“Future classic” seems to be the buzzword around the collector car hobby as of late. Sports cars from Japan of the 1980s and ’90 have overnight seemed to become reputable collector cars.
This year in fact, the Monterey Rolex Motorsports Reunion is celebrating Nissan Motorsports, and even Pebble Beach is getting involved in the Japanese collector car trend by holding a Japanese classic car get together during Monterey car week.
Since this is a a fairly recent trend, there are still quite a few good deals out there, such as the Pick of the Week, a 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo coupe being offered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This generation of Z car, known by the anorak crowd as the Z32, was a full redesign of the original 300ZX, or Z31-chassis cars. It moved Nissan up a grade in styling and performance, as well as price, and put it firmly the same league as the German competition.
The Twin Turbo 300ZX was powered by a turbocharged V6 capable of 300 horsepower and 283 pound-feet of torque, making it capable of 0-60 times as quick as 5 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
The chassis of the 300ZX Twin Turbo also was an upgrade from the earlier 300ZX models and offered 4 wheel steering through Nissan’s patented Super High Capacity Actively Controlled Steering system. This is very effective and helps to make the 300ZX Twin Turbo handle as well as it accelerated.
On the track, the 300ZX Twin Turbo proved to be a winning combination, with team driver Steve Millen dominating the IMSA GTO and GTS class with the car, earning two drivers championships and two manufacturers championships between 1990 and 1995.
This 300ZX is said to be an all-original car with black paint and a black leather interior, according to the private seller advertising the coupe on ClassicCars.com. Options on this car include T Tops, heated leather seats, and climate control. It is also equipped with a 5-speed manual transmission, which is hard to find and what you want to have.
The Nissan shows just 89,000 miles and has all its original manuals and window sticker.
When compared with its contemporaries, such as the Toyota Supra, the 300ZX Twin Turbo is the bargain of the bunch, with clean examples selling for less than half the price of comparable Supras. This makes the 300ZX Twin Turbo a car to pay attention to and consider now.
The asking price of this is only $19,900, which looks like a good buy. It would be just the car for driving over to Monterey this week and celebrating Nissan’s racing history and all things Japanese sports car related.
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
Hmm…in-line 6? Manual transmission hard to find? V6 and the more than common 5 speed is more like it.
Perhaps this writer should do a little more research before posting such inaccuracies.
I have to agree with Barry, an in-line 6? The last of the 300’s were powered by a V6 engine, and I am very happy to be the owner of a 1992 auto TT
He never mentions in-line 6..dunno what you’re referring to.
Wow, $20K for a smogged out 90”s Nissan. What’s happened to our hobby?
I have always wanted a 300ZX TwinTurbo. I decided last year I would finally pulled the trigger. I remembered that they made a 2+2 300 ZX. My eight-year-old son isn’t going to ride up front, so I started my search for the perfect 300ZX. I was disappointed to learn that they only made the TwinTurbo in a two seater… In the United States. It turns out they did make the four seat TwinTurbo in Japan, but they didn’t export them. I was lucky enough to find one for seat TwinTurbo that had been imported on a boat 25 years after it was built, which is some sort of law. It is a right hand drive, left-hand shift, 1990 2+2 300 ZX… and it flies😀. If you can find one, I highly recommend picking up a four seat TwinTurbo with the steering wheel on the “wrong” side
Try looking in Canada, I’ve seen several youtube videos that mention the twin turbo model was exported to Canada in 2+2 form.