In summer 2024 I sold my black TT import that I had put a lot of time and money in to but never really clicked with it. I was expecting to go off and find another car and have fun working on.

But I couldn’t shake the 300ZX bug.

I don’t think there’s another car out there with as much bang for the buck and you just don’t see them around anymore.

So I started looking for a new one. I knew my budget wouldn’t stretch that far so was looking for a project of sorts, but not one that was too far gone.

A lot of the cars I was looking at were too expensive or too far gone.

While putting the feelers out, I got a message from John who had a white, UK Twin Turbo sat in his garage that had been off the road for a while.

One evening a few weeks back I went down to view it, it was about 2 hours from where I live and if I’m honest I thought it could be an option but had another one lined up to view a few days later as I was concerned about how rough it would be.

So, turned on the sellers driveway and it was sat in the garage and looked way better than I expected! It’s not perfect but is a really honest, genuine car. Only 4 owners, has been owned by the current one since 2011 and has barely covered 15k miles since 2004.

Started up on the money, ran smoother than my old one and I was sold!

It has no MOT, needs some TLC and maintenance but I’m very excited to own another one and bring this one back to life!

It arrives tomorrow on a truck, I’ll post more photos, give some more info about it and go over my plans for the car. I’ll use this as a blog to show progress.

😁😁😁

Edited October 4Oct 4 by RobHowl

Very happy for you, I remember seeing your fb post and thinking he’s got no chance with that budget 🤣but you’ve done really well it seems! Keep us updated and more pics please.

Congrats on your UK spec purchase. If you care to PM me the VIN I will add the car to the UK specs database I'm building and also give you the factory build date and specs.

On 05/10/2025 at 12:01, Raja93 said:

Very happy for you, I remember seeing your fb post and thinking he’s got no chance with that budget 🤣but you’ve done really well it seems! Keep us updated and more pics please.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy but was hoping there would be someone out there looking for a quick and easy sale!

I’m very happy with it, needs some work and some money spent but will be a cracking car when it’s squared away! A keeper!

On 05/10/2025 at 18:57, AndrewG said:

Congrats on your UK spec purchase. If you care to PM me the VIN I will add the car to the UK specs database I'm building and also give you the factory build date and specs.

Thanks Andrew, PM sent!

Build date July '90 and number 375 of 1548 UK Specs.

Looks like a good investment Rob - and I love those Azev A wheels..... I had them on my old red Zed, they really suit these cars well....🤩

So I’ve got a couple of body shops coming to quote for the rust and then I’m going to tackle the subframe and clean it up. It’s primarily surface rust but looks tatty.

The car is on about 76k miles. Starts on the button and sounds smooth with a deep exhaust note, which is great!

The car seems to have lived in Essex and Kent only, and has had just 4 owners before me. I’ve got a good history with the car, including a receipt when it was sold in the late 90’s for £15,000!

I changed the battery in the fob and the remote central locking works too! Another win!

The interior is really clean and in fantastic condition. I have the straps and bags for the targa tops and the tool kit is all present and in very good condition. Dials all works, everything inside seems to work (controls and all that!) but AC doesn’t. I’ll take it and have it checked for leaks and try and re-gas but that’s way down the line!

The clock even works! I’m very happy about that! 😂

I have no idea about seals for the targa too and windows but they all look quite healthy. Scuttle tray is good, engine bay looks good and standard, nothing standing out as an issue! It does have xenon’s retro fitted which I’ll remove.

So on to the not so good stuff and the first things on my list to fix

1. Rust. Body shop will tackle the sills. Rears need totally doing and fronts need rubbing back and spraying before they get any worse but are currently ok. Rear arches also need a rub back and a paint but look intact!

2. Service. It badly needs a new belt service so I’ll get a 60k done when the rust has been dealt with. There’s one body shop close by with a good garage who will tackle that for me at the same time so it’ll save me trailering it about!

3. Brakes. Needs new pads and discs all round but that’s not surprise.

4. Gearbox. Is a bit noisy in neutral so I’m hoping this is simply a clutch release bearing but I’ll give it a service and see how it goes. It drive really well, clutch is nice, gearbox is smooth and not crunchy, easy to change gears too so I’m happy it’s quite healthy.

The bodywork in general looks really good for its age. I think it may have had a sprayed boot lid at some point but all in all it looks good! I’ve got a spoiler to fit and I’ll get the body shop to do that when they are doing the rust repair.

Can’t wait to get it on the road!

A couple of others that didn’t upload