The first of two Z-car generations to bear the 300ZX name, the Z31 could never shake off the “luxury” image of its predecessor. This was partly a deliberate move from Nissan, as the previous car was a consistently strong seller and bosses were reluctant to mess with the basic design too much for fear of alienating buyers. This is most evident in its styling but also partly in its performance — while it was faster than the outgoing car, it wasn’t hugely so, with the 300ZX Turbo clocking a 0-60 mph time of 7.1 seconds, according to TFLCar.
Still, in top-spec form, it was one of the faster cars in its class at the time, and handling was improved over the old car, too. The 280ZX had introduced a focus on in-car technology, and that theme continued with the Z31, which boasted cutting-edge features like climate control, a g-meter, and cruise control. While it remained relatively successful in terms of sales, by the end of its production run, it was becoming increasingly dated compared to its rivals. A radical overhaul was needed, which came in the form of the Z32 300ZX.
[Featured image by Elise240SX via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
