14
T
he’8 9to’94Nissan300ZXTwin
Turbocouldbecomethenew240Z
or Honda NSX. Brutally striking,
fast and wide-eyed, it can hit
60mph in 5.6 seconds and carry on
to a maximum of 155.
Up against the contemporary
Sierra Cosworth, 944 S2 and Audi Quattro
20v, 300ZXs were highly regarded as
worthy embodiments of Nissan’s famous Z
Car philosophy. Ridley Scott’s iconic 300ZX
TV ad – ‘Built for the Human Race’ – was
actually banned in the US for glorifying
speed. In the UK the list price was a huge
£35,000, but buyers liked the muscly lines,
four-wheel steering, ABS, dual Garrett
blowers and punchy 276bhp V6.
If I were looking for an affordable
Nineties GT that won’t depreciate, I’d find
aperfect,originalUK-suppliedlow miler
andtuckit away.There’sonlyoneproblem
- therearen’tmany ofthoseleft.
SM Specialist Cars in Bedford has a
UK-supplied red ’93 Twin Turbo
manual with 79k, full Nissan
history and black leather for
£7995. If you come across
a UK-market car with a
sub-50,000 mileage you
should gratefully pay £10kto
£12k, because they won’tstay
that price for long.
In the States the 300ZX is
rising fast and at April’s Amelia
Island sale RM Sotheby’ssold a 2700-miler
for $53,200 (around £40,000).
Back in the UK, a private seller in Surrey
is offering a UK-supplied, automatic ’90 in
redwith 78 ,000milesandFSHfor£7995.
Elsewhere, a private seller in Harrow
has ared ’92 autoimport that hasbeen
dry-stored since 1999 with just 34,
miles for £9500.
Manuals are the preferred
option – just make sure that it
really has twin blowers (some
didn’t) and only buy original,
unmodified cars.
The 300ZX is quite
labour-intensive, with timing
belt, cooling and blocked
drain hole issues, so look for
lots of bills to prove regular fettling
has been carried out.
As a classic with a big Millennial
following, the 300ZX may surprise us yet.
Now’s the time to start looking...
‘Find a perfect, original
UK-supplied low miler
and tuck it away’
VALUE 2012
£
VALUENOW
£10k
Nissan 300ZX is set for a charge
Signs are that the Nineties Twin Turbo Z32 won’t be an affordable GT for much longer
CHASING CARS
Quentin Willson’s hot tips
