The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 is also known as the Nissan Fairlady Z. It had a limited production run in Japan from 1978 up until 1983. The name plate used for the vehicle varied, depending on the marketplace. The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 also made a rather nice splash at the time for an Asian import into the United States, as Motor Trends named it the “Import Car of the Year.” The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 did prove to be the final model year of the vehicle though, as the Nissan 300ZX came and replaced it the following year.
The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 was a US market only vehicle that came with an offered turbo engine and a manual transmission. The Borg-Warner T-5 five-speed manual transmission at the time was the only car produced by Nissan to use a non-Japanese transmission, as the T-5 came standard in the Ford Mustang and several other vehicles produced by General Motors.
The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 eventually made its way over to Germany and became not only the fastest, but the most expensive vehicle out of Japan to be sold in Germany at the time. The Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 was a three-door fastback. A fastback is a vehicle that has a roof that streamlines down to the rump of the vehicle, without any noticeable or sudden drop off in the design. During the time period, the fastback did prove rather popular, although the Datsun 280ZXT Turbo (S130) ‘1983 proved to be one of the few that actually allowed the rear to open up, making it share similar qualities with a five-door hatchback.
The use of the American engine did provide the most horsepower of any engine used by the vehicle during its five year production run, allowing it to net a horsepower of 180.