This £15k Nissan 300ZX turbo has an amazing digital dash

By topgear, 08 April 2019
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What is this I’m looking at.
A 1984 Nissan 300ZX. Not just any 1984 Nissan 300ZX, but a 300ZX Turbo. Specifically, the 3.0-litre V6 turbo. In ‘50th Anniversary Edition’ specification.

This particular one is up for auction at RM Sotheby’s Essen sale – it’s part of the ‘Youngtimer’ collection which is just amazing, but different because it’s not an old high-performance German luxury saloon as most of the Youngtimer collection is comprised of.

And yet. Doesn’t it look wonderful? As ever with life, it’s what’s on the inside that counts…

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Tell me more about the outside first.
Aside from the slightly flared arches, the aluminium wheels, lots of logos and a bonnet scoop? Um, the colour, which – as your eyes will confirm – is silver. And black. With a giant ‘TURBO’ badge on the side because it’s got a turbo in it.

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OK, hit me with the inside.
Welcome then, to peak, distilled Eighties. There is a “futuristic” digital dashboard showing many important things. Your speed in numbers! A rev counter represented by a graph! Fuel, temp, oil pressure and battery gauges with notches! A light for the cruise control!

It is simply magnificent. There’s even a range readout in the bottom right hand corner. Remember, this was 1984. The things those 300ZX drivers in 1984 must have thought. The future they must have imagined.

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Was it - is it - fast?
For today, not so much. For 1984, yes. Though the 3.0-litre turbo produced a very modest 200-ish horsepower, it’d do 100kph in under seven seconds and top out at just under 225kph.

It had a low drag co-efficient. It could apparently do a quarter mile in around 15 and a half seconds. It featured three-way adjustable shocks. And that engine – in race trim – could produce a helluva lot more power, too…

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What’s the deal with this one?
RM Sotheby’s reckons it’ll go for between $20k-$25k. This one’s an auto, mind. It was first registered in the US in 1984 – one of around 5,000 50th Anniversary Editions sold in the States – before moving on to the UAE in 2007. In 2017, it found its way into Switzerland, via the current owner.

It’s done 23,239 miles/37,400km, so is practically brand new; a perfect capsule of what 1984 thought the future would look like.