280zx

In Japan, it was exclusive to Nissan Bluebird Store locations, 280zx. The ZX was the first time the 280zx Nissan " subscript was badged alongside the Datsun logo, along with Nissan trucks. The ZX was Motor Trend 's import car of the year for The ZX was a complete redesign, 280zx, retaining only the L28 inline-six engine and other driveline components from the Z.

Datsun then Nissan has produced plenty of a great Z cars over 54 years and seven generations. This bloated piece of metal and velour, aimed squarely at the American market, wasn't one of them. Once upon a time there was a long, low and exciting coupe called the Datsun Z. In just a few years, Nissan's best and brightest transformed a light, stylish, nimble, quick and affordable coupe into the ZX, a heavy, ugly, lumbering, slow and expensive one. It was half the price of the ageing E-Type Jaguar, but considerably more than half the car.

280zx

From the November Issue of Car and Driver. When Datsun introduced its model to the press, the joke of the meeting was that these cars would be competing head-on with Buick and BMW by Christmas—not because of a massive overhaul in the Japanese company's marketing philosophy, but rather because of the plummeting value of the dollar relative to that of the yen. Datsun would not be building Buick-style cars; it would simply be offering its weight-watcher compacts at Buick prices. But driving the new ZX coupe suggests that Nissan has been anticipating exactly this sort of repositioning in the market all along and has already dialed in the appropriate correction. The new Z-car ZX-car? It's longer, lower, and wider than the old version; quieter and more vibration-free on the inside; calibrated for a mashed-potatoes ride underneath; and just itching to be dolled up with all sorts of packages and gadgets, which the option list cheerfully offers. All of this probably makes perfect sense from a hit-'em-where-they-ain't marketing point of view. The closed-roof-sports-car business—once the almost exclusive province of Datsun—has become a hotbed of activity in the last few years. Porsche now occupies the high end of the middle-price class with its sleek and nimble , an automobile that places great emphasis on handling and driver participation. Mazda is putting the squeeze on from the bottom of the price range with its RX-7 , a two-seater that's winning friends everywhere for its agility and sparkling performance. The TR7 has been brought to its knees temporarily because of labor problems in England, but it will be back in full strength by spring, bringing along with it the V-8 powered TR8, which will surely set the performance pace for this class. So what was Datsun to do? The only space left uncontested is the comfort-and-luxury slot. The old Z-car always was a bit more of a tourer than its competitors, and the product planners apparently decided to aim its replacement even more in that direction.

Yet side by side with the Z, the ZX does not make it look dowdy or obsolete, 280zx. It would appear that they were just trying 280zx bring the 280zx up to date. The GL package was also available for the two-seater, carrying the full equipment list.

It looks like the era of inexpensive Japanese sports cars from the s is coming to an end. Amid the plethora of classic European race cars and grand touring machines rolling through various auctions held during Monterey Car Week, a wedge-tastic Datsun ZX fetched nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Wait, what? But we aren't talking about the OG Datsun sports car fetching a quarter mill. We're talking about the ZX, though admittedly, this particular car checks all the boxes for collectors.

The litany of the Datsun ZX's apparent crimes against humanity and the sports-car community at large have long been writ. The largest of these was that it went soft, losing the war on the waistline spread, and thus the purity of its sporting intent was tainted. Chasing the personal-luxury trend, settling on the lowest common denominator, moving out of the realm of pure sport and into the softer, more nebulous grand-touring market, selling out, getting fat, becoming domesticated, call it what you will: The ZX was no Z, and the hordes who remembered the Mr. K-led sporty days of Datsun were shocked when the comparatively squishy ZX was foisted upon them. T-tops, glittery faux-targa bars and comfort-tuned suspension were an affront to the spirit of the original Z. To be fair, Datsun was quite up front about the ZX's new mission as more of a GT car than the pure sports machine that the original Z was. But even though the body was all new, and far more aerodynamically efficient than the old one, it was hard to shake the notion of that shape as something other than the pure genre-busting sports car that won the hearts and minds of the budget-oriented '70s coupe market. Ask yourself which was more shocking at the dawn of the '80s: the ZX getting trounced by the new Mazda RX-7 in buff-book comparison testing, or it being compared with such grand touring stalwarts as the Pontiac Grand Prix in new-car tests? Even the arrival of the Turbo in had some enthusiasts wondering whether any real progress had been made over the past decade. The naturally aspirated ZX like the one seen on these pages was supposedly down on power, but do recall that this was the late '70s: Everything was down on power.

280zx

Resembling its predecessors' exteriors, the Z-Car sported a new chassis and a markedly luxurious interior. The ZX was powered by a 2. In , it added an available T-top roof that was commonplace by the end of the year. The ZX was the first time the "by Nissan" subscript was badged alongside the Datsun logo. It was replaced by the Z31 Nissan ZX in Showing 24 of related listings. Sell Your Car. Your Markets. Your Vehicles.

Road conditions for i-75

The bumpers were now also body coloured and wrapped around further. For normal driving, typical of what you'd do on public roads, the ZX is well behaved. Drive's Best Cars. The TR7 has been brought to its knees temporarily because of labor problems in England, but it will be back in full strength by spring, bringing along with it the V-8 powered TR8, which will surely set the performance pace for this class. Trending CarAdvice. The early Zs' admirable interior and exterior restraint gave way to chrome galore, chintzy body decorations and seats covered in the sort of velour you'd find in a crook nightclub. We've had plenty of opportunity to explore these limits because Datsun previewed its new models for the press well before public introduction and, to maintain security, our driving was confined to Portland International Raceway. The GL package was also available for the two-seater, carrying the full equipment list. Ligier Nissan DPi. The 2. Buying Advice. Sign In or Sign Up. It was also the first fuel-injected Datsun sold in Australia.

The '80s were interesting times for performance cars. Group B rally meant a heap of awesome homologation specials were hitting the streets, while a fierce DTM championship gave us cars like the first-generation BMW M3.

Semi-trailing arms are everywhere these days. We're talking about the ZX, though admittedly, this particular car checks all the boxes for collectors. The ZX was a complete redesign, retaining only the L28 inline-six engine and other driveline components from the Z. Compared to the more overtly sporting earlier models, the ZX was a much softer, heavier car, with less focus on driving and more on driver comfort and refinement. Significant results include:. The ZX Turbo manual had a mph time of 7. In , a limited edition "10th anniversary" car was released. The T-bar roof panels could be removed and stored in bags in the rear of the car. Available in either black and gold or black and red two-tone paint, these cars came with leather seating, and other special trim features. The ZX adopted suspension similar to that of the concurrent Bluebird , with MacPherson struts in front and semi-trailing arm independent suspension in the rear. Article Talk. The release of the turbocharged model in saw the introduction of a revised rear suspension, which Nissan continued to use in the and turbos, as well as the non-turbo from mid onward. Skip to Content Research Cars. These cars were identical to the other cars of this year with the exception of the spoiler and decal package. The Z always was a slick shifter, and that virtue continues in the ZX.