I am looking at a car, and I have been sent some pictures. The seat fabric is quite different from any other 83 Maxima I have ever seen.
Has anyone else ever seen this fabric on an 83?
Additonally, the decklid of this car looks like this:
I am thinking accident and / or repaint and they re-did the emblems. The car definitely shows signs of being repianted because I have never seen a Max this dark metallic blue color and some of the fender gaps look off from what I can see in the pictures.
Has anyone else ever seen emblems placed like this?
The only 83 I've seen has the same pillowed velour interior that I have in the 82 but that's the only 83 I've seen so who knows. The seat fabric doesn't appear to match the door panels too well, but that may just reflect a reupholstery job too.
The body color, while actually quite nice, does look like a repaint, and the badges on the rear are wrong, the Maxima goes to the right and the diesel badge goes on the fender. The left rear badge would have been the Datsun by Nissan badge.
Although I'm not a fan of repaints they can't be avoided but the big question is who did it and how well did they prep the car before painting? Also, did they remove lights, trim and moldings or take the easy way out and mask around them?
steve a
97 Jetta TDI, 86 VW Golf D
89 VW Fox diesel, 92 MB 300SD W140
The seats are definitely not the velour material (all I have ever seen). As far as I know, the only options for 83 were leather (gas models) and the velour. It just begs the question, why would someone re-upholster the interior?
It is a clear re-paint because I can see the original paint under some damage that was done to the hood. The paint looks very good, but then again, the question I guess is how hard was it hit and where, and how old is the paint?
This is what makes buying a car long distance difficult...
You really have a hard time gauging paint via most pictures. I've seen really bad paint blemishes completely disappear in a picture. On that car's paint, I ditto what Steve said.
The trunk rack was actually an optional item in the '83 sales brochure. Someday I'm going to get around to scanning the brochures I've bought off of eBay over the years. Anyway, the rack could be an OEM item.
On the upholstery: my guess is a nice reupholstery job.
These differences make me a little leary, but they could also put me in a good negotiating position for the car...hmmmm...
The rack was a factory option.
This car has an interesting history though. Was purchased in '87 w/ a cracked block and the owner replaced it w/ a 4K mile motor (one of a pair purchased) that were in some way related to Laguna Seca Raceway. I don't know if they were in race cars or what. Kinda interesting in any event.
The brochures are very cool. I just got an 82 and the 84 in the mail today. The 84 is funny how they pasted the NISSAN badge on the gille onto the same pictures from the 83 brochure. Might have to scan some pics and start a (another) new thread... Al?
The '84 grille I saw at the JY has the "NISSAN" logo molded into the grille, not pasted on. I've got several brochures but no time to scan + organize it the way I'd like. If you want to just start a thread and post pics/links, go ahead.
When I say paste, I mean the graphic designers that did the artwork in the brochures literally pasted a tiny nissan logo onto the pictures from the 83 brochure for the 84. It's quite funny.
That NISSAN logo is actually a separate piece. It's a badge that has a backing plate and two nuts that attach it to the grille (same as the '83).
My 84 also had the 50th anniversary badge on the grille.
Al?
