Fairwell, Fairlady Z.

This week I bid adieux to another of my childhood favorites, my 1993 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo.  I spent the last 3 years tweaking it, upgrading it, and making it better than what it was when I bought it (as I tend to do in this expensive hobby.) But the time - and the right buyer - had come along. A little background for context:

Like a recurring dream, and because I can't seem to live for very long without a Japanese sports car from the '90s, I searched long and hard for my Z for nearly a year in 2016.  In fact, it was my second go around with the Z32 generation, as I had a 1995 Twin Turbo back in 2011.  The 1990-1996 300ZX (or "Fairlady" as it's known in Japan) was among the first of the golden era of Japanese sports cars that turned the automotive world on its head upon its debut. It is also among the last to have avoided the hyper inflation in market values that its rivals have enjoyed on the secondary market, namely because it outsold all of the others by a factor of 10. Rarity, as a collector's item, was never in its favor; until recently.

Now clean examples of Twin Turbo Z's with manual transmissions have been regularly noted as a good buy, and due for appreciation. After letting go of my '95 Z prematurely due to some back issues, I really wanted to pick one up again - almost as if I had unfinished business with this car.  So I found this clean '93 west coast car with 79K miles, good service history, and only minor issues to sort out.  It was a perfect start for what I had already mapped out for it to become. "OEM plus" is the philosophy I follow when it comes to deciding what to restore, and what to upgrade. Essentially that means to do nothing more than improve upon the given strengths of the car, and address its known weak points just enough to make it feel like your finished product is how the car should have come from the factory in the first place, had they allowed for a little higher budget than they did.

And so I set out by having the suspension refreshed with new springs, shocks and other related bits, as well as new rubber on a set of four wide OEM rear wheels on all corners. I had all of the requisite maintenance done by the best shop in the country, Specialty Z, along with new shift plate, bushings and a few more breather upgrades to help the turbos out a bit. After a conservative tune, the car dyno'ed with 10% more horsepower and torque than it had when it came out of the factory 26 years ago.  And because I value the sound of music nearly as much as a honed exhaust note, I brought the in-car-entertainment up to current day standards as well.  The car was completely sorted, planted, and a great example of how an old car can hold its own in today's automotive world.

With relatively low miles on board, I enjoyed the Z as mainly a weekend car with the occasional weekday jaunt to the office. So why did I sell? Well I originally intended to keep this car to enjoy for several more years which is why I spared no expense to do everything the right way. But alas, with a new baby at home, priorities have shifted and the Z had taken a back seat in life for over a year. (Ironic because it doesn't have a back seat, but I digress.) Coupled with the market growing stronger for these cars, as are many desirable models from the era, it made sense to see for myself if the demand was there.

Another passionate Z32 enthusiast from across the country reached out to me, and within a couple of days, we worked out a deal.  He flew across country for just the right car - mine - and he was ecstatic with what he saw in person.  Likewise, I was very happy my car was going to a good home, where it will be well looked after and continue its service for years to come.  That sort of thing never really affected me before, but for some reason it did this time around.  I'm still mulling through why that might be...

"Can you just wait another 16 years, daddy?"

I was quite sad when I saw the Z hoisted up onto the flatbed truck that came to pick it up, ready for transport to a trailer for the cross-country voyage.  But I have to turn the page soon, lest I dwell in my melancholy mood for too long.  So what's next? Those who know me know that I don't go without my sports car fix for too long. And I do indeed have a couple of other ideas percolating for what the next super coupe will be for me, but that's going to have to wait until life settles down a little bit more.  Until then, long live the Z.

Fairwell, fairlady. I do hope we meet again.