DrDrilZ

the 300zx was and still is a beautiful car(inside and out). much more so than the new 350z (i used to have a 300zx tt and currently own a 350z). back when it was released in 1989, there was nothing like it. i loved the 93 rx-7 also. along with the first nsx, those 2 cars are the best looking cars to come out of japan, or anywhere for that matter. i also agree that when the sc300/400 came out, it was awesome. again, much nicer looking than the sc430 imo. maybe im just getting old

/Aerostar\

iTrader: (2)

wait up, which G35 are you talking about...the coupe or sedan?

because i think the coupe is just beautiful. while the sedan is..pretty bad

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

If you think Japanese designs are getting ugly, it just means you're getting old.

Styles change... we usually don't.

Anyone who thinks the bloated 'Z' two generations ago is better than today is nuts. Plus, if you ever DRIVE a car a couple of generations ago, you'll be amazed how BAD it seems usually.

cloudnine

Nah, who's saying the 1979-1989 300zx was beautiful? That was a p.o.s. We're contrasting the 240/260/280z and the Z of the 1990s to the 350z. On the other hand, of course today's cars work much better that the oldies.

LexFather

I think the 300ZX looks better than the 350Z and FAR from ugly.

THINGS HAVE CHANGED

1. SUVs, the designers are making cars bigger like SUVs with SUV features,
like these huge wheel arches,
little windows and lot's of steel slab sides
these HUGE ridiculous grills on cars
gigantic emblems the size of your head

2. People are getting larger. America is obese. We need bigger cars to fit us. Thus car heights are higher and higher, cars are wider and wider.

3. There is talk in Europe of Pedestrian safety and influencing car design. Basically legislation would require car hoods to be about 6 inches higher (ugly).

4. The computer. What looks good on a computer screen many times does not look good in person. All these computer wizes can do a 3D simulation but can't draw a straight line on paper. Clay is used less and less for the sake of saving time. I think this maybe the biggest problem. For those that know, things on computers can turn out horrid in real life.

lex400sc

There's nothing wrong with the 300ZX body style, it's the two-dimensional headlights and tail lights that ruin the entire car. From sporty and aggressive to ugly and cheap. If those are the best pics you can find of the 300Z, you are a far from impressing me. Until you fix the ugly headlights and ugly tail lights, the 300ZX will always be inferior to the 350Z in my eyes. Being good enough for Lamborghini doesn't mean squat when it was also good enough for Saturn.

lex400sc

The RX8 is a noisy mess. It's as if they took ten different designers' concepts and combined them into one confused, directionless mess. If that's supposed to be the step-up from the smooth, simplistic sexiness of the gen-3 RX7, then they really stuck it to themselves. I'd compare the RX8 to that new Chrysler roadster: a noisy mess of lines.

Strida

Dude i'm not trying to impress you. Dont get me wrong the 350z has great handling and the style is tolerable. And I like the style of the SC( on your SC) but those two does not hold a candle to the body style (the headlights is one of the nicest out there), interior, control layout and performance of the 300zxTT. IMHO

Since when did saturn had that headlight. I suggest you take a good hard look. I can say the same to the SC300/400 and the Ford Escort ZX2 headlights, they look identical

BLK13X

Styling of cars being introduced thesedays just need some time adjustment from the public. I first saw the SC430 over the internet thinking 'why the hell would they do that for' but now it's a very beautiful car IMO (still has nothing up against the xZZ3x series though!), I've always thought of the RX-8 as being one of those transformers (looks like a fish up the front), but it's starting to grow on me now. I still think that car manufacturers are a bit of a step ahead in terms of design than the rest of the world (they look too futuristic, exactly the same thing I thought when cars such as the Audi TT, SC430, 350Z and RX-8 were released) but seeing more and more of them on the road seems to make them more appealing.

Now, only if the SC430's technology was fitted into the styling of the xZZ3x Soarer... hey, there's nothing wrong with dreaming

retrodrive

Audi TT is still an egg to me.

LexFather

Little known fact. The SAME headlight from the 300ZX was used in the Lamborghini Diablo VT.

joeyc2

iTrader: (1)

wow!!! i like that black one...my girlfriend might get one, a 94 rag top.

GlobeCLK

iTrader: (5)

the Z32 300ZX are amazing. Even on the roads today I still think they look better than many of the cars out there. I prefer the overall styling of 300ZX over the 350Z. 350Z looks good from 3/4 angle and the side. But from straight front and rear, they didn't pay too much attention into making them right.

the Z31 300ZX are the worst Zs ever IMO. the original 240Z is still very classic. I would wanna get one for a daily driver probably (no smog check I think)

G35coupe is gorgeous and G35 sedan is hideous.

FD RX7 was beautiful. RX8 is alot better in person than in picture. Also, RX8 lowered with kit and rims is NOTHING like it in stock form.

R34 GTR is buff and mean but Supra is graceful yet muscular. NSX is exoticish.

I think the 90s Japanese cars are really nice. Anything from like 91/92~2000.

Strida

That black one is a custom widebody wings west kit own by Sean Wagner. His car was on the cover of HCI Mag. At maybe 24 psi that car would have pushed 800+rwhp, but he didnt want to push it.

All convertible 300zx are NA. But heres a pic of a convertible widebody Z (twinturbo conversion) own by Russel at www.z1motorsports.com

TD-06 20G rwhp?

Iceman

I completely agree with the premise of this thread. It's funny that back when [B]I{/B] was too poor to afford all these great-looking sports couples (300ZX, Supra Turbo, 300GT VR-4, RX-7), there were other people in the same boat. Just when I started having that kind of cash they all got discontinued.

But the "uglification" of cars in general continues. Several good examples have already been given, and to that I would add many of the American cars as well. The Mustang, for example, has turned into a boxy abomination in its latest skin. The Saturn coupes have turned from unique and pleasing-to-the-eye to blandly nondescript. And, as bit mentioned, the Germans are in on the act as well.'

Off the top of my head, the only cars to look BETTER than their predecessors lately are Volvos (huge, HUGE improvement in looks), Saabs (a more marginal improvement), and Nissan/Infiniti products (except for the 350Z which started this thread).