Nissan 300ZX. Made from 1984 through 2000, with two body styles. The Z31 ran '84 through '89, and then the Z32 ran until 2000. I liked the Z31 better, although the Z32 came with a convertible option. I'm thinking it's because the Z31 was current when I came of driving age; plus I came very close to buying one off the brother of a friend (right up until my friend hipped me to the fact that the frame had serious rot issues...)
A light, twin-turbo six cylinder in a sporty rear wheel drive car with a five-speed manual transmission? Yes, please. Add in T-roofs, ground effects, and nice wheels, and the "Z" had the requisite looks for the '80s to go along with the horsepower. With its only Japanese rival the Toyota Supra, the 300ZX was the counter-argument to the ubiquitous Mustangs and Camaros.
Man, whatever you do, don't look for them online... So tempting...
That is all.
9 comments:
That little hood scoop in front of the driver was cool, too - it gave just that little bit of "cutting edge" sci-fi like asymmetry.
Argh! Stop that! I had just put the Z lust down for a nap.
This was the first car I saw which conveyed the message "yes, it's possible for a car to look cool, without having to be at least 20 years older than you are". (This being before, of course, I discovered the sort of European sports car that seemingly only exists in poster form. Some might also make exceptions for the Trans-Am, but I don't, considering that it needed a cylon light, a voice, a personality, a full team of TV action writers, a stunt crew, and the ability to drive itself at 300mph to be cool. :) )
Yes, there are things about the 80s that I miss. The cars (with very few exceptions, this being at the top of the list) are not among them. :)
I would add a Mitsubishi Starion. Turbo 4 cyl and good handling.
The original 240 Fairlady was THE car to get back into the states though... :-)
How about a Mazda RX7?
Vote number 2 for the RX-7. Mine was a total BLAST!
FormerFlyer
The RX-7 was there with looks and the performance. They were all left behind by that little Mitsubishi/Dodge Colt GTS that had the "hi/lo performance" gearbox in addition to the 5 speed hooked up to the turbo that with a little tuning could double the stock output of the 1.6L engine. The HP to weight ratio made a tuned GTS one of the quickest and fastest things from the land of the rising sun. But the GTS was butt ugly.
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