I was pretty ignorant towards importing cars in 2004 until i realised how cheap i could have a good condition 300zx for. I assumed they were still like 40k cars. I got Ben/Blipman onto bringing one over and that was the beginning. Wow 9 years.. Time flys
intoduced to theimport scene by a old school friend. whn anothe rmate of mine started looking for a car and we got into looking at z32's , a feel pretty hard, as did he. took me a few years to get one, but finally did and have owned quite a few since......
I was looking around for a sport car mainly 180sx or silvia, when I saw a red zed 4 seater for sale so I went to have a look and as soon as the targas came off I was inlove. Didn't care what was wrong with it but the it has thought and still teaching me a lot even if its frustrating 50% of the time
Well its a long, long story but as long as you're asking... I went shopping for my first car with my Dad when I was 18. I wanted a V8 but Dad was dead against it for some reason. We came across a Datsun 240K. Dad was happy as it wasn't a V8 and I liked it because the speedo went up to 240 (or 260 or something) and so I reasoned it could do 240. I mean why would you give the car a speedo that goes to 240 if it couldn?t go that fast? So after a test drive I bought the car (for about 2K). I later found the top speed was only 172 on the F3. Still I was impressed with the power. It was a big improvement on Mum's 1970 Corolla I was used to driving around in (top speed 140). One day at a park somewhere I walked past a blue 240Z and fell in love with the shape. I later told my cousin about the 240Z I'd seen and he told me it had the same engine as my 240K. With such amazing looks plus the engine I'd come to love I just had to have one. After writing off my 240K (not legally my fault) and saving up some more some time later I went shopping for 260Zs. I was taken for a drive in a lowered red 260Z that had been turbo charged (with water methanol injection, racing harness and Koni/K-mac suspension). The owner claimed it had 300 hp. It felt more like a thousand, I was absolutely blown away by how many g's it pulled. Unfortunately as both the intake and exhaust consisted of PVC tubing about 30cm in diameter with no form of muffler whatsoever it was extremely loud just at idle, I mean extremely, extremely loud. The owner admitted the car was completely unregistrable but said it would make a great track car. Much to my regret I had to pass it up and ended up buying a blue 260Z for 7K. I really loved my blue 260Z. But a couple years later after going back to Uni (after nearly flunking the 1st time around) I sold the 260Z to fund a months holiday in London (part of a pursuit of someone I loved even more than the car - a big mistake). After finishing Uni and getting a decent job I was in the market for a car again. I was dead set on getting another 260Z and turbo charging it like the one I had once been in. After a lot of ringing around I finally found a guy who said he could turbo charge a 260Z for me - for about 5K (I hadn?t bought one yet) but he recommended that I just buy a 300ZX instead as it would be just as fast. So I did't go through with the buy and turbo charge a 260Z idea. From my work I used to look out on a car park in which a grey (1990+) 300ZX was parked and I really used to lust after it. Nevertheless I was considering getting a 200SX instead. I was torn because the 300ZX was way prettier but I thought the 200SX being a turbo would be faster. After checking out 0-100 times I discovered the 300ZX was actually faster (and more powerful). From then on my choice of car was set in stone. So in 1996 I test drove a red 1990 NA 300ZX (turbos where out of the question insurance wise and I needed insurance to get a loan - not that I could have afforded a TT300ZX anyway). In the test drive I was very impressed by its torque (it was not in the same ball park as the turbo charged 260Z but was very impressive all the same). So I bought it for 37K. It was damn hard to get a loan because at the time my salary was only 32K but I eventually found someone corrupt enough to lease me the car that I couldn't afford. It helped that I was living at home at the time but still nearly sent me bankrupt). I absolutely loved my NA 300ZX and only sold it last year (to my brother in law) when I bought a red TT 300ZX instead, which I will keep till I (or it) die. I bought it for 10.5K, spent 20K on it and could probably sell it for 6K today, not that that matters in the least because I will never sell. I am Extremely happy with my TT Z. In hindsight I'm grateful to my dad for setting me on the right path. If it weren't for him I'd now be a redneck driving a 6 L V8 with a lot less horsepower and a lot more weight, and I wouldn't know what real acceleration feels like.
saw one as a little kid at a traffic light, got hooked once i found out what car it was. Addicted since then
Thanks for the thanks guys It was in a car yard near parramatta. This was back in around 1987. I had no idea what it was just that I kinda liked the look of it and itwas within my price range.
A neighbour had a 280z in the mid 80's and I loved it, in the mid 90's I bought one - it was my 2nd car and I loved it, and caught the Z bug, loved them all - except the Z31 something not right there too square - by the end of the 90's a good mate had an NA z32 and my brother and I got hold of a TT for sale at the auctions and took it for a test drive it had 14psi boost and was insane to drive. I had to get one, it took a while longer and a bit ------ a lot of convincing the minister of finance but she finally said I could have one, I guess having just rolled it into the garage she did not have much choice
Uncle had a 240z then a 260z Got me interested in car styling of sports cars. Started studying mech eng, before switching to Product Design. There was a good supply of OS car mags laying around the studio, we all thought the Fairlady was yummy, but the name was strange and whimpy. Quite a few tooth brushes, computer mice and phones were inspired by flowing car curves. Couldn't afford the Supra (bought the FWD Celica in 88 and now understand why RWD is better) Always planned on going for the Supra l couldn't afford in 88, but the newer ones kept making it look tired. I think the Fast and Furious movie killed off the Supra for me. Also, 15 years ago, I was looking at the Auspec 300zx (better name than Fairlady) at a used car yard. The salesman showed me a car mag pictorial of a TT and that lost him the sale. LOL. Now l am older and decided after all that procrastination, the non turbo Zed would be easier to live with, so l bought her.
Strangely, I had no real interest in Zeds at all. Any of them really. Im not that enamoured with the design being typically japanese and "overdesigned". My NA 2 seater slick top sort of found me really. I trawled this forum relentlessly when i was building my VG30det powered Navara flat tray (aka The Ute Of Death) buying fiddly parts and lurking on engine technical discussions. One day, very randomly, an ad appeared for a white NA 2 seater slicktop. I think I had accidentally clicked the link when looking for bits and bobs for my build. The NA had been for sale for a long time and the price had progressivly dropped as the goodies were removed from the car and stock parts were put back on. The price steadily dropped and serendipitously, the name of the seller was Evan. In the end, curiosity got the better of me and I contacted Evan to just ask why the cars asking price dropped so far yet the car looked so trick. Like, what was wrong with it. Cutting the long story short, Evan made me an offer... well, several actually, that was very difficult to refuse and I bought the thing. As much out of curiosity as anything else. He also liked the fact that the car was going to another Evan. Seemed appropriate to me!!! The cars have so much character despite being awkward to fix if needed. Frustrating but at the same time very rewarding thing to own much in the same vein as some thing exotic and Italian built. How it rolls! E
It was in a car yard near parramatta. This was back in around 1987. I had no idea what it was just that I kinda liked the look of it and itwas within my price range.[/QUOTE] Shame it's gone! I can't even find one!
This was in 2000. I had a LX V8 Hatchback that I was rebuilding so I bought a VL V8 Calais for a daily. I really wanted a two door V8 again because the hatchback rebuild was taking a long time. I looked at the Monaro but that was $79000 and there wasn't really much in my price range at the time. A guy at work showed me his 300ZX and we took it for a bit of a drive, I thought this wasn't bad. He gave me the keys and said to keep it for a while, I kept it for about four months. After the four months he said am I going to pay for it, his wife wanted ducted air for the house! I said sure, handed over $20,000; this was 2000; sold off my Hatchback and Calais and have been throwing money at the Z ever since!!:zlove:
Always loved them I was first introduced to them when my brother sent me a photo of him in one. At the time he was national marketing manager at Nissan. He was driving the first Australian delivered 300zx z32 fresh off the boat. It was love (lust?) at first sight. I had to wait for the price to come down, my children to leave home, and get a new (and improved) wife who loved them as much as me. Along with the car came a huge learning curve, as I was still very much in the dark ages with with car knowledge. Prior to owning the Zed, I had always had old tech V8s. Thankfully, my wife Janni has wonderfully small hands to undo parts that I can't get at. Having strange frog like hands is not an asset when working on these cars. I really see no reason to ever not own a 300zx.
I went looking at Supras around an imports caryard, needless to say they were $20,000. Beside the Supras were two black 300zx, one TT the other NA. Both looked in much better shape than the Supras and to my eyes at the time just as good if not better looking, however both were overpriced. Skip forward a bit and after owning a NA I saw my current black 300zx for sale on the Sunshine Coast. I knew I had to have it, surprised no one else snapped it up with 1995 Advan wheels and original Recaros and even stock 10stacker cd player. Drove up to have a look and a test drive, turned out the guy imported it himself and had all the paper work. An hour later I drove that thing home and still have it. Sold the NA for 10grand and bought the TT for 9.
Guy I used to work with had one - http://forumbattle.com.au/2012/02/27/stock-standard-and-elderly-people-mover/ Ignore the front bumper, haha!
