You can’t find an unmolested S-Chassis in this condition selling for so little money, and in this economy!
Earlier this weekend a glitch in the S-Chassis used car market matrix happened, an unmolested, mint 1993 Nissan 240SX with just 67,000 miles sold for a ridiculously low $5,500 at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas. (link to the auction here.)
Facebook user Shawn Fisher was on location and shared photos of the Nissan 240SX in question, screenshot of his post below and link to his post here.*
As an aside, check out this window sticker. $22,965 (1992) in 2022 dollars is $47,281.
These Nissan ‘verts were expensive back in the day.
If you don’t know why this is a big deal, 240Drift.com has a great explainer of what’s known as the drift tax, or an added premium these 30-year-old Japanese cars demand.
Whereas a normal, older Japanese car in decent condition would sell for around $5,000 (which is still a lot imo,) the drift tax often nearly doubles the for sale price.
As 240Drift.com explains, since there’s a small supply of S-Chassis cars around (S13,S14, and S15s,) but their remains a high-demand for arguably the best drift chassis to learn on thanks to, as the website name hints at, drifting, the drift tax remains and prices remain high to this day.
Here’s a smattering of for-sale posts on Craigslist as of this blog post for similar 240s. As you can see, it’s difficult to find one that’s not beat to s*** for under $8,000.
So, why did this one sell for so cheap?
First, it’s a convertible and that means they only came in automatics which, if you’re going to drift, is an extra hurdle to overcome (manual swap in your future.)
Next, it was sold at Barrett-Jackson, an auction with a demographic more apt to buying a classic Ford Mustang then anything from a country we went to war with.
If it was sold on a more “hip,” online auction like Bring A Trailer, it probably would’ve sold for a lot more and included that bit of aforementioned drift tax.
This ’94 240SX ‘Vert with similar mileage sold for almost three times what this S13 ‘vert garnered.
Sold: 1994 Nissan 240SX Convertible for $14,500. https://t.co/sQ2BLpxYoQ pic.twitter.com/jf37JUXH65
— Bring a Trailer (@Bringatrailer) June 23, 2022
Finally, it probably didn’t help that it’s a drop top, one of the least desirable S-Chassis.
Regardless, if you want a clean drift project slate to start with, beggars can’t be choosy and any clean, low-mileage S-Chassis is something worth considering.
Personally, as someone who does NOT drift and prefers automatics over manual, this used car is definitely my type of potential purchase.
But, if you’re looking for a clean S-Chassis that might sell with little to no drift tax, hitting up a Mecum or Barrett-Jackson is probably a good strategy to keep in mind.
*if you’re wondering why I didn’t embed Shawn’s post, it’s because of profanity. ?
