimmick, and the ride could vary between pillowy and taut at the driver’s discretion. However, even in firm setting, the ride was more comfortable than that of, say, a Camaro Z28. Nissan made the 300 ZX into a luxury sports car, a reversal from the sporty luxury car that the 280-ZX had morphed into.
Nissan couldn’t resist some of the popular 1980s high-tech gimmicks. Foremost was the optional digital dashboard (which our featured car doesn’t have). With its graph paper-inspired background and swoopy-bar tachometer (the swoop is in the shape of the engine’s torque curve), it was cluttered even by digital dash standards. Another 1980s fad emerged in the Z car in the form of a digitized female voice warning drivers of such hazards as “Your door is ajar.” But such gimmicks are always to be expected in a car striving to be leading-edge.
Looking past the gimmickry, the car was generally well-made; however, Nissan’s choice of interior plastics and materials was on the cheap side, and one of the few elements of the car that was not in keeping with its upscale demeanor.
Source of sales figures: www.zhome.com
Nissan largely achieved its goal with the 300 ZX. The car provided impressive performance, as well as suitably pampering luxury, without tilting the balance too far in either direction. Sales kept pace with 280-ZX production, even given increased competition. Both 1984 and 1985 were excellent years for 300 ZX sales, with both years reaching just over 70,000 units. Turbos, though, were relatively rare – averaging about 16% of total sales.
But the sports coupe market was quick to change, and in 1986 new competition emerged from a redesigned Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra. 300 ZX sales slid that year, and would never recover. In 1990, Nissan took the Z car on yet another trajectory, introducing a new model that was a full-fledged sports car aimed even more at the upper echelons of the car market. But after a strong introductory year, even that very adept performance car struggled to pull its own showroom weight.
Our featured car is finished in a subdued shade of Blue Mist Metallic, and does not include either of the two major option packages available on the Turbo – being the Leather Package and the Electronic Equipment Package. The current owner is probably better off without the latter, since the Z’s digital dash was problematic even when new.
Although it was not cheap, the 300 ZX was a decent value for the amount of performance and amenities it contained, and the $20,000 price for this Turbo model put it squarely in the Midlife Crisis segment of the sport coupe market – aimed at buyers looking for a car above the youthful Celica/Prelude niche but below the Porsche/Corvette realm. This was an ideal car for its target audience in the mid-1980s.
The 1985 models such as this one were largely unchanged from the first-year ’84s, aside from redesigned tail lights. T-Tops, optional in 1984, were standard in ’85, though they moved back to the option column for ’86. 1985 also marked the first year that the 300 ZX was sold exclusively as a Nissan; the 1984 models carried both Datsun and Nissan nameplates.
The following year, 1986, saw the addition of plastic rocker panel extensions, some new Turbo graphics, and the disappearance of the Turbo’s hood scoop, but otherwise these cars were largely similar throughout the 1984-86 period.
Nissan slightly redesigned the ZX for 1987, smoothing out some of the original car’s chiseled lines. However, prices continued to climb, and the sports coupe market itself began to lose some steam, as its target audience started buying other types of vehicles instead. The 300 ZX seemed to age quickly, and by 1989 it seemed almost a cliche: a holdover from 5 years earlier.
Looking back, one can see that few cars have seen more of an up-and-down history than Nissan’s Z car. Every few years, the Z car would reinvent itself, trying to learn from its previous generation’s shortcomings. This featured car, coming 16 years after the first 240-Z was introduced, comes from about the middle of the Z’s long life span. It represents the Z car at mid-life – a perfect analogy for the perfect mid-life crisis car.
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These 300s were quite sought after when new and very expensive and hard to get here just after they were released my sister hired one somewhere in LA for my BILs birthday they fanged it around California having a great time until it was time turn it in and go back to purgatory in the Buick rental again no more taking off ramps at 60 mph in the Buick though the Datsun was fine with that treatment
My mom bought a black 300ZX 2+2, with rear spoiler, brand new in 1987.
One night, I snuck it out, and raced a Porsche 944 turbo going 125mph… I overtook him, when an 18 wheeler was coming, and jumped into the lane he was in. This was at 3am.
The same night, I spun out 5 times at 128mph, on an S curve, unscathed…
Because, Thank God, my parents would’ve kicked my ass for sneaking the new Z out, and one damaging my mom’s new car. This was in the summer of 1987.
Yep, I was an idiot and irresponsible back then. Something, I’m definitely not proud of, but wanted to share a 300ZX story.
On a good note, I snapped this mint, original 84/85 300ZX, a couple days ago, while coming back from getting a new inspection sticker for my 81 Rolla. 🙂
Rear view of nice, original Z.
Beautiful Corolla, bro
Cool story. You must have got the jump on the 944 turbo, because at 125 the 300ZX is about out, while a 944 has another 20 in reserve.
Actually, the Z had about 10+ to go… It’s just that it was nighttime and the road was a 2-lane rural road. Plus, with a semi coming… It was time to win or back off.
I tried to pass him, at first, he wouldn’t me… Then, it became a race.
There is a lot to like in retrospect about the 300ZX. The distinctively 80s Japan angularity in the styling. The appropriate levels of standard and turbo power. Even the wild period digital dash.
I still find myself underwhelmed by it. The 240Z really changed everything about sports cars when it appeared. This just did not. A V6 engine design is just not as elegant as an inline 6. The stylist was fair at best, compared to the international team of the 240Z. The Firebird, Camaro, Corvette and 944 design teams all captured 80s style more memorably.
A mid life crisis car should have a little more drama to it. Thanks Eric for this well researched writeup.
Exactly. This car does nothing at all for me while the 240Z is one of my favorites.
Great find! I used to see these often even fairly recently, but I can’t recall seeing one in the past few years.
I’m a fan of that very-Eighties styling as well as the over-the-top digital dash! These cars had a very lean, athletic look to them, something their predecessor and successor lacked. That said, I’ve always been partial to the generation that followed this, as that was the car I had posters of on my bedroom walls as a kid.
The nineties one, especially when it first came out, gave a lot of hope of how nineties style would be. Horsepower was also exploding, with the now DOHC V6 having more power than this turbo.
Yes, the 1990 offered a twin-turbo. So did the 1993 Supra, 1991 Stealth R/T, Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4, and 1993 Mazda RX7… Though, the Mazda was very problematic, better to go with the JDM single turbo swap.
I miss the 90’s Japanese “samurais of power”, back then. That’s when you knew, high horsepower engines were on the way back. 😉
I know the business case for these cars was rapidly desolving as the nineties went along, but I think the attempt to go after Porsche and Corvette must have had an energizing effect on the organizations. Similar to the way Hyundai today goes aggressively after new markets.
Good point. It’s good to see Hyundai and Kia inherit this ambitious attitude that has largely been lost by the Japanese automakers.
Yes, John
Hyundai is the only Asian manufacturer who has stepped up to the plate, when it comes to offering cars drivers want.
Nissan has not offered a Silvia, since 1998, in the US, other markets were lucky to get the sexy and powerful S15.
Toyota doesn’t even make a sporty RWD car, anymore. The Scion FR-S is just a Subaru BR-Z, with Scion badges. It was designed by Subaru, it has a Subaru boxer engine… If it walks like a duck, guess what ? IT’S a duck.
Toyota, keeps teasing us enthusiasts about the new Supra… Don’t hold your breath.
Mazda keeps talking about a proper RX7… Yeah, more fantasy than anything.
Also, Honda got rid of the CRX, S2000 and Prelude, so no sporty cars in their lineup.
Now, the Civic Si, is offered in a FOUR door?? Are you kidding me?
We don’t even get the Si hatchback… The way the original Si, used to be.
Mitsubishi is MIA, or on life support. I miss the Eclipse GSX, 3000 GT VR4, and Starion ES-I.
Hyundai made the RWD Genesis coupe, offered in not just a V6, but a 4cyl Turbo… When other manufacturers wrote this platform off.
They also make the Veloster, also in Turbo, a car they didn’t have to make… But wanted to offer a fun sport coupe to the buying public.
The Veloster seems more like the old CRX, then the hybrid Honda CRZ does.
An argument could be made that all the crossovers et al introduced successfully over the last 20 or so years was a better utilization of Japanese engineering resources. I just don’t have the heart to make it.
When the 300ZX was first hitting dealers, my boss went out and bought one of the last 280ZXs…it was even the same colors in and out as the 260Z he traded in. Me and a co-worker car nut were kind of disappointed he didn’t spring for the newer car, until we started to actually see the newer car.
As the former owner of a 280Z, these 300ZXs strike me as being like your high school’s former basketball star at his 25th reunion. He was tall and lean but now he’s sort of stooped, fat, and balding (the glass t-tops).
Nissan did a better job “replacing” the 280ZX with the 240SX…..at one point available with a turbo and another point a V6.
The 240sx replaced the RWD 200sx, not the 280zx… Different classes of Nissan sport coupes. The Z being the flagship sports coupe.
The 200sx, was a 2.0, where as the 240sx, duh, was a 2.4… Besides both cars were Nissan Silvias, their name in Japan and belong to the S12 and S13 chassis, later to S14 and finally, S15.
The Silvia/Gazelle was always powered by a 4 cylinder engine, NA or turbo. The only V6 Silvia, was the US market 1987-88 S12 hatchback which had the VG30E engine from the Z31 300zx.
The 280zx and 300zx were known as Fairlady Z in Japan and always had a 6 cylinder engine. NA and turbo.
SORRY, Sarcasmo, I thought that surrounding the word replaced with quotation marks signaled I didn’t really consider the 240SX as a “replacement” for the 280ZX.
Before there was a 240SX, there was a 200SX….in the ‘states. BOTH cars are/were called Silvia in other markets. In the mid 80s the 200SX/Silvia had an optional turbocharged 1.8 liter 4 cylinder. In 1987 the turbo was dropped and the 300ZXs V6 became the optional engine.
So I guess if you want to be super accurate: the 240SX, in the U.S., never had a turbo or V6….but the car others call a Silvia did.
I believe in other markets, the U.K. springs to mind, the 240SX did have a turbocharged engine.
OKAY, Howard
I don’t know what country you are in… I assumed it’s US.
I know the Silvia’s came with turbos in all markets, while the US 240sx came only NA(sucks).
The only V6, I’m aware of, ever in a Silvia, was the US market only S12 hatchback with a VG30E.
I think the Silvia was still called 200sx in the UK… If I’m not mistaken, which kinda led to our confusion. 😉
The 240sx never came with a V6 EVER.
It was powered as an S13, with a KA24E single cam for 1989-90… Then a twin cam KA24DE for 1992-94.
For the 2nd gen S14, it used the same KA24DE till production ended in the US, in 1998.
when that one came along, the party was over…the Z-magic had long gone.
Apparently, you’ve never driven one.
what has driving one got to do with it?
So that’s where the hood scoop came from…. I had a friend that worked in a wrecking yard. One day he brought me a hood scoop and tried to talk me into attaching it to the hood of my van. I’m positive that the scoop was from one of these. It had an angle to it, so obviously was designed to be mounted to one side of the hood, not in the middle. I thought about it and kept it around for awhile before he eventually asked for it back.
In the interior photo of the subject car, one thing really jumps out: the silver panel for the HVAC controls and clock looks out of place, like someone installed an 80’s home stereo tuner/amp in the dashboard.
Don’t the not-quite-hidden headlights give up some advantages of hidden headlights? Even when down, they’ll still get dirty, and can still get hit by rocks. Today this would be a solution to having hide-away headlights and still having daytime running lights though… a mode where the lights are on but not raised.
Just curious…
Why did your friend ask for that hood scoop back?
I forget. He probably wanted to put it on the hood of a garden tractor or something.
Well, at least it didn’t end up on the hood of a 90’s Civic. That’s a good thing. 🙂
He might have used it to fashion a charming hat for himself.
Lincoln has the solution to your problem
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/car-show-outtake-1983-lincoln-continental-mark-vi-an-unmemorable-mark/
Ahh, the third-gen Z-car. I still have a couple examples of the Hot Wheels version lying around and about.
I don’t particularly like the styling of the original version of this car: It’s too heavy-handed and angular. The nose is too cluttered, and there are so many black rub strips, creases, and pinstripes on the side that the flanks are slashed to pieces. More futuristic than the 240Z or 280ZX? Yes. But not as graceful.
The facelifted 1987 version, however, is much better. They smoothed off the harsh edges, got rid of the black strips defacing the sides, de-cluttered the nose, modernized the taillights, and ended up with one of the more attractive sports cars of its time.
Agreed–the ’84-’86 cars aren’t bad-looking, and it’s really nice to see one now. but the 1987 facelift was, to my eye, much better than the original. All of the busy elements were gone, leaving a clean shape, plus the smooth full-width taillights and the gunmetal disc alloys really set the design off. A girl one class above me in high school had a blue ’87-’89 300ZX, and to my eye it was one of the nicest cars in the parking lot. (This was in 1995-96). Even if it wasn’t a turbo. Unfortunately she was both older and out of my league, so I never got the chance to talk to her about the Z.
Great write-up! Also it’s great to see this particularly rare car, as I can’t imagine too many Turbos were produced in the blue with cloth seats and regular gauges–seemingly all the 300ZX Turbos I remember seeing were either black or red and loaded with all the toys.
That said, I never could work up a lot of enthusiasm for this car. While it was improved in almost every way over its predecessor, it just felt slightly clinical. It lacked the gold chain swagger of the 280ZX and even somehow seemed behind the Supra, which beat Nissan to market with the Japanese angular origami styling.
Also I think the 1980s was the decade when the market began the split, still in evidence today, where consumers either flocked upmarket or downmarket. By mid-decade, improved German offerings with prestige nameplates, like the E30 BMW and Porsche 944, enticed status seekers, while cruder but value-packed cars like the Camaro IROC-Z and the Mustang GT grabbed the most-bang-for-the-buck crowd. So, in addition to revamped Japanese competition from the Supra and RX-7 Turbos, Nissan also faced this tectonic shift in buyer preferences. Their response to the shift, moving the 1990 300ZX way upmarket in style, performance and price, produced one of my favorite cars of the 1990s–though in the process they ventured well beyond Nissan’s perceived market segment where sales volumes weren’t sustainable.
The Light Blue was definitely rare. I did find a sales chart broken down by color, and it appears that only about 6,000 of the 74,000 US-market 300 ZX’s were in this color — and my guess is that the vast majority of those were non-turbos. That color was only offered in 1984 and 85.
Like you said, add to that the lack of leather and electronic packages, and this is one rare car.
$20K in 1985 was a LOT of money. My new loaded GTI came in a bit over $12K, and my mother’s well-equipped Crown Victoria had a sticker of a bit more, maybe $14K (which I considered ridiculous money for a full-sized Ford). This car was squarely in BMW 325 territory. Even a 318i was only around $16K, IIRC.
I remember these quite well. It was my impression that the 300ZX drew a slightly higher-educated and higher-income gold-chain crowd than did the Corvette at the time. I felt as though Nissan had sort of lost the plot after the 280Z from the 70s. However, a lot of folks must have disagreed with me, because they sold a lot of these in 1984-85.
Problem was, by later in the 80s, the design was starting to look a bit dated. It is cars like this that prove how hard it is to avoid “mission creep” with a popular model. The Miata has largely avoided it and stuck to it’s niche, but not many others have.
The 300ZX was far more expensive than any other car or truck in the Nissan line of the time. That they were able to move so many of them was an achievement.
My father bought a V6 powered (small) Marquis in 1985, it had the standard options and stickered for nearly $10,000. He had traded a 79 Zephyr with a V8 and nearly every option but for cruise and a vinyl roof….it stickered for $6-7,000.
So indeed, price creep made for a situation where the term “sticker shock” started to be used quite often.
My wife owned a naturally aspirated 300ZX when we met in January, 1985. It was one of the things that impressed me about her 🙂 As I remember it the Nissan was a fine road car, comfortable and rewarding to drive, more suited for the open road than the twisties. Not too long after we returned after driving the car on our honeymoon (December, 1985), I noticed that one of the front tires was badly worn. I ordered a replacement tire and when I took it to the shop to have it installed, it was discovered that one of the front struts was noticeably bent. As far as we could tell the car had never been wrecked; the only thing we could think of that would have caused this type of damage was being dropped, possibly when being unloaded from the transporter. No one could give us any type of guarantee that replacing the strut would cure the Nissan’s ills so we ended up trading it away, on a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.
My uncle had a brand new 84 300ZX Turbo 50th Anniversary Edition in black and gold with every option.
I was allowed to sit in it once. Leather, digital dash, T tops, and it talked. I was a fan of Knight Rider so the car left an impression on me.
One other cool thing, in a dark garage if you lifted the door handle, the keyhole for the driver’s door would illuminate…that totally blew me away!
My uncle sold the car a few years later…it had less than 8k on the odometer.
I’ve always liked this generation Nissan Z car. It’s perhaps the best looking Z since the 280Z.
I like the 84-89 300ZX. it captured the “look” of the 1980’s(wedge shaped and gadget laden) but a well cared for example(such as the featured car) still looks good.
I was never a big fan of its predecessor the 280ZX, I always feel it porked out the original Z car and was for the hairy chested gold chain wearing disco set.
Heck it seemed like it was geared to porn stars
“Dirk Diggler, your car is ready”
The 84-89 300SX seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the 280SX
I like the digital dash because it looked so futuristic looking.
I bought this pewter 85 300ZX Turbo 5-speed (pardon the brake dust) from friends who had it from new (they traded in a black and gold 280 for it). It had the leather and tech packages. These were very well equipped cars for the time – heated seats and mirrors, headlight washers, power adjustable lumbar support – and they were expensive. I think this one was around $26K. Very unusual to find a Turbo without the packages as most had them, I think. My cousin had a rare, factory-ordered 1984 50th anniversary edition, normally aspirated, automatic, and without t-tops in the same color as mine. The automatic was a weak point and had to be replaced under warranty when the car was fairly new.
There was a significant difference between the 1984 and 1985 Turbo models in that water cooling for the turbo was introduced. Never had a bit of trouble with the turbo (it had an auxiliary cooling fan for very hot days) or the digital dash operation (though some of the bulbs burned out and replacing them was a bitch for my Z mechanic so he did them all at once). The voice commands were very cool but also loud (I can’t recall but assume you could adjust the volume a bit).
These were boulevard cars though acceleration was excellent and turbo lag almost non-existent. A real handful in rain/slick pavement. I never found that much difference in the settings for the automatically adjustable suspension. Highway mileage was excellent @26MPG. The automatic temperature control worked brilliantly and the A/C could freeze you out in a minute. The multi-colored brown leather interior was of good quality as was the carpeting and other interior appointments. A weak point was the headliner, which shrank and sagged on most of these cars within a few years.
Overall, these were very high quality cars that could go 200 or 300K without major issues and most were driven into the ground. They sold extremely well here in SoCal and I still occasionally see one soldiering on. Definitely a symbol of the mid-80’s economy in robust recovery.
Thanks for the rundown on durability. The turbos must have been getting better rapidly in the 80s for this to have such a long life. It is nice to hear that even the digital dash can be made to last. I hope you are able to enjoy the car for many more years.
Turbo charged engines had been around 20+ years by the mid 80s any bugs they had were well and truly gone by then only operator stupidity would kill one.
Well, I didn’t get the memo, of the bugs being worked out on mid to later 80’s turbo cars…
Because, my 85 Subaru RX AWD Turbo sedan, 88 Mitsubishi Tredia Turbo, and 86 Mazda 626 GT coupe, all had annoying bouts of turbo lag.
Sad, that we didn’t have things like bigger intercoolers, turbo timers, pressure regulators, or blow-off valves back in the 80’s to make our turbocharged cars live a longer life, and perform at their FULL potential. 🙁
Actually the Z was traded in long ago but I hope another owner is enjoying it to this day. I think Nissan’s digital dashes were more reliable than those from just about any other manufacturer and they were really beautiful at night. IIRC the turbocharger was manufactured by Garrett AirResearch in the US.
neat heated seats in 1984
Great write-up, Eric. Wife and I bought a new ’85 Turbo (She liked the Z, I liked the Turbo)> Dark grey, automatic, but with the analog gauges. Took a while to find one like that in stock. Loved the car – and we weren’t in ‘middle age’ yet.Still in our early 30’s. First thing I did was remove the silly ‘hockey stick’ tape stripe, and substitute tasteful paint stripes just above the side moldings, and around the back. Sadly, didn’t get to keep the Z very long, since the babies were coming.
I liked these, the one I thought that looked the best was the 86 Turbo. It had a looks very similar to the 84 Anniversary edition but the whole car was one color vs the 50ths black here, silver here etc. I still prefer the looks of the 82 and 83 280ZX 2 seater both Turbo and non turbo to the Z31 300ZX although.
I’ve always liked this generation Nissan 300ZX. I must say that I disagree with the notion that it’s a “midlife crisis” treatment. If you like Datsun and/or Nissan Z cars, you might like this.
Owner stereotypes are always hazardous, but a friend of my Dad’s got a 280Z as his midlife “toy.” His wife (very classy Prussian lady) was philosophical: better that than a hot 21 year-old.
The first gen Z was the iconic Japanese sports car. It remained competitive in many classes of SCCA racing until maybe ten years ago. I had a 77 280Z 2+2 with a five speed and it was a great car, fun to drive and capable of carrying my two young kids or loads of stuff in the rear cargo area The engine was strong but it was a smog engine. Still the five speed made it fun. These cars had a lot of seat track travel and were really spacious for the driver and front passenger. The ergonomics were really good with the steering wheel positioned just right, your hand would fall naturally to the shift knob, there was plenty of foot room and a dead pedal.. The controls were all on steering column stalks, lights wipers, high beams, just a great driving environment. I also had a ’72 and that engine was more lively and liked to rev. Later I bought a ’92 and that was a much more powerful and luxurious car. Mine was a pearl white, t-topped five speed naturally aspirated two seater. That was a great high speed car. Of the mid eighties 300 ZXs my favorites are the ’86 and ’87 cars. I like the really smooth styling that still retained the long hood short deck proportions. I still think about getting one now. The current 370Z is pretty good too.
This Z was such a messy mish mash of parts. It looked like 4 different cars glued together. One of the best worst examples of Japanese design. But it sold like Italian Ice in August, so what do I know! The 1990 model that followed it was such a vast improvement, a classic, beautiful design. Too bad no one bought that one.
My father bought one of these new in ’84. Non turbo, manual trans, light blue. Never liked
it as a kid, mostly due to sitting in that torture chamber of a +2 back seat. I know he got a
good buy on it due to the color. As he was colorblind, pretty much all of his vehicles were
some slightly odd shade, as it didn’t matter to him.
Have you seen this?
(From the book, “U-R What You Drive.”)
Ha! Milt there shows more than a passing resemblance to a not-very-close relative of mine named Ted, who did buy a 300 ZX in the mid 1980s, and he’s what I had in mind when I came up with the title.
One day, I really need to get a copy of that U-R What You Drive book, since I’ve seen several excerpts here on CC, and they’re all spot-on.
Fascinating ad copy for the new 5 speed model, obviously nobody at the agency could drive a manual, depicting someone grabbing the gear lever like it has to be forced into gear like a Freightliner with bad cables must have cost a few sales, Ive driven a few Datsuns and they all shifted just fine.
The original Z was a one-hit wonder.
However Nissan was too afraid to try something that risky again. It loved being noticed at the beach and at all the best parties, so it just kept on doing the same thing, again and again. Like a one-hit wonder band that after the loud cheers, keeps playing the same song, but with a different title and a slightly different tune. You and I would do the same.
Yet, by the time we get to 1985 – do we really need to hear the Archies play, “Sugar, Sugar” as a New Wave tune called, “Candy, Candy”? Yeah, it still is sweet and fun, but why couldn’t you give us a little of what Mazda was doing, or even, Toyota?
Nissan’s success with the Z killed Nissan from trying something really new.
Also – that 1985 design just makes me want the original, not a stale replica. No one needs a digital version of what worked in 1970.
The commercial I remember best about these was the one where the guy is driving vigorously and after he stops he kind of whistles and just says “awesome”. I don’t know if this was when everybody started using the description “awesome” for even mundane happenings, but to me it didn’t seem too much after it. Not casting aspersions on the car, it was nice, one of my managers at the time bought a new ’85, he’s gone now, and the car seemed pretty nice, though I’d prefer an ’85 Celica though my family has traditionally owned Nissans (only one Toyota). I had a ’74 Datsun 710, and my two younger sisters have owned 4 of the 200/240SX models (two each), the surviving one (youngest one died unfortunately) still has the ’97 240SX she bought new.
Another co-worker bought the 1990 300ZX, he’d been driving a red VW Beetle, so it was quite a change…the ZX was even more expensive, don’t know how he swung it as a new engineer, but he did…lost track of him as we went our separate ways. Next door neighbor had a 370z with badly scraped air dam that he traded in for a Prius of all things.
The timing of this re-run is… remarkable. My partner’s father – rest his soul – passed away yesterday at the age of 77 unexpectedly from surgery complications, but he owned a 300ZX in the mid-late 80’s so the title made me chuckle a little. I’ll forward this to him, I think.
A friend had a 300ZX like this. After having a few too many, he went out driving, and totaled it by failing to stop in time behind a tractor trailer. The top was sheared off, but he was OK, just a few scratches as they say.
There have been some unkind comments about the car, but it was of-the-times. If you’ve looked back at any of your old photos from that period, you’re likely to wince a bit. The saving grace was that we were young and invincible then. I think that Nissan was trying to keep up with the repeat buyer, one that stuck with the model, trading in their older one for the newest thing. We all know people like that, Cadillac, Mustang, Camaro, or Corvette guys. Or Chevy or F150 truck guys. The car couldn’t look like a repeat of an older model, it had to be stylistically different. BMW finally broke from that mold, as for a long time, the new models looked too much like what we’ve seen. I predict that Tesla will run into that problem pretty soon.
One problem that Nissan, Toyota and Mazda ran into with their 90’s flagships were that they became too expensive. My T-Topped, leather, pearl white, 1991’s 300 ZX’s sale price was actually quite a bit more expensive than the current ’96’s. The Supra was a great design, but they were so expensive I’m sure that many buyers decided to trade up to a higher priced car like a Corvette, Porsche, or BMW.
I cut my hair, trimmed my Fu manchu, and lopped off my mutton chops quite a few years ago. I switched from the Z car to the Mustang when I wanted a convertible. However, I still think that I looked pretty good in those old photos!
A nice find, but I still prefer the classic ‘70’s models. Recently a black 280Z has shown up on a side street behind our building. It’s in great shape with new paint and it looks like it’s never seen an Ontario winter. It’s the first old Z I’ve seen in quite a while, and I smile whenever I walk or cycle past it.
I’ve always liked the Z31, people like to rag on it now. And I agree with Monte, the ’86 was the best one, the last MY with the chiseled styling with the side skirts from the 50 AE. I owned it’s little known cousin, the 200SX SEV6, the lowly 200 SX with all the ZX bits including the R200 diff and five-lug hubs. It was as quick and as fast as a Z (Some owners reported 135 mph) but not offered in Turbo form (no room). My Z31 would be silver/gray manual, please.