In 1984, Datsun adopted the name Nissan to expand their vehicles to the American Market. Datsun decided to change their company name due to American�s association with Datsun and production of WWII Japanese fighter planes. The original Datsun Z-cars were produced in 1970. Z-cars refers to the Datsun/Nissan sports car series which were developed to give consumers a dependable, reasonably priced car with high performance. The Nissan Fairlady 300ZX Z31 was the third and fourth line of Z-cars. The chassis is an enhanced version of the 280ZX. Both the 300ZX and 280ZX chassis have the same wheelbase and semi-trailing arm independent suspension. However, the 300ZX was superior in handling and acceleration. The 300ZX was equipped with a 3.0L V6 turbocharged engine which produced 230hp.