Since Nissan’s Z sports car started to go the way of the boulevard in the late 1970s, and had fully arrived there by the mid-1980s, they’re not too interesting for a major part of the car-loving population. However, they (along with a number of other Japanese, German and American cars) were the subject of top-chopping efforts by various small coachbuilders. One of the most famous and prolific was Straman, who converted everything from Hondas to Ferraris. Check out this 1984 Nissan 300ZX Straman convertible for sale for $2400 in Daly City, CA.
This car has been covered by several car sites, but generally at a $4000ish price and sometimes listed in southern California. So you’ll want to approach this listing with a grain of salt in hand. That said, at either price it’s cheap access to having a head-turner at any Japanese car show. And you can be fairly certain a Straman car has been properly engineered, so as long as it’s still in good condition and has had no accidents, this should be like owning a Nissan-designed and built convertible.
There are certainly some features on this car that suggest the influence of a white powder popular in the 1980s, or perhaps just a Miami-based crime show. Either way, all those things are easily changed, and a return to stock spec for the wheels (or something else from the 1980s), along with a stock better-looking steering wheel, might just do the trick to reduce the super-1980s impression this car makes.
Also curious is the line, “my friend is a collector and he loaned us this car after we sold ours to move out of state”. Common practice in most cultures does not include selling borrowed property, so some clarification is needed here. So yes, there are definitely some questions to be asked, but at this price, it’s worth asking them.
Tags: 300zx, convertible, Feature, japanese, nissan, straman
Rusty But Trusty 
April 29, 2014 at 6:13 am |
The seats have been re-done on the cheap too. I had a couple of these in non convertible form many years ago and they were great. I’m with you; $2400 is a gift if the car is on the up & up.