I'm feeling nostalgic. Nostalgic for a time when license plates were blue...louvers were cool...turbochargers were only available on performance cars...and hood scoops were shaped like pizza boxes. Find this 1984 Nissan 200SX S12 Turbo offered for $4000 in East Bay Area, CA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
I exhale a hearty chuckle every time I read a craigslist posting where the seller tries to tell you that his Japanese econobox (or whatever) is rare. In this next feature the seller assures us that this thing is "Mega Rare", which at first glance seems absurd, until you do some research and discover that Nissan only built about 5,000 of the V6 powered 200SX for the '87 and '88 model years. Find this 1987 Nissan 200SX offered for $3,900 in Fate, TX via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.
The Nissan Silvia S12 generation was a sporty little front-engine rear-wheel-drive coupe/hatchback that was sold as the Nissan 200SX in the USA from 1984 through 1988. Rust, misplaced confidence, and general negligence (reporting for duty -- SIR!) have all but removed most of these from the roads, so finding one in nice original condition with 39k miles on the odometer is a treat -- but the asking price..yowza! Find this 1986 Nissan 200SX Turbo Hatchback offered for $9,000 in Rockford, IL via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck. 
In 1995 Nissan recycled the 200SX badge (previously used on the rear-drive S12 Silvia) for a 2-door version of the B14 Sentra that was known as the Lucino in Japan. The 200SX was available in Base/SE trim with a 1.6 liter GA16DE, or SE-R with the 2.0 liter SR20DE -- both with 5-speed manual gearbox mated to the front with viscous LSD in the SE-R version -- a decently sporty proposition in the mid 90s. Times change, so this next 200SX has been given an injection of speed with a few bolt on parts and can run 12.7 seconds in the 1/4 mile. Zoom zoom indeed. Find this 1998 Nissan 200SX offered for $2,500 in Norwalk, CT via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
Take a look at this 1998 Nissan 200SX 2-door 5-speed here on eBay
bidding for $1,200 reserve-not-met with auction ending on Friday.
The S12 generation Nissan Silvia was released in North America with the lame sounding 200SX name, but it was a decent handling rear-drive sports coupe. Unfortunately Nissan didn't want to cannibalize sales from the profitable 300ZX so it was never given a powerplant more powerful than the non-turbo VG30, but that doesn't mean you can't get a souped up example. Find this 1984 Nissan 200SX with Ford V8 offered for $4,800 near Worcester (pronounced whooo-staaaahhh), MA via craigslist.
The S12 generation Nissan Silvia was sold in the USA as the Datsun 200SX because the Nissan and Silvia names were not acceptable over here for reasons nobody understands. In later years, the front-engine rear-drive 200SX was available with a version of the VG30E V6 from the 300ZX/Maxima, but the coolest version has a the pizza box hood scoop and turbo inline-4. Find this 1984 Datsun 200SX Turbo offered for $5,000 in Mesa, AZ. Tip from FuelTruck.
Turbocharged variants of Nissan's S12-generation 200SX came a pizza box-sized hood scoop that offsets the slope of the hood to keep your pretzel-crusted abomination warm on cold days. It's also a member of the 5-speed, four-cylinder, two-door, rear-drive club, and isn't as popular with the drift crowd as its successor, the S13 240SX. Rust and negligence are deadly enough for any 1980s Japanese cheapskate, so finding one like this is a treat. Find this 1984 Nissan 200SX Turbo in Greely, CO for $3,500 via craigslist.
People joke about modern cars all looking and driving the same -- which wouldn't be bad if they were cheap and fun to drive. Typically, the conversation meanders to how it was much better in the glory days...but it wasn't better back then, in fact the 1980s had some of the worst examples of automotive doppelgängers, including the Dodge Omni/VW Rabbit and Datsun 200SX/Toyota AE86 Corolla - the latter being the subject of today's comparison. Which bronze bomber would you want? This 1984 Datsun 200SX offered for $5700 in Anaheim, CA or a 1984 Toyota Corolla AE86 located in Kirkland, WA for $6,500? (Datsun is a great tip from Abraham D.)
