The Z-car was redesigned in 1984, and introduced Nissan's new series of 3.0-liter V6. The 300ZX like the 280ZX also proved to be wildly popular and was the second-best selling Z-car in history selling over 70,000 units due in part not only to its new styling but also to even more added luxury features and high performance. It had improved handling, acceleration, and refinement on the previous model Z car, but still could not rejuvenate the original spirit of the 240Z.

 

The 1984 300ZX 50th Anniversary Edition was released in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary year. It was based on the standard 300ZX Turbo, but was outfitted with every luxury feature available. For the 1985 model year, Nissan dropped the Datsun name brand for good. Minor changes were made to the 300ZX including a water-cooled turbocharger, smoked taillights, and body-color bumpers.

 

The 1986 model saw wider flared wheel wells, and the rear quarter panels were designed specifically to accommodate factory ground effects. 1986 turbo models were equipped with an ordinary hood, markedly losing the turbo "scoop" on the drivers side. In order to keep up with quickly aging aesthetics, another slight redesign happened in 1987, consisting of new rounded, restyled and longer front and rear bumpers, new headlights, and new tail lights. The black trim on turbo models was now a charcoal instead of gloss black, and 1987 Turbo models came with special "smoked" turbo-finned wheels. All 1987 model year turbo cars also received an upgraded manual transmission, larger and more powerful brakes, and turbo cars produced from 4/87 and later came equipped with a clutch-type limited-slip differential.

 

For the 1988 models, there were again a few small changes.The engine went from 7.8:1 to an 8.3:1 compression ratio in order to reduce turbocharger spool time and provide instant boost at any usable RPM. Another special edition, the "Shiro Special" (SS), was released in 1988. It was only available in pearl white The SS package consisted of analog gauges and climate controls with a black interior, stiffer sway bars, stiffer springs, non-adjustable suspension, special seats (recaro), a viscous-coupling limited slip differential, and a special front lower lip spoiler. The 1989 Models are identical to 1988 models, though somewhat rare because of Nissan winding-down production early in preparation for the second generation 300ZX.

 

In 1990 the only thing that remained unchanged from the previous 300ZX is the 3.0-liter displacement, now with dual overhead camshafts and producing a rated 222 hp and 198 ft·lb in naturally aspirated form. The big news however, was the turbo variant, now upgraded with twin Garrett turbochargers and dual intercoolers. This was good for between 280 and 300 hp. Performance varied from 0-60 times of 5.0-6.0 seconds depending on the source, and it had a governed top speed of 155 mph. Upon its release, the new 300ZX became an instant hit. American Z-car sales reach the one million sales mark in the 1990 model year, making it the all-time best selling sports car.

 

Like previous generations Nissan offered a 2+2 model with the Z32. In 1993, a convertible version was added for the first time in the Z-car's history, as a response to aftermarket conversions. All 300ZXs now featured T-tops as standard, yet there were some rare hardtops produced as well.