2k: Funny Face: 1993 Nissan NX2000

Nissan’s SR20DE engines have long been a favorite in the tuning community, providing reliability and power in very small packages for everything as mundane as Sentras and Pulsars to the more exotic 180/200SX, Infiniti G20, and only-in-Japan Silvias. Long popular with the crapcan racing community, Nissan Sentra SE-Rs are the poster child to us non-drift focused car nuts. But did you know that for three years, Nissan offered a smaller, sportier alternative to the SE-R for similar money, with wider tires and bigger brakes standard, and not just overseas, but right here on the North American continent? Okay, you’re car geeks, so you probably already know about the NX2000, but it’s time for a refresher (and an introduction for those of you who are still scratching your heads).  Find this 1993 Nissan NX2000 for sale via vast.com classifieds  for a mere $1,800 in Dallas, TX.  Words and tip from DT commenter & contributor Bill Haworth, aka  Tetsu_no_Usagi.

Now isn’t that a beauty? Look at it – compact coupe with decent early
’90’s styling, but not too over the top. Yes, yes, this (and all the
other NX2000s) is FWD, but if it wasn’t for the fun little “fronties”,
who would the RWD guys make fun of during their club meetings? This
example is in pretty good shape, and look at those wheels – big, and
begging for bigger discs and calipers, but not so over the top you fear
to lose your tires every time you approach a railroad crossing.

The front end of the NX line is, um, distinct to say the least. It’s a
very Asian front end, so take a good long look at it and decide whether
you like it or not now, and get that out of the way. Personally, I like
’em – they’re different enough to get a little attention driving around
town, but not so far out in left field that children run in terror at
your approach. This one, as you can see, still bears the marks of a
fender bender that the car company is unsuccessfully trying to hide
behind the front license plate frame. What do you want from a 20+ year
old car? These were usually hooned to great excess, so expect a little
roughness around the edges.

The back ends are far more palatable to North American tastes, and the
little spoiler along the hood line just make ’em tastier. Also, because
these were actually 3 door hatchbacks, they are a lot more practical
than they first appear.

The interior on this one is in very good shape (okay, it needs a
vacuuming like nobody’s business), better than anyone should expect out
of something this old with almost 150K on the clock. And look, LOOK!
Manual transmission and a third pedal. Yeah, there’s a hole where the
stereo used to be, but come on, it’s a ’93 model, the best you could
hope for was a cassette player and both AM and FM – no bluetooth, no
auxilliary jacks, possibly a very early CD player (but not likely to
work even if it included one… and who has CD’s anymore?), and no
satellite radio.

Um, yeah, rough around the edges. The fender isn’t bad, but I’m not
sure that the passenger door closes fully. But at this price, you’ve
either got a beater you don’t care about, a weekend project, or the
start of a wonderful time in ChumpCar or the 24 Hours of LeMons. 

Speaking of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, if you’ve never ventured
into the barrios on the east side of Grand Prairie, you should, just to
check out the wrecker yards along Jefferson and Main west of the 180/12 interchange. 
They stretch as far as the eye can see, and probably have any part you
could ever need, like a new front clip and fender for a certain NX2000.

Big thanks to Bill Haworth, aka  Tetsu_no_Usagi for this feature.  Got your own opinion on a car?  email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com