One of the great joys of buying new electronics is the satisfaction that comes with peeling off the protective plastic that invariably covers their smooth surfaces. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 300ZX must have been owned by someone with incredible self control because its stereo still wears its plastic. The question of course is whether it also wears a price that would warrant pulling out your plastic.
With an 83% Nice Price vote, yesterday’s 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville convertible had a win of equitable proportion to its size. Oh sure, that $3,500 initial price would soon be eclipsed by the gas card bills, but if you’ve got to use up copious quantities of dead dinos, you might as well do it in '70s style.
When Nissan - then Datsun - debuted the 240Z in late 1969, they introduced a car with both style and function. Of course those attributes are each a moving target and shrewdly Nissan continuously updated the model through 260, 280, and eventually X rated editions that culminated in the 3-litre models, of which today's car is an early edition.
The last of the 300ZXs - the Z32 models - were monsters, with an available twin turbo V6 and a supercomputer designed body that was so handsome that its headlights were deemed worthy of the devil, having been used on the Lamborghini Diablo.
This one however is the earlier iteration, the Z31, and it still carries the intent and look of its predecessors. And at only 21,000 miles, it does so with a factory fresh appearance. For whatever reason, Nissan’s Z cars haven’t received the veneration you might think they deserve - I know, I own a 240Z. For that reason, they suffer all sorts of unfortunate owner modifications- SBC injections, suspensions slammed so hard you’d fear a Bot’s Dot up the butt should you drive one, or just a general lack of basic maintenance. Like Rodney Dangerfield, they just don’t get no respect.
But not this one. It has been kept in pristine form, its arrest-me red paint (a respray) is resplendent with a nifty side decal, and its five-spoke factory alloys appearing to have never had introduction to a curb. Described as a two-owner car. this Turbo edition (200 horsepower) is also optioned up the wazoo. It rocks T-tops, the digital dash package, and the aforementioned high-zoot stereo, still wearing its protective sheath.
That interior is as brown as Nissan and God intended, and unlike many a Craigslister, the seller of this car went to the trouble ensure it was clean before taking the snaps for the ad. In fact the carpet evidences those little triangle patterns from a recent cleaning - the kind of hypnotic marks that make staying at a hotel so rewarding.
The 3-litre VG30ET is backed up by a FS5R90A (Borg Warner T-5) 5-speed gearbox, and sits in an engine compartment that is the only part of the car that looks like it could stand a little spring cleaning. There’s also an aftermarket aircleaner up front in there, an incongruous inclusion on what is otherwise an amazingly stock edition.
It’s that unmolested nature - the seller says the car has been used as a display model at a number of dealerships - along with its low mileage that make the seller think the car is worth the odd amount- $17,719. Like I said, the Z cars, and especially the Z31s, don’t seem to get the love they deserve, and as such can be had for a lot less, quite often dirt cheap in fact. Or even dirtier cheaper.
What the prospective new owner of this one would have to consider is that condition and low mileage - and advantage that goes away when you use the car in the manner for which it was intended are enough to warrant the seller's demand. What do you think, is this pristine 300ZX worth its $17,719 asking price? Or, does that make this a Nissan you wouldn’t piss on?
You decide!
Asheville Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to MikeyRice for the Hookup!
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