Unlike most S14s you might find, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 240SX hasn’t fallen victim to the drifter crowd, or seemingly to the bad maintenance brigade. Let’s see if this survivor’s price can survive our scrutiny.
A number of you complained in the comments on last Friday’s 2008 Saab 9-7x Aero that it was nothing more than a Chevy Trailblazer SS that was trying to put one over on the Saab sectarians. To a certain extent you were correct, there is little to no actual Saab in the 9-7x, not even in Aero form. However, even as a homage to the brand, it’s a pretty interesting option in the crowed used SUV market.
It didn’t prove interesting enough though, as the majority of you to give its $15,000 Canadian pricetag a pass. To that end, the truck fell in a narrow but resolute 55 percent Crack Pipe loss.
Have you ever felt the urge to drive your car or truck sideways? Do you enjoy being enveloped in billowing clouds of likely carcinogenic tire smoke? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be a drifter.
The term drifter was once applied to itinerant individuals whose wanderlust outweighed the comforting assurance of regular hot meals and comfortable sleeping arrangements. In more recent times, the use of drifter has been usurped by a group of people who pretty much confine their travels to going round and round in their cars, usually with the back end hanging out like it’s in a Kardashian Instagram post.
This form of drifting typically requires a rear-wheel-drive car. Oh sure, with enough practice you can slide around an FWD car, but geez, have you ever seen someone do that? It’s like watching a cow trying to navigate on ice.
With the ideal set up being a light-weight body, rear-wheel-drive platform, and an engine bay that can host a sizable contingent of ponies, there are few cars out on the market left for the drifter crowd to claim.
One car that fits the bill and hence is highly sought after by the tire shredders is Nissan’s S14 coupe, most commonly known in its home market as the Sylvia and here in the U.S. as the 240SX. That has led to decimation in the market of the slick little cars, to the point where finding one in reasonably stock shape that hasn’t been beat all to hell is something to be celebrated.
Today’s 1995 Nissan 240SX is appreciable stock and comes, in its seller’s words, in “super clean” condition. Let’s all give a little huzzah for that.
Now, this car is not completely stock. That’s something we should get out of the way up front. It has been lowered and rides on a set of what are said to be newly installed D2 Racing coilovers. If that’s too yahoo for your taste—or you simply enjoy traversing speed humps and railroad crossings without fear of tearing the oil pan out—undoing the drop should be little more than a weekend’s worth of work.
Another change is the wheels which are off of a later 350Z and feature chrome plating. Other than that, the car looks laudably stock. Other updates that aren’t immediately apparent include replaced subframe bushings and an aftermarket radiator.
The Blue Emerald Pearl paint looks good from a distance, however, the seller notes a few dings here and there, and the clear coat is fading on the boot lid and roof. A fairly heavy window tint gives the car a bit more of a modern look and likely has worked to keep the interior in as nice of shape as it is. The dash is un-cracked which is notable for these cars and is matched by seat upholstery that shows little to no signs of wear. An aftermarket head unit in a double-DIN slot offers tunage. A small sunroof tops it all off.
Aside from the aforementioned radiator, the engine bay also looks both stock and reasonably tidy. The engine is so clean in fact that the seller claims you cold “eat off it.” That may be the case, but you’d probably want to do something with the oddly wrapped and apparently loose wire loom going to the MAF sensor before tucking in. The mill here is Nissan’s 155 horsepower 2.4-litre KA-series four.
That’s paired with a five-speed stick and independent suspension at each and every corner. The exhaust is all stock and the car carries all its smog stuff so registration shouldn’t be a bother. The title is clean and there are a nominal 150,000 miles reading on the odo.
Okay, so this is obviously an S14 that dodged a few bullets over the course of its life. It’s applaudably stock, looks to be in reasonably terrific shape, and is a car that is arguably one of the prettiest things Nissan ever did. What might you pay for all that?
The asking price is $7,500 which, admittedly could get you a similarly spec’d BMW 3-series of the same age and layout. Those Bimmers are pretty common, however. When was the last time you saw a nice S14 rolling around? What do you think, is $7,500 a fair price to roll around in this one? Or, is that too much to sacrifice on even so nice a survivor?
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area, CA Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
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