Posts Tagged ‘japanese’

Lost in a Forest – 1990 Infiniti Q45

May 3, 2016

Some of you – those who remember far away things like a Western movie actor as president – might remember one of the most confusing advertising campaigns for a car ever. It didn’t involve any actual pictures of cars, and in that sense, you have to admit they were successfully conveying the message that they were doing a full-on right turn on the concept of a luxury car. Again, for those of you who don’t recall the Reagan days, the Japanese did not make luxury cars – they made appliances with AM radios and vinyl seats that you drove to your crappy job until they broke and then threw away. So while Acura was the first to do the Japanese luxury thing, Lexus and Infiniti really broke the mold by envisioning their cars as true competitors to Mercedes and BMW. Nonetheless, depreciation does not discriminate like many luxury car buyers did back then, and that means there are not many good examples of the more interesting mold-breaker. Check out this 1990 Infiniti Q45 for sale for $2900 in Santa Clara, CA.

1990 Infiniti Q45 aspen forest

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He Named Me Molalla – 1985 Mazda RX-7

April 11, 2016

Mazda’s RX-7 was arguably one of the first proper, modern-era sports cars. Debuting at a time where most affordable sports cars had roots solidly in the sixties or even fifties (just look at Triumph’s Spitfire, or Alfa’s twincam engine), the Hiroshima-built sports car sported a design that referenced Porsche’s 924 among others, and a modern version of the rotary powerplant, the Mazda version of which only debuted in the market in 1965. The smooth, revvy nature of the engine made it a natural engine for a sports car, and its fuel consumption was less of an issue for buyers of those cars than the rotary-powered family sedans Mazda sold in the 1970s. Let’s take a look at this 1985 Mazda RX-7 for sale for $3000 in Molalla, OR.

1985 Mazda RX-7 right front

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Oddly Bland – 1989 Nissan Maxima

March 26, 2016

Back in the late 1980s, Nissan’s Maxima moved from being a mushy competitor to the “best” GM had to offer, to a car they promoted as the 4DSC or four-door sports car. Gone were the first and second-generation cars’ Toyota Cressida-mimicking styling and talking-car phonograph system, replaced by sportier contemporary styling and an optional 190hp VG30 V6 engine starting in 1991. While the lower-spec (non-SE) cars retained some of the plushness of their predecessors, there was nothing like the tufted pillow-top seats available on earlier cars. With that stunning introduction, let’s take a look at this 1989 Nissan Maxima RHD for sale for $2900 in Broward County, FL.

1989 Nissan Maxima RHD interior

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