For most, buying and owning a car consists of driving to a dealership, checking out the cars for sale, discussing the perks and maintenance costs of purchasing the car, test-driving and getting a feel of the car, ensuring all features of the car work, and then eventually purchasing and using the car.
However, for senior Bryce Robinson, his experience purchasing and repairing his 1993 Nissan 300 ZX is unique.
Robinson’s Nissan 300 ZX is a blue, coupe with a large trunk, leather seats and seatbelts attached from the door.
“I think what drew me to it originally was the shape of it,” Robinson said. “It’s got a very sleek sort of bullet type shape to it, like a wedge shape. So I think I just like the sort of artistic aspect of it.”
Robinson purchased his Nissan 300 ZX off Facebook Marketplace in 2022.
“It was in Toms River, New Jersey, an hour and 40 minutes away,” he said. “It was night time in a Lowe’s parking lot. The car is super low to the ground, so I couldn’t really see up underneath it. It turned out there were a bunch of rust problems I would have to fix in the future.”
Using the mechanical car skills he gained fixing up a 1972 Challenger with his dad, Robinson was able to weld and repair the rust, replace certain parts of the 300 ZX, and repaint.
“My car didn’t need nearly that much work that we put into the Challenger, so I was able to take the skills I learned from him [his dad], building a car from the ground up to apply it to fix my car and get my car on the road and inspectable and work in a good working order,” Robinson said.
Robinson made all the fixes to his car from November 2022 to February 2023 and repainted in the summer, noting challenges he faced.
“It was so cold. It was in my garage. It was just really, really cold out all the time. I had to really push through it, because it took a lot of motivation to go out there in the freezing cold and do it,” he said.
Robinson looks forward to bringing and driving his car to college and spending summer days driving around.
“I’ve done a lot of work on it to make it reliable. I think it’ll serve me well in college,” Robinson said. “[I look forward to] taking the T-tops out, drive out to Kennett Square or something. Nice, nice country back roads. I like to drive in those conditions, go to some antique shops or something that they have out there.”
