photographer: Henry Z. Dekuyper
Think back 12 years ago when the S14 chassis 240sx was still new. Most of our edit staff was still in high school driving our first hand-me-down car, except for Dadsy Nadsy, of course. Nobody would give the 240sx a second look because they simply weren't as cool as the Hondas and Acuras that flushed our scene: Aftermarket parts were readily available and B-Series or ZC motor swaps became a common trend. You could even throw a couple of Toyotas into the mix with the capability of upgradint the factory turbocharged MR2 and Supra.
Nissans were, well, not so popular - the 240 especially since it was a lot more expensive, heavier, and underpowered (KA owners, dont get all pissy. 155hp for a 2,800lb car isnt that great). Common knowledge told you that any 240 you ran into was pretty much stock and would top out at 120mph. Even the hardcore Nissan companies would only make replacement filter and maybe an exhaust. Sadly the Sentra, SE-R was a much more enthusiast-friendly car because of the price and the fact it came equipped with the SR20DE motor. With a 240, your best bet would be to cheese-ball together an intake and visit a ton of muffler shops. You'd have better luck fixing up a 300ZX if you could afford one and had circus carney hands to wrench with.
It took nearly a decade for the momentum to shift, but what a huge shift it was. Yeah, the H and A badged cars are still around, but they're not quite as dominant once people started to realize the untapped potential of the 240SX. (Like our Super Street sticker says, we're just a bunch of stupid Americans, right?) Then there's the sheer undeniable fact that there are just a handful of front-engine rear-wheel drive sport compacts in this country-even less after all the manufacturers decided to kill off supercars like the Supra, RX-7 and 300ZX. Check out the endless upgrade path for the 240SX now: body kits, coilovers, bolt-on turbo kits and engine swaps. You name it and we guarantee you'll be able to find it for a 240SX. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find any year 240 that isn't fixed up in some way.