Although it was descended from the iconic 240Z, the Nissan 300ZX was a very different beast. Where the 240Z was more of a hardened sports car, the 300ZX was designed to be more of a sports tourer. This 1986 300ZX appears to have lead a fairly sheltered existence and is now ready to find a new home. The 300ZX, which is located in Henderson, Nevada, is listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding for the Nissan has only reached $1,300, and I’m sure that it won’t shock you to learn that the reserve hasn’t been met.

If you harbored an overwhelming desire to own a 300ZX when they were new, but couldn’t buy one for whatever reason, then it isn’t too late. This one has covered a genuine and documented 32,000 miles. Wherever you look on the car, you could be forgiven for thinking that you are looking at a virtually new car. The car isn’t perfect, but it also isn’t very far off it. After zooming in on the supplied photos, I did manage to find a couple of stone chips on the front bumper. That really seems to be about the extent of it. The panels are straight, the paint has a great shine and depth to it, the T-Top looks like it’s in great condition, and the original alloy wheels have managed to avoid the staining and tarnishing that could plague these cars quite badly.

Okay, so it isn’t a Turbo. I’m sure that some of you will be disappointed by that, but I’m not. The non-turbo 300ZX only produced 160hp to the Turbo’s 200hp, but the standard 300ZX was also some 70lbs lighter, which tends to assist the performance. It still isn’t a jet, but it is definitely acceptable for its designed purpose. The 2,960cc V6 engine sends its power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission. To me, that’s a pretty significant selling point. The majority of 300ZXs were built with an automatic transmission, but that slick 5-speed is a joy to use, and greatly improves the car’s overall performance. This 300ZX is fitted with power steering, power brakes, and air conditioning. Once again, the appearance of the engine bay is very impressive.

If any single aspect of a Nissan of this age is likely to disappoint, the condition of the interior will often be the culprit. The plastic and cloth trim of this era was prone to some pretty appalling deterioration. Not in this Nissan, though. Once again, it really does look like it has just driven off the showroom floor. I hesitate to use the word perfect, but it really isn’t far off it. The dash is clean, there are no cracks or rips visible, and it appears to be original and unmodified. It also features one of my all-time favorite accessories, the “Bodysonic Sound System.” Think of this as a precursor to the subwoofer. You can see a couple of rotary controls on the console just in front of the lid. Those controlled the volume of your music fed to speakers in each of the seats. This allowed you to “feel” your music, as well as to hear it. Pretty cool feature, that.

So, now we come to the crunch. What is this 1986 300ZX really worth? On average, it is possible to find a nice example of the 1986 300ZX for around the $8,000 mark. If you want an immaculate car, then you need to find something closer to $12,000. Having said that, you do get the occasional blip on the radar that will sell for more. Given the condition and the documented low mileage, I really wouldn’t be surprised to see this one sell for close to $12,000. Still, that’s a lot less than the $17,250 you would have spent to buy the car back in 1986.