- Hi, I'm Steve Haas
and this my 1996 Nissan 300ZX.
- And I'm Matt Nelson
and this is my 1996 Nissan 300ZX.
(rock music)
- This model of the Nissan Z was introduced in 1989.
It's known as the Z32.
Personally, I think the styling of this car
is pretty timeless.
They still look modern today
26 years after they were first introduced.
(engines revving)
- I bought this car on Ebay about three months ago.
I was not looking for a car
and my boss, Steve,
whose been in the industry a lot longer than I has,
keeps telling me how great the car is.
I just happened to put a bid on one
and I went back and forth with the buyer on the same day.
In about 45 minutes,
I went from not wanting to buy a car
to, oh crap I have a car.
And I had been looking for one for a while
and wanted a 2+2 with backseats cause I have kids
and couldn't find a good, clean one
with a manual transmission.
And about a month after Matt found his,
I found mine.
They handle great,
they're very well balanced cars.
They have good power.
This non-turbo model had 222 horsepower.
The turbos had 300 horsepower.
They're rear-wheel drive.
These are both five speed manual transmission.
The turbo cars added four wheel steering
which makes them a little more complex to own
as they age.
- We know all the reasons why you shouldn't own a turbo.
- Yeah, and then the one reason you should
is the 300 horsepower.
- Well.
- But they're fun, and smooth,
and comfortable cars to live with everyday.
- It is impressive how smooth it is
for a 90's car.
No mechanical issues with either of our cars
so they run fantastic.
Yeah, yeah I love it.
(rock music)
(engines accelerating)
- The black car here is slightly longer
than the white car cause it has back seats.
But you'd really be hard pressed to tell
unless you had them next to one another.
The early versions of the Z32's are now 25 years old
and it's I remember them like yesterday
when they were introduced.
Matt doesn't.
- I don't.
(chuckles)
- But to me,
I think it's a timeless design
and one of the more attractive cars from this era.
- I'm gonna be slowly restoring mine,
kind of.
I've already replaced the window moulding here
'cause it was in the Florida son
and it all baked off.
I had to replace those.
I've replaced the front cowls
'cause they were all baked up, too.
I'll eventually probably take the dents out of it
and repaint it.
It's got a whole bunch of rock chips in it
'cause mine was a daily driver.
But apart from that,
I think I'm just gonna enjoy it
for the next couple of years.
And then when they do go up in price,
which they will,
eventually trying to see what I can get from it.
Move on to my next one.
(rock music)
- I like these when they were new
and now that they're getting a little bit older,
I'm enjoying the depreciation of these cars.
Unlike Matt,
I'll probably sell it right before they go up in value
which if typically my modus operandi.
We'll see what I want to do with this car.
My kids love it.
They like driving around in it.
My seven year old loves it
and he likes the back seats,
which I think you have to be under the age of 10
to fit in there.
But it works really well for my needs right now.
In our part of the business,
we deal with a lot of very valuable cars
and it's a nice reminder that there's a lot of fun to be had
in collector car well under $10,000.
Something that is fun to drive,
that looks nice,
that starts conversations when you stop for gas.
It's easy to live with
but it puts a smile on your face
when drive it everyday.
And that's what cars like this do.