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From the archives: It’s improved overall and in every detail, but it’s unlikely to send any competing designers back to their drawing boards.

Three months ago we previewed Nissan’s all-new 1984 300-ZX in a story by Randolph Beckman. We hadn’t seen the car itself but Mr Beckman had participated in a public opinion survey conducted by Nissan in southern Califor­nia to assess the new ZX’s marketability. He was extremely ob­servant and in addition to providing most of the details was able to transmit his visual impressions of its lines through the skills of Mark Stehrenberger, working in “police artist” fashion. Now that we’ve been to Japan to see and drive the 300-ZX we can report that this preview was essentially accurate (except, perhaps, for the cover painting, which made the car look much leaner than it is).

If you liked the 280ZX, you’ll love the 300. As its number suggests, it has a 3.0-liter engine; to make a blanket assessment, we could say that it’s a good 10 percent improved in most de­partments, a bit less so in some. On the other hand, if you were lukewarm about the old ZX the new model is unlikely to turn you around. It’s a conservative update, different in every detail but significantly unchanged in character.

This story originally appeared in the November 1983 issue of Road & Track.

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The reasons for this are obvious. The 240/260/280Z and 280ZX created and developed the mid-range GT concept into a highly profitable market, retaining sports car behavior but giv­ing more and more emphasis on comfort and luxury. Since 1970 Nissan has sold nearly three-quarters of a million Z and ZX models in the U.S., with annual sales in the 70,000 category (though slipping a bit in 1981-1982). Such cars as the Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra, while making technical and perfor­mance challenges to the Nissan product, haven’t been really close in sales. Nissan management has done what could be rea­sonably predicted for any successful product line: provide more of the same.

Nissan has kept the size, weight, luxury equipment and basic handling characteristics of the 280ZX while achieving moderate gains in efficiency and refinement; a big improvement in straight-line performance with the V-6 engine, especially in top speed; and an updated appearance, different in contour and de­tail but retaining the familiar Z-car look. As we neared our mag­azine deadline, Nissan was still determining the actual mix of 300-ZX models and equipment to be available in the U.S. Be­cause of the import quotas Nissan has decided not to bring in the base 2-seat model, originally targeted at $13,000, under­standably preferring to sell more cars in the higher brackets. The GL and GLL models shown to us in Japan have been consoli­dated under the GS designation, with a base price for the non ­turbo 2-seater estimated at $17,000 and a fully optioned 2-seat Turbo at around $21,000. The 2 + 2 is priced between these two.

Standard on all cars for the U.S., the GS configuration in­cludes air conditioning, electric window lifts, tilt steering wheel, 8-way manually adjustable seats, AM/FM stereo/cassette audio system, cruise control and alloy wheels. Body styles available are the 2-seater, with normally aspirated or turbo engine; and the 2 + 2, available only with the normally aspirated unit; while either engine can be mated with a 5-speed manual gearbox or 3-speed-plus-overdrive automatic. For the first three months of production (approximately 15,000 units) no T-bar roofs will be made; after that, all ZXs will have the T roof, shown in our exclusive cover photo, as standard equipment (collectors take note). The only equipment option is the interior package com­prising leather upholstery, digital instrumentation, electric seat control, compass, accelerometer, trip computer (miles-to-empty, instant mpg and average mpg), special audio system, auto­matic temperature control, rear cargo compartment cover, driver’s vanity mirror, woodgrain accent panels and bronze-tint­ed window glass; exterior features include accent striping and an electronically defogging mirror. The 3-way adjustable shock ab­sorbers come only with the turbo engine.

While Werner Buhrer’s styling analysis provides a detailed look at the exterior solutions (and can be compared with what he did on the 240Z back in April 1970), the philosophy of Nis­san’s styling department needs to be mentioned. Given the task of creating an all-new body while retaining the 280ZX concept, the General Manager of Studio No. 2, Isao Sano, was successful in keeping the familiar proportions (so successful that when seen alone from certain angles, especially three-quarter rear, the 300-ZX does not seem much different) while revising every inch of the surface. The new car is more contemporary in appearance (maybe early-Eighties but certainly not mid-Eighties) and has a crisper, more aggressive front end, but it still has the heavy flanks that characterized the older ZX and detract from an efficient, really sporting image. But the 300-ZX looks substantial and luxurious and that’s what counts.

Summing up this 3rd-generation Z-car, the simplest phrase might be: The same—only more so. It’s improved overall and in every detail, but it’s unlikely to send any competing designers back to their drawing boards. The 1st-generation Z lasted 8 1/2 years (1970-1978), the 2nd-generation ZX only five, and we wonder how long this conservatively updated 3rd-generation ZX car will last in an ever more competitive market. Its excel­lent V-6 engine is certainly a strong point, but the car’s structure and styling are not up to the state of the art. When we learned that the competitively priced 2-seat SF version wasn’t going to be brought into the U.S. we were concerned about what Nissan would do to attract less affluent, younger buyers to its GT line in the future (especially if the quotas are removed), but there is a new version of the 200SX—closer to the ZX in character than the SX is currently-reported to be in the works, and it may serve that purpose.