One to Buy: 17,000 mile Pearlglow Yellow 1990 Nissan 300 ZX Turbo
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Although the R32 Skyline GT-R has come to be regarded as the seminal piece of Nissan hardware from the tail end of the 1980s and early 1990s, at the time it only had limited exposure outside of Japan with all but 100 of the circa 44,000 units built being reserved for the domestic market.
By contrast, the contemporary 300 ZX offered throughout the globe had a much bigger impact, outselling the GT-R by more than 3-to-1. The fourth iteration of Nissan’s Z-car theme, the Z32-based 300 ZX also served as the basis for an enormously successful IMSA GTO / GTS programme that delivered titles in 1992 and ‘94 plus outright victory at the Daytona 24 Hours and a class win at Le Mans.
Nissan offered the Z32 in two states of tune: normally aspirated and twin turbocharged. Having added dual overhead camshafts and variable valve timing to the ‘atmo’ engine, the forced induction version was further enhanced by way of two intercooled Garret turbos that took it from 222bhp to 300bhp. With a top speed of 155mph and 0-62mph taking a little over five seconds, the 300 ZX Turbo (or Fairlady Z Turbo as it was marketed in Japan), took Nissan’s Z-car firmly into supercar territory.
Unsurprisingly, given its competitive price, superb chassis, excellent build quality, handsome looks and impressive performance, the 300 ZX Turbo proved a massive hit in the United States where a little under 7000 were sold during the car’s debut model year (1990). Most of these went on to live a hard life, racking up intergalactic mileage, but on October 22nd a superb collector-grade example will be going under the hammer at Mecum’s sale in Fort Worth, Dallas.
Configured in rarely seen Pearlglow Yellow (which was only offered during the 1990 and 1991 model years), chassis JN1CZ24A2LX004051 was also optioned with leather upholstery. We don’t know much about the car’s history, but as the photos suggest, it looks to be in superb original condition throughout as reflected by a remarkably low mileage of just under 17,000.
