The 300zx. That year looked so good, and the hellish thing about nissans of this vintage is that they never seem to fully die. It will consume all the convenience and comfort parts like power steering, brakes, a/c, all the windows, any emissions controls, but the core of the moster will refuse to perish, and you'll be left replacing the broken pieces one by one into infinity.

I can't pass up the 2002. Although a car that's been sitting around for 5 years will be a wonderful chance to experience PCH.

Ad says the Nissan has a blown "ENGINE" not tranny. Which raises the hell-level at least ten-fold. Also, wheel police.

In the end, you'd be more pleased about having a working 300ZX.

Can you imagine going through project car hell to get your 2002 running, only to have a 300ZX speed past you at 130mph?

@Dr. Spaceman: That's hilarious- check out the screenshot I took of the listing yesterday. Transmission, engine, what's the big deal?

@Murilee Martin: Minor details.

2002 baby.... and a rusty one at that. Pure hell.

Any 2002 that doens't show pictures of clean rear shock towers has rusted out rear shock towers. The 300ZX also has unexplained plastic sheet over the rear and is sitting on a flat spacesaver spare.

Which would I buy? 300Z.

Which is Hell? 2002.

Even with Murilee conveniently photoshopping the ad to cover his mistake (jj), the entire drivetrain is now suspect. Maybe tomorrow the REAR END will have blown up 5 years ago.

But the 2002 needs drivetrain, body, interior... it isn't trying to decieve, we KNOW it needs everything.

Not wanting to show off here, but I can actually afford both.

And consequently can build two hybrids. A nice V6 Nee-san Bimma and a fabulous looking M10 powered noveau-Datsun.

Of course, I'd want to get the M10 up to near Formula-1 iteration levels of tune, and the V6 would find itself wearing nitrous injectors next to both of its turbos, and neither of them would be entirely stock looking...

In fact, after I've grit-blasted the nose rust off the 02 I'd be tempted to leave it grilless and bumperless, and looking ready to bite a chunk out the tail of whatever slow-ass 911 gets in its way.

2008 new years resolution? Fuck stiff-upper-lip British reserve and dump more ferric oxide and blown random engines on the front garden.

Time for some empire re-building. Lets take these Japanese and German upstarts, mix them up a bit and show Johnny Foreigner what we're made of.

But not until after tea.

Z all the way, but then again I'd consider selling my soul and then some to get that beauty flying again.

I used to live in the Richmond's Fan District, where vintage Bimmers/Benzes/Alfas go to die. I'm going to vote for the Nissan, just so my Hell stands out from the adjacent Hells at every other rowhouse on the block.

@WorkingOnYourInvoice: My experience exactly.

My family had a '91 Maxima. Everything -- and I mean absolutely everything -- failed in that car, except the engine and transmission. Even past 300K, the car could still easily handle freeways, assuming the 7th CV boot hadn't melted.

@jonnylieberman: My dad's was an 84 Nissan/Datsun (both badges on the back) Maxima. He drove it to the junkyard with 280,000 miles on it and about 12 lbs of duct tape holding the front together. It never had any rear suspension, even on the day he bought it used about 6 years earlier. Talk about awful memories. I still hear that clickety engine note in my mind when I think of it.

@WorkingOnYourInvoice: Maybe that's where the Infiniti name came from?

While I like the Z's EB110 headlights, I'm caucusing for the 2002. Even in rustyass beater livery, it still out-looks the Bangles. Rust can be removed. Pieces that are nothing but rust can be replaced.

As much as I love 2002s, I think I'm going to have to go with the Nissan on this one. The 2002 is too cheap. Once you start working on it and get to the "oh my god, what have I done" phase, you can easily call it quits and pass it on to the junkyard. The 300ZX on the other hand takes a bit more of an initial investment; you'll be telling yourself that you've already sunk too much money in to quit, even while ordering $6K in parts. And plus, it'll be somewhat of a surprise to find out whether the engine, transmission, or both are blown. And who doesn't like a surprise?

Even though I think that everything out-looks the Bangles, I never liked the '02s (ugly as hell to my eyes).
While I've always loved the 300ZX: fact that it's a non-turbo would make the project easyer and less hell. Early non-turbos had something like 222 HP, which is not peanuts.
The interior was also nice and very 928ish. Pity that it's seems to be a non-T-bar-roof version. Heck, you can't have all.

It's all about style on this one. Also, can a car really win PCH if it's clean and has no rust?

richmond has good, cheap junkyards. that is the only good thing i can say about having lived there.

if you got the zx running and took it to LeMons, it would face a quick doom at the hands of the seething multitudes...

@Rust-MyEnemy: Sir, I love your intent on the 2002, but after sand blasting there may not be any recognizable car left. Other than that your logic is sound.

2002. It's cheap enough to consider a shell, and I'm thinking 22R (or RTE) swap.

Bodywork? Bah! Plenty of speed holes I say. The cage (free safety additions, right?) will hold it together on the track.

Well, I'm sure it comes as no surprise, but the add now reads "blew ENGINE over 5 years ago," not transmission... Any takers?

As if it matters what is blown, however. It wouldn't be much of a project if any part of the running gear was still in proper working condition, now would it?

Maybe the Nissan is a little too deceptively clean, but on the other hand, it looks like you could jettison the stock engine in favour of something a little less rigor mortis, something with a little more sap (I'm thinking Mazda rotary or an LT1, borrow from the 300ZX's competitors).

The BMW? By the time you're done with it, Bangle's designs will be retro.

2002, as it needs everything. The Nissan may need a lot of mechanical work, but so does the BMW, and with the Z, you'd never be able to learn do-it-yourself bodywork.

@Rust-MyEnemy: I know you didn't mean to show off, but you sure do sound pompous. "Oh, I can afford TWO cars, haha!" Lousy Brits.

Seriously, though, the 2002 is awesome just like it is. Drop a hayabusa engine in there with a sequential shifter and off you go to the races!

I gotta go with the aught-two just because the guy selling it saved it from getting crushed AND is willing to sell it for about scrap value.

Seems like I see more and more cool old cars that are either fixable or have good useable parts on them get crushed every day for the sake of scrap iron prices.

I've also seen plenty of old cars with ads like "I want $1500 for this car and if I don't get that I'll crush it." Weak.

I don't really want the BMW, but I'd like to shake the guy's hand for holding onto it, even if it just gets stripped of the remaining valueable parts before it's doom.

@skaz: Ditto. Those snooty Brits always lording it over the colonies.

@SQUABLOW: Good call. As car enthusiasts, we should all make an effort to keep cool old cars from disappearing, especially since modern manufacturers keep cranking out boring crap. But this installment of PCH makes me want to share a little pearl of wisdom my father told me when I was considering buying a rusty old Mercedes:

"Everything on a car can be fixed. It's just a machine. But sometimes, it's prohibitively expensive and dangerous and will take years of your time and you'd be better off getting a nicer one so you don't wind up tearing your hair out and hating the world."

I passed on that Mercedes, but in this poll I voted for the 2002 because it will slowly destroy whoever is brave/foolish enough to restore it. Yes, BMW Mobile Tradition has all the parts to build a brand-new 2002; no, that doesn't make it a particularly good idea.

@skaz: @lascauxcaveman: Blast your eyes, I still have change enough for a jar of Grey Poupon!

@Armand4: Yeah, but we need the dedication (foolhardiness?) to ignore your dad's wise advice.

BTW, who said anything about restoration? The funnest cars are those that are far enough gone that restoration's no longer an option.

@Rust-MyEnemy: You know, it's much funnier when Brits do their stereotypical bit than when American's do it.

Not many people laugh when you sit down with a bag of potato chips, a beer, and a NASCAR event.

Hmmm.... I typically stay away from PCH, but the 300ZX caught my eye. A freshly rebuilt tranny for $1500.00 and rebuild of the now petrified motor and it would be a great car to tool around town.

@skaz: "American's" in that sentence should not be possessive. I'm sorry, everyone.

@skaz: Museum pieces, the lot of us. And I'm 26! We've learnt we may as well laugh at ourselves like the rest of the world do...

But I subscribe to your Chips and Beer protocol... it's 0:30 here, and I have Beer, chips and Jalopnik.

[/threadjack]

Holy crow, my first submission ever actually got posted! Score!

@cgarison: Everything that's ever touched gasoline or brake fluid will need to be replaced and/or cleaned. Electrical connectors will be flaky, thanks to Old Virginny's humid air. Plenty of hell before any "tooling around town" happens, I betcha!

@Mr_Sives_Remotoc: I think it is a T-top, but can't tell definitively. If it's a non-running Slicktop, then some of the guys on TwinTurbo.net are all over this. Just swap in a '97 transmission and a JDM twin turbo for a lighter, stiffer, track car.

I've always had a softer spot in my heart for the more homely and practical things in life, including automobiles. I hope my wife is not reading this. I think the 2002 is the more classic design. Have someone else restore, buy it for a song, enjoy it for six months and sell it for big bucks. I know, I'm dreaming, I picked a bad week to stop drinkin'.

2002 definitely. "I'm told it runs" is such an awesome thing to say when trying to sell a car. "Word on the streets is that this is a functioning automobile!"

@squablow:
I kinda think he shoulda crushed it actually. Could done it up right nice with explosions and everything. We like explosions. He coulda put it on YouTube. I voted for it jest cuz it seems like real hell at this point. The Z could just have another engine/transmission/whatever put in it and you still have an overweight midlife crisis car.

I think we need a poll of how many of us lived, do live, work/worked, went to school in Richmond. I work there now and I think I know where this is.
What is interesting about the Bimmer ad is that no one on that page cares about the Bimmer, they are all asking about the other cars in the shot, like good old Jalopniks would.
And we know he can go to the Richmond DMV with his face painted bright red or with a spraypainted unibrow and still get the papers he needs!

@Armand4: Good story. I agree, that's why I mentioned that it should at least give up it's good useable parts before being recycled.

And I did buy a rusty old Benz that took way more work than it should have to make it driveable again (still isn't 100% functional) so I can really relate to that.

Gotta be the 2002 - the aura of tossable handling, nippy little shape, sweet engine sounds, Megasquirtable upgradeableness, and the eternal damnation of a chassis composed entirely of steel lace.

@CEman: yeah I noticed that too. It looks like Richmond is where S13s go to die. Sad, really.

2002 for sure. That would leave me with $200 bucks to fix it up and get it ready for Michigan in Sept.
(24 of LeMons)anyone with me?