At $6,800, Would You Fool Around In This 1985 Nissan 200SX?

With its pop-up headlamps in the front and a luggage rack in the back, today’s Nice Price or No Dice 200SX is a bastion of earlier times and designs. Let’s see if its price is just as old school.

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Range anxiety isn’t a common malady for owners of modern electric cars. Unfortunately, the 2011 Ford Transit Connect electric we looked at on Friday is far from a modern electric. With a 28 kWh battery and just 56 miles of range, it proved a grim reminder of past generations of low-range electrics that, today, have little place outside of being conversation pieces in the modern automotive world. A $9,999 price tag also offered additional anxiety and ended up with a massive 94 percent No Dice loss.

Today, being April 1, means it’s April Fools Day, but looking at this 1985 Nissan 200SX makes us all have to ask, “Where’s the joke?”

You do all remember the 200SX, don’t you? Called the Silvia elsewhere, it earned a name change here in the States, where it played Jan Brady to the 300ZX’s Marcia. Later on, there was even a FWD NX to play the role of annoying Cindy.

But enough of the ’70s TV allusions; let’s get down to business with this 200SX. The early S12 edition of the Silvia/SX was offered from 1984 through ’88 in both notchback and hatchback body styles. This one happens to be the less attractive (in my opinion) trunked edition. Behind the pop-up headlamps (I do love those) lies a 1974 cc CA20E. In the 200SX, that iron block/aluminum head SOHC fuel-injected four produces 105 hp. A more powerful but smaller turbo engine was also available, just not in this car.

The rest of the specs are pretty respectable for an ’80s coupe, featuring discs all around, a semi-trailing arm IRS set up very similar to that of the contemporary BMW 3-series, and an available 5-speed stick. Not to burst any bubbles, but this one eschews the five-speed for a three-cog automatic. It also doesn’t seem to have A/C which is a bit of a demerit.

The main tea to spill here is the car’s condition. It’s really amazing how nice it appears to be. According to the ad, it was originally a Washington State car and has been garage-kept its entire life. Now, it has just a little over 62,000 miles on the clock, a clean title, and no apparent indication of its age other than some minor chipping of the badge on the boot lid and the old-school home component-style stereo in the dash.

The rest of the car, right down to the engine bay, looks clean and, if the ad is to be believed, all original. The upholstery shows little to no wear, and there’s no fraying of the stitching on the dash since that’s simply molded into the plastic in traditional ’80s fashion. The exterior is just as nice, presenting in glorious two-tone champagne over salmon with a red pinstripe. Steel wheels with polished trim rings and silver plastic center caps complete the picture.

Actually, before we close the book on this 200Sx, we should also note that it comes with its own books—a sales brochure, the factory service manual, and a parts catalog. It also has a clean title and a $6,800 price tag.

What do you think about this ’80s Nissan and its $6,800 price tag? Is that a real deal for such a clean coupe? Or does that price have you waiting for someone to shout, “April Fools?”

You decide!

New Milford Connecticut, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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