Latest news with #InfinitiM30
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
At $10,000, Could This 1996 Pontiac Trans Sport Get You Excited About A Minivan?
I'm not saying that today's Nice Price or No Dice Trans Sport is the coolest minivan model on the planet, but it certainly is one of the top contenders. Let's see whether this extremely low-mileage '90s survivor's price is something we can contend with. If the 1991 Infiniti M30 we looked at yesterday had carried the same name as its home-market Nissan source model — Leopard — it would have been much more memorable a car. After all, Leopard is a way better name than M30. The car itself was all kinds of just-OK, although our car's convertible roof offers something that contemporary competitors from Acura and Lexus didn't. Also being in what appeared to be very nice shape, and sporting some new canvas on that convertible top, made our M30's $6,500 price look like something worth considering. You all considered it and a 64 percent Nice Price win for the Infiniti resulted. Read more: Apparently It's Illegal To Put A 'For Sale' Sign In Your Truck Now We all know that van life, overlanding, and other non-traditional camping activities are all the rage these days. This sort of Instagram and YouTube fodder has made vans cool once again. The first time that vans became something that everybody wanted was during the heyday of the Minivan, back in the 1980s. Like all things overdone (I'm looking at you, seemingly unending panoply of mediocre Star Wars TV shows), the minivan eventually fell out of favor because of its ubiquity. Chrysler dominated the minivan market for decades, but in the '80s and '90s, pretty much every mass-market auto maker had a similar model on offer. Like the mid-size crossover today, it was something car buyers expected to see on dealer's lots. The funkiest of the bunch were the trio of passenger-oriented minivans introduced by General Motors in 1990. Sold as the Chevrolet Lumina APV, the Oldsmobile Silhouette, and Pontiac Trans Sport, these one-box people movers all shared the same basic body design, but were differentiated by grille shapes, paint schemes, and wheel patterns. Dubbed the "Dustbuster Vans" due to their shape being reminiscent of Black & Decker's popular hand-held vacuum, the trio wasn't just the most out-there in styling, they were also the most innovative in construction. While competitors from Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, and others were built in traditional steel unibody fashion, the GM vans were built using a steel spaceframe onto which plastic and steel body panels were mounted. This is the same design that the company was using on another Pontiac model, the Fiero, and which would become the cornerstone of the Saturn Car Company in the 1990s. Underneath all that sits a front-wheel-drive chassis that is derived from GM's mid-size sedan lines, with the vans nominally having replaced the wagons in that lineup. This 1996 Pontiac Trans Sport SE represents the model following its first mid-cycle refresh. That means it's less Dustbustery with a shorter nose and more vertical bumper and grille. It also has a redesigned interior with a driver's side airbag. According to the ad, this van has only 20,913 "documented, actual miles" on the clock. The explanation given is that it was used only on weekends to attend craft shows. The seller accurately notes that there just aren't any of these vans left around, and any that are will likely not be in as nice of shape as this one. The best part is that the van's design is just as funky today as it was back in the '90s. The one-box design results in a windscreen that's almost impossible to clean on the inside, but offers amazing views. It's also roomy, offering seven-passenger seating and plenty of cargo space in the back-back. Everything looks to be in terrific condition on this van, and a recent detailing means it's clean and tidy as well. Per the ad, it's mechanically sound. Power comes from a GM 3.4-liter LA1 OHV V6 with fuel injection that makes 180 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque. Mated to that, and driving the front wheels, is a 4T60 four-speed automatic with column shift. The ad says that the van has seen its fluids changed, and other mechanical malfunctions have been addressed. A new windscreen (that must have cost a bundle) and new battery have also been installed. Original parts include two keyfob remotes and the factory floor mats. Amazingly, even the original back of seat netting looks to be in great shape. All electronics, including the power sliding door, are also said to function correctly. on the outside, the bodywork appears to be free of any flaws, and the rear end offers both a full hatch and an opening window for lighter loads. It's not all peas and carrots here, though. Per the seller, the van's headliner is dropping and in need of replacement. How easy will that be to do? It also has an alarming amount of surface rust on the undercarriage. That's the direct result of the van having spent its life in Ohio. None of it looks too terrible, but it's a bit of a shock to see when the rest of the vehicle is so clean and seemingly free of wear and tear. On the plus side, none of that appears to be structural, and the van doesn't look to have ever been involved in an accident. Of course, having done only 20K, there were few opportunities to get into any kind of mischief. In the pictures, the cabin looks like a nice place to spend some time, and the cloth-covered seats appear pretty comfy. There are captain's chairs in the first two rows and a bench in back. A clean title and current tags should make this a turnkey deal as well. That's not going to happen, though, should the price prove unpalatable. That price is $10,000, which is a lot to ask for an old, albeit funky minivan. Plus, just how many minivan collectors are there in the world? Should that special someone who's looking to add a Trans Sport to their collection actually be out there, is it reasonable for them to consider this one at that $10K price? It is, after all, probably the nicest one there is. And as it's been said, they ain't making 'em like that any more. What do you say? Is this Trans Sport worth its asking? Or is that price something this minivan's too small to carry? You decide! Nice Price or No Dice: Minneapolis, Montana, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears. Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at robemslie@ and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your username. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Would You Drop $6,500, On This 1991 Infiniti M30 Droptop?
While Infiniti is completely out of the convertible business, today's Nice Price or No Dice M30 shows that the company was once eager to strut its stuff in topless fashion. Let's see if this old-school open-top is priced to keep on strutting. As far as backwaters of the multiverse go, the timeline we are occupying is presently a very scary place in which to be. However, nothing is quite as terrifying as the prospect of driving the V8-powered 1972 Volkswagen Beetle we looked at last Friday. Neither the polling, nor the comments were particularly complementary regarding that brute of a Bug's $6,995 asking price, with the result being a terrifyingly-huge 85 percent No Dice loss. Closing out last week with a pair of customized cars (the VW, and last Thursday's Capri), each with the connection of an adopted 302 V8, was weird, and a bit taxing on the whole. That's why we're kicking off this week with a perfectly stock Infiniti M30 convertible that... checks ad a second time, comes with its original VG30E V6. Huzzah! Read more: The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Is The Crossover To End All Crossovers Now, unless your favorite flick is the Marky-Mark, George Clooney Iraq War hunk-fest Three Kings, which contained a debate over whether such a car ever existed, you've probably never given the Infiniti M30 convertible a kitten's fart of a thought your entire life. Hell, you're probably just remembering that Infiniti still exists at all, the brand being such an also-ran in the auto industry. That may all be true, but the M30 does have a good bit of historical significance for Infiniti, and its lower echelon parent, Nissan. Introduced in 1989 as the second-tier of Infiniti's initial model line, the M30 coupe wasn't a clean-sheet tour-de-force like its Q45 big brother. Nissan seemingly didn't have the resources for two new cars plus a new ad campaign that contained rocks and bonsai bushes, so it put its money into the higher-profit Q and dusted off the existing, and already long-in-the-tooth home-market Leopard for its companion car. Under the hood, the M30 received a 3.0-liter edition of Nissan's SOHC V6 already seeing frontline duty in the 300ZX and Maxima. Here it made a factory-rated 160 horsepower and 182 lb-ft of torque. The standard transmission in the M30 is a four-speed automatic with console-mounted shifter, as this was positioned as a GT rather than a sports car like the 300ZX with its available manual and optional turbocharged engine. Befitting such a car in this class, disc brakes and independent suspension are featured at each corner. Of course, this M30's party piece is its convertible roof. That's not a Nissan jam as all M30 convertibles started as coupes and were converted—as so many cars were at the time—in California by drop-top specialists American Sunroof Corporation (later American Specialty Corporation, and even later R.I.P.). These were factory approved, meaning that proper strengthening of the unibody was done to account for the removal of the roof, and the top looks professionally constructed either up or down. There is even rear-side window glass that is unique to the open-top cars and goes up and down electrically. The top, too, is electric, although the rear window in it is plastic, so it can get janky over time. Speaking of time, that has been reasonably kind to the M30's rectilinear styling. Never a particularly attractive car, the Infiniti's lines are, at worst, inoffensive. This is also one of the rare convertibles that looks well-proportioned with the top up or down. This one is in great shape as well. According to the ad, which humorously opens with "Dust off those LA Law VHS sets and get ready to cruise down US-1 all the way to the Keys.." the car sports a modest 102,000 miles. It's a Florida native where a garage-kept life has managed to keep the car safe from both alligators and hurricanes. Based on the undercarriage pics, there's not a spot of rust on the car, save for some surface coloring of the rear muffler crimps. Other plusses include solid-looking factory alloys with center caps and tires that are showing lots of tread. Per the ad, the top is newish and the car comes with extensive service records for all your late night reading enjoyment. There aren't very many complaints about the interior either. The dash is very '80s square-jawed, but that has a charm that you don't see in modern cars. A Pioneer head unit has been added, and that sticks out for its awkward fit in the faux woodgrain dash. There's some crazing in the leather upholstery, but the seller passes that off as "adding to the vehicle's era charm." Nothing appears to be torn or missing so it's not too bad. The bodywork is also said to have some minor imperfections in the paint, but nothing is so bad it shows up in the pictures. Per the ad, the car has a clean title and a two-owner history. To bring that owner record up to three, the seller is asking $6,500. There doesn't seem to be any requirement that the car continue to be kept in the Sunshine State, so non-Floridians can play too. Floridian or not, what's your take on this Infiniti and that $6,500 asking? Does that feel like a good deal for a cast-off car? Or, does that price have you saying Fuhgeddaboudit? You decide! Nice Price or No Dice: Facebook Marketplace, out of St. Augustine, Florida, or go here if the ad disappears. H/T to Eric Weigand for the hookup! Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at robemslie@ and send me a fixed-price tip. Want more like this? 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