Do you have a fear of other people’s projects? Well, we’re here to help you get over that, and the first step in the healing process will be evaluating the work on today’s Nice Price or No Dice 300ZX, as it is a completed project. Could that be worth the seller’s complete asking?
I have a book, published sometime around 1970, that details every American carmaker up to that time. It’s a heavy tome and I would wager that 99 percent of the marques it lists are no longer in the car business today. Plenty of foreign makes have had a go at the U.S. market as well, only to find it unreceptive and far harder a nut to crack than anticipated. The 1996 Suzuki X-90 4x4 we considered yesterday was from one such failed importer. Suzuki still sells motorcycles here in the States, but too few people bought its cars, causing its auto sales to go bust. At its $8,900 asking, too few of you thought buying yesterday’s X-90 would be a solid financial decision, earning the car a 75 percent No Dice loss. I guess little has changed for Suzuki over time.
When it comes to cars, time is both a taker and a giver. Age causes even sedentary, under-used cars to wear down and fail. That’s why any car brought out of long-term storage typically needs new rubber bits, a complete brake overhaul, and most probably all the radio station pre-sets to be changed.
Time also helps with that work by sometimes increasing a car’s value through the wonder-twin powers of myopic nostalgia and supply attrition. It’s quite possible that today’s 1987 Nissan 300ZX “Turbo” benefits from both rejuvenation and reevaluation that comes with its age.
Now, first off, I have to explain why I’m using quotes around the sobriquet Turbo in the model’s name. It’s because, as is detailed in the ad, that’s not how the car originally came from the factory. The seller very truthfully notes in the description that this 300ZX was originally a naturally aspirated car. The engine was imbued with the turbo during a complete rebuild, part of an overall rehabbing the car received while its current owner was attending auto mechanic training. That would explain why all the under-hood plumbing looks a bit home-brewed.
According to the ad, the car had 180,000 miles on the clock when the engine was rebuilt and turbo-fied. Since then, the refreshed mill has done around 20K a number that the seller apparently has to estimate since a broken odometer wasn’t on the rebuild punch list.
Other updates here include a respray that’s about four years new, and in the cabin, Corbeau bucket seats, and a digital dash. An updated suspension featuring poly bushings and coilovers keeps everything off the asphalt. The result is something that from the outside looks appreciably stock, but underneath that veneer, everything seems to either be refreshed or re-purposed.
The builder has done a good bit of aesthetic and practical updating to go along with the mechanical refresh. That work includes Dynamat-style sound deadening in the cabin, new weather seals throughout, and an update to the HVAC controls that supposedly bypasses the flaky factory controls. Added gauges also help keep tabs on what the turbo is up to.
This generation of Z car is probably the least desirable at the moment, but with almost every other edition now climbing the value ladder, it wouldn’t be surprising to see these jump up as well. That’s especially so of the 2-seater/T-top cars like this one. And, while you might expect that the impetus for such extensive refurbishment and recreation detailed in the ad might have been a tainted title, this car has no such issue, coming with a clear document of ownership.
Ok, we’ve now seen that the clock has been rolled back on this ZX and that it is seemingly in decent shape as all the work appears to be holding up. The present owner claims not to need to sell it, but according to the ad is jonesing for a new project. The asking price is $13,000 and you all now need to overcome your inherent aversion to “someone else’s project” and decide whether that’s a fair deal or not. I know you have it in you.
What do you say, is this reborn 300ZX “Turbo” a deal at that $13,000 asking? Or, do you feel that price does not project the car’s accurate value?
You decide!
Richmond, Virginia, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
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