Had a brain wave (with several echoes :D ). I reckon (and I do!) that the reason zeds can be bought on a BOGOF basis, is mainly because usually people wanting a supercar (like a Zed is) see it as a display of wealth/power. The branding that goes with a supercar is all-important to most people - names like Ferrari, Porsche etc. are as important (or more so) to them than the actual car. A NISSAN has no cache wrt wealth/reputation with general public and this makes them considerably cheaper.

It's a bit like buying Champagne for a wedding - you want the best name, not a really good value one which is underrated and tastes almost as good as the best. The name is king for a supercar.

 

Also, there is even less cache in driving an old Z. So price has to drop further for people who can afford to run them as they use a fair amount of juice and are generally not too cheap to maintain.

Its because they cost so much to run and Nissan are not well known for sports cars.

 

Most people know of the Supra and Toyota are better known for making sports cars, with Celica series, MR2 series, Supra series and others which I cant think off, but all makes are well known.

Mitsubish has more of a pedagree with sports cars, Lancer Evo series, Starion, GTO, FTO and even the Galant which also came out in a turbo version.

 

What as Nissan got? The Z series where most people think they stopped that by the 70's and most dont know the 300ZX existed.

Pulsar, which is a Turbo Sunny, not many around and have a bad reputation of being a boy racer car.

Skyline, not that known outside Japan and out side of car fans. Ask an every day person about a Skyline and they would never heard of it. As a person about a Celica or MR-2 and they know what you mean. Ask them about a FTO and they know what you mean. But ask the average Jo who makes a Skyline, ZX or Pulsar and they would most probably not know.

 

When people go out to look for a fast car, they dont think of 300ZX cos they may not know about it, so prices are lower to entice people to buying them.

Also the market is now saturated with imports. So really the price of ZX are so cheap in the UK is because the Imports are cheap.

In the US a TT will still go for $14,000 to $25,000. I read one post of some one importing a 2+2 TT (Very rare in the US) from Japan for and it cost him less than $8,000 and they where gobsmacked, but didnt like the idea of right hand drive.

 

 

I think Nissan have cut off thier own nose in the UK. These powerful cars are here, but they are not advertiesed, so no knows of them. In the US there where about 8 different adverts for the 300ZX, the where 0 in the UK. I have seen 4 or so different ones for the 350Z, and I bet none are shown over here.

 

 

When I was looking for a new car, I looked at the 200SX and I know that there was a Nissan 300 something and nothing else.

 

Stuart

Hmmm,

 

I think the press have a fair amount to answer for here - Nissan's have always come in for a slating, usually unfairly (just look at recent JC incident on Top Gear!) ....

 

It's hard to believe that the Japanese company that started it all with the 240Z, cannot be synonomous with sports cars, isn't it. Yet time and again, there seems to be an assumption in the mass motoring press that Nissan's are going to be awful, until proven otherwise.

 

TBH, in relation to other contemporary Japanese sports cars, they aren't that cheap ... I mean, how much would you pay for a 1991 GTO for example - no more than a Z, I'd say - the same is true of RX-7s now. Supras only arrived much later in the day ('93, I think).

 

Actually, Stuart, I do think that 300zx did feature in the "you can with a nissan" ad campaign, albeit not on it's own; I seem to remember it was a blue one, with a hook line about a Nissan making your jaw drop. In general, however, you do make a very valid point about lack of advertising, and it now seems that Nissan are determined to make it as hard as possible for us to get the 350, when and how we might want it. So well done everyone at Nissan!

 

Ho Hum, I guess that, for those of us in the know (having not been swayed by the hype) it means we can get one helluva a car for a bargain price .... sweet!:D

 

It's also usually the case that most people are scared off what they don't know, and how many average people can identify a 300zx without reading the badge?

I believe that Nissan make quite a few cars, whereas most of the other 'super-cars' tend to be made by small producers. These smaller producers promote the 'exclusivity' of their products, and you don't get to see many of them around. Hence, they seem more desirable.

 

It's a numbers thing allied to the fact that although the Western World thinks of Japanese products as being reliable and technically 'cutting edge', we do not think of them as being particularly good stylists. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my ZX, but parked next to a Lambo? Hmmmmm....

 

2p

many years ago, im SURE there was an ad on tv, promoting the entire range of nissan's, and at the very end, it had a shot of the 300 cruising(very slowly) along the promenade (french riviera) or something, with a lot of knobs done up like kippers wearing tuxes, gawking at it - anyone remember???

 

vicky x x

Originally posted by x-biker

It's a numbers thing allied to the fact that although the Western World thinks of Japanese products as being reliable and technically 'cutting edge', we do not think of them as being particularly good stylists. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my ZX, but parked next to a Lambo? Hmmmmm....

 

2p

 

 

Yes but there you are compairing a what originally cost £30,000 Japanese production line made car, against a £180,000 hand built Italian car.

 

And even look at the old Countash. That is ugly as hell and the preformance it not that much, if any, better than the ZX.

 

Stuart

Originally posted by SRRAE

And even look at the old Countash. That is ugly as hell and the preformance it not that much, if any, better than the ZX.

 

sorry, but i loved those cars when they come out & still think the last of them looked the mutts. (1st produced in '73/4 iirc - what a car!!!) :D

Originally posted by SRRAE

Yes but there you are compairing a what originally cost £30,000 Japanese production line made car, against a £180,000 hand built Italian car.

 

And even look at the old Countash. That is ugly as hell and the preformance it not that much, if any, better than the ZX.

 

Stuart

 

 

What I am trying to get at (very badly - it's been one of those days) is that we do not think of the Japanese as being particularly innovative in the design stakes (rightly or wrongly) Japanese products are usually seen as a copy (albeit improved) of the original. Therefore we do not equate Japanese items with the sort of high values/costs that we do for european designed things.

 

I'm sure a Japanese quartz watch is extreemly accurate......but it aint no Rolex! (I know, I hate Rolex's too, but it's the way the world sees it) How many phrases do we use in every day speech that extole the virtues of European craftsmanship ("built like a German tank" "accurate as a Swiss watch", "straight as a Roman road") Can you think of any that relate to Japanese products? Other than negatives?

 

What it boils down to is that our Z's are cheap coz there's lots of them around (compared to Countach's, Diabolo's, 360's and 555's) and they do not have the same 'hand-built by craftsman' image.

 

(oh, and I think the Countach is a BEAUTIFUL car in a brutish sort of way - don't care about the performance, its a Lambo.......see my point?)

just a little hijacking here folks, IF you had the cash, would you go for countach or testarossa???

 

vicky x x

How many times have you been asked by people"what is it".

I was shocked in the past to be asked the question and had to show people the steering wheel emblem before they believed me,a lot of this badge engineering rubbish (car is debadged).

:(

Originally posted by silverzed

just a little hijacking here folks, IF you had the cash, would you go for countach or testarossa???

 

vicky x x

 

 

Neither - if I had to choose a 70's supercar it would have to be a 911 turbo(and this is coming from someone who hates porsches) - just on the grounds that I could drive it more than once without it breaking down:D

Originally posted by silverzed

just a little hijacking here folks, IF you had the cash, would you go for countach or testarossa???

 

vicky x x

Countach :D:D its still cool.

 

and what a load of rubbish, the z lable has loads and loads of motorsport heritage. More so than pretty much any other make around.

 

Just because its not popular in the UK does not mean its not popular in other countrys around the world.

 

12 year old cars of course becomke cheap, just like 99% of the other 12 year old mass produced cars.

Its not a super car its a grand touring car - look at 12 year olds supras, they are cheaper than 300zx same goes for rx7s they are cheaper, the problem with the z32 is that it is actually a generation behind the new supra and rx7 and yet it still is compared to them.

you dont buy these cars for resale, you buy them for what they represent. (and the 300zx was not placed in car of the year top 10 in the USA fro 6 years in a row for nothing.)

The only other possible reason for value is that it doesnt matter that the car is nearly twelve years old and cost then was considered moderately priced, it still costs the same nearly to run now as it did then and it was also only sold in very small amounts in the UK.There arent to many people willing to spend large amounts of money on a car that is that old and never really achieved notoriety-combined with the fact that the car does like a large amount of mullah just to keep rolling ;)- :D

Originally posted by silverzed

just a little hijacking here folks, IF you had the cash, would you go for countach or testarossa???

 

vicky x x

 

 

Countach, Countach, Countach. Love the bloody things. Don't care how heavy the clutch is, don't care how unreliable it is, don't care how old it is. It is beautiful.

 

Testarossa is Ok, but not my fave Ferrari model. Oh, and I don't have a pastel coloured suit or espedrills to go with it.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by 300z

Its not a super car its a grand touring car

 

What's the difference ? - not being funny.

Tricky one. If a McLaren F1 is a supercar, is a 300ZX also a supercar? I wouldn't mind betting that a 300 is really a sports car (or a GT) A Grand Tourer (GT) would surley be a DB7 or the like? Just guessing.:)

Originally posted by Nelson MainFella

What's the difference ? - not being funny.

I still reckon people associate Zs with Nissan Prarie's, Bluebird's, Cheery's etc; hence the disappointment on their faces when you tell them it's a Nissan !

 

Nissan should have taken a leaf out of Toyota's book and made the Z into a seperate brand. Lexus is only really Toyota, but nobody associates them with Starlets etc and the've now got kudos.

 

Z should be a seperate brand; and even better if they'd marketted the skylines under that same brand ! :rolleyes:

Originally posted by konrad

I still reckon people associate Zs with Nissan Prarie's, Bluebird's, Cheery's etc; hence the disappointment on their faces when you tell them it's a Nissan !

 

Nissan should have taken a leaf out of Toyota's book and made the Z into a seperate brand. Lexus is only really Toyota, but nobody associates them with Starlets etc and the've now got kudos.

 

Z should be a seperate brand; and even better if they'd marketted the skylines under that same brand ! :rolleyes:

 

Dont mess with starlets - just ask royztt:p

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/evo_data/knowledge/coupes.php

 

thats how they classify them

Originally posted by Nelson MainFella

What's the difference ? - not being funny.

 

 

Super car is light weight sacrifising comfort for praticality

 

Grand Tourer high power but sacrifises weight and thus performance for practicallity and comfort.

 

As for the Testarossa v Countash. I would have a Countash, I dont really rate Ferrari's they are common as much, sorry to say. I have seen maybe 5 or 6 Lamborghini in my whole life, while I have seen at least 5 Testarossa's well over 20 Ferrari 360 to name but a few.

 

 

But looking at Lamborghini prices, you can get a Diablo for just over £50,000 which is nearly a 1/4 of what it cost originally and a Countash for £36,000 which is over a 1/4 of its originall price, and these are high desirable Italian Supercars.

 

 

I would also agree with the Aston Martin V12 or Vanquish being a GT. It weighs over 2 tonnes for god sake. ;)

 

Stuart

I agree it's most definitely a GT in the same mould as a DB7 ... last year me and a few mates were lucky enough to blag our way in on an Aston Martin testing day at Millbrook ... the idea was to generate a few sales (sorry guys) ...

 

Anyway, after blasting around in a manual DB7 Vantage (yum), I came to the conclusion that it was a very similar overall package to my manual TT ... unfortunately, the blokes face dropped slightly when I told him that ... but it's true, albeit that the Aston had vastly superior brakes ... no fade when stamped on from 150!!

 

I always thought that the old definition of a super-car was a true 150mph plus motor; in which case it qualifies ... I know this is a bit out of date now, but there's nothing to stop a GT being a supercar, is there?

Its a very strange area as the 300ZX is said to be the first Supercar to come out of Japan.

Do you count the Porsche 911 as a Supercar? But the 300ZX will out perform it.

reason why i think they're cheap is because people are afraid of them, nearly every one ive taken out in mine said they love it and want one, BUT they're scared of the running costs of a 12 year old car.

 

also things have a value depending on what people are prepared to pay, it doesnt necessary mean its worth it. collectables such as swatch watches and pottery fetch silly money, purely because theres a demand. at the moment theres obviously no demand for 300zx's, u could pick up the phone and order a nice j import at the drop of a hat. when the demand outways the supply, thats when the price will go up. look at RS turbos s1, i sold mine for 3k 2 years ago and it was a banger. but the demand i had for it was amazing because they are so rare.

Originally posted by SRRAE

Its a very strange area as the 300ZX is said to be the first Supercar to come out of Japan.

Do you count the Porsche 911 as a Supercar? But the 300ZX will out perform it.

 

Hmm, good point Stuart ... perhaps it's more down to contemporary alternatives ... yes, I do think that each iteration of the 911 is/was a supercar, when compared to it's peers ... I don't think a 300 will out perform a 993 or a 996 unless modded, though ... definitely consider these as supercars right now ...

 

Even 964's that came out at the same time as the 300 were about on a par, I think ... so yes ...

if oyu look on the evo listings the porshe is in the same catagory the only porker that is in supercar sectiopn is ruf r and gt2?