History
For a long time, the Z32 300ZX was a car that I had admired and wanted to own. Unlike some other cars I was passionate about (say the Lamborghini Countach), the Z32 was a car that I could conceivably obtain in my lifetime. I had even looked at purchasing a rolling wreck of a Z31 as a project car but had not gone ahead.
Once I had a company vehicle, I got it in to my head that I should buy myself a "weekend car" - something fun to drive. Originally on my budget of about $10,000 I was looking at the ST204R ZX Celica, but when I went to a dealer on Parramatta road and saw that they had a Z32 for $11,000, I decided that I had to own one of these cars.
The $11k car I test drove was a standard Australian naturally aspirated car and it was in shocking condition but I started looking at other Z32s on the market. I also convinced myself to spend more and pick up an imported twin-turbo. The main features I wanted were the twin-turbo, the targa roof and the four seater (even though the rear seats are only useful for midgets with no legs).
I had decided on a red Z32 for $23,000 but at the last minute I changed to this vehicle, picking it up for $25,000. The previous owner had done a lot of body work to the car and a few of the regular rev-head mods. Sadly this had left the car with a couple of problems including a non-functional odometre and a very loud clutch at idle.
I only owned the car for about nine months. My wife (girlfriend at the time) hated it (mainly for the noise and the frivilous investment of funds that it represented). I sunk more money in to it to add more features and resolve issues and overall the thing became your typical money pit.
Sure it was fun to drive, and I garnered a lot of attention. I even managed to obliterate a Supra in a drag off at the lights (I was young and stupid yes) but the car just kept wanting more money.
Although I had originally purchased the car as a weekender, a change in jobs meant that it had suddenly become my daily drive, and the heavy racing clutch was getting pretty brutal in peak hour traffic. In the end I decided to cut my loses (which were substantial), sell the car and move on to something a little more practical.
Modifications
By the time I was done with is, the car was sporting the following modifications:
- High flow 3" Mandrel Bent exhaust with twin stainless steel mufflers
- High flowed turbos
- Full face organic sports clutch
- Blow off valves
- HKS air filter
- Koni adjustable suspension
- 3 piece 17" Evolution chrome wheels
- Body kit with custom bonnet by Unique Autosports
- GReddy boost controller
- GReddy turbo timer
- Indiglow dash guages
- Apexi boost guage
- Momo steering wheel
- CD/DVD/VCD/MP3 head unit with 7" screen
- 6x9" rear speakers in custom pods with LED lighting
- Alarm with automatic window closing
