KIDNEY, ANYONE? $90k Nissan 300ZX Turbo

Recently, a 1996 Nissan 300ZX sold for $90,100. No, that is not a typo, nor was it your typical Z32. It was perhaps the most collectible example in the US, a big reason why the price was 10 times what a typical specimen would sell for. At the time, people thought this would be the last Z ever sold in the US.

Let’s forget for a moment that the Z32 was sold until 2000 in Japan. Back in 1996, it was nearing the end of its US run, sales suffering as a result of the SUV craze and a strong yen inflating its sticker price. Nissan decided to make the last 300 Z32s “Commemorative Edition” models, each individually numbered with a plaque and sticker denoting its special status.

The car you see here was number 300 out of 300. Remember, at the time Nissan had no replacement in sight so as far as anyone knew this was, after 26 years of continuous production, the very last American Z. Of course, the Z33 350Z would arrive seven years later, but it is completely understandable why someone would preserve this car.

And preserve it they did. It has barely been touched, registering only 533 miles on the odometer. It’s pretty darn mint, too, as one would expect of a car whose total miles are fewer than what the average human walks in a year.

The chromed wheels are an unfortunately choice, but it’s not impossible to find a new set of alloys. It’s what’s under the hood that counts, and what’s there is a twin-turbo VG30DETT mated to a 5-speed manual. The US engine made 300 horsepower, which is technically more than the 276 figure officially reported in Japan, where Nissan was still under the Gentleman’s Agreement that limited power.

While the mileage wasn’t as low as the 200-mile example we drove a few years ago from Nissan USA’s collection, it’s still pretty damn near new. Besides, that one was number 249, and there’s something cool about having the very last. You can see more photos at the eBay auction.

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11 Responses to KIDNEY, ANYONE? $90k Nissan 300ZX Turbo

  1. SaveTheDragons says:

    Worth it! Still cheaper than a new Dodge Charger here in Australia (Over $100k).

  2. jamal says:

    I miss mine(93TT).

  3. Bob says:

    Change ‘unfortunately’ to unfortunate please.

    I would not place too much faith in an ebay auction as this platform does not have a very high sell through rate. I would not be too surprised if this car were to show up again for sale either on ebay or another venue.

    If this transaction is legitimate than you could assume there were two bidders that had to have this particular car. It is true that Z car prices along with other vintage Japanese cars are on the rise lately but, so is the stock market. We may be witnessing a bit of a bubble?

    On the other hand the Federal Reserve has been managing to devalue the currency for a little more than 100 years so $90k does not go as far as it once did. In the past 20+ years the value of a dollar has eroded by about 75%.

    As a long time Z car owner once you add up all of the storage costs, maintenance costs and purchase price this number for this car might just see a break even situation. It is nice to see the value of Z cars and other vintage Japanese cars rising in recent years.

    • Brett says:

      I don’t know about North America, but in Australia Ebay for cars, and particularly classic cars, is a completely dysfunctional marketplace. It is full of wildly overpriced cars, where the price expectation seems to be set by reference to the other wildly overpriced cars on Ebay, and the sellers never seem to attach any significance to the fact that none of the cars actually sell.

      On the rare occasion that an Ebay auction produces an apparent sale, the car is almost invariably relisted shortly afterward with complaints about, no contact, time wasters and buyers with no money, and the whole ridiculous process begins again, often with a price increase thrown in for good measure.

      The same absurdly priced cars just go round and round and round on Ebay. As far as I can see, setting any price by reference to Ebay is a fool’s gold error.

      • Fifty5engineering says:

        I’m pretty sure many of the wildly priced cars on EBay and similar websites are a result of sellers trying to create a market for specific cars. The e30 3-series is a great example.

      • Randy says:

        There was a story on here not too long ago about a Skyline that was nowhere near nice enough to be compared to that million-dollar one, but the seller thought so…

        Eh, if you can afford to hang on to it, shoot for the moon; if someone’s dumb enough to pay WAAAAYYYY more than ANY source says, well, that’s the “Bigger Sucker” theory. Just “sucks” to be the last “bigger sucker.” Hope you like it, ’cause it’s yours for a LONG time.

        That does not apply to someone who’s stupid-rich, and just likes it enough to buy it at whatever price.

  4. John Moran says:

    What makes this car special for me is the celebration of all Z cars that accompanied its presentation at the Petersen Museum in August 1996. Fellow Z owner Dick Clark was one of the hosts and said that it was not about the end, but celebrating the birth of a legend. There were several racing legends there as well such as Steve Millen and John Morton. However, Mr, K definitely stole the show, and they even took the occasion to do an early celebration of his 87th birthday.

    This last 300ZX for the U.S. was given to Nissan dealer Morrie Sage, who sold over 10,000 Z cars! He then gave the keys to the Petersen to put on display and Nissan picked up the tab for all visitors that weekend. The ceremony was not over as they headed outside and Zs representing the 4 gens up to that point flashed their headlights and beeped their horns as Dick Clark called them out. Those who Enjoy the Ride also seemed to really enjoy the event. I have a grainy Bigfootesque video of the event, but if anyone has found a link on youtube or somewhere, please post.

  5. Mike bordy says:

    Hi giys can you find an sr71 version of the 300zx only 7 were produced in 1990

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