The 5000 M30s myth…

In 2004/5, many of us speculated on how many M30s existed in the US. Knowing that they were “rare”, meaning lower production numbers, there was speculation on how many actually existed.

I don’t know how the number 5000 came about. We also speculated that half were convertibles, leading to the “2500 were hardtops and 2500 were converted to convertibles”. When we were building F31club, most of initial members were coupe owners.

I don’t know how or why… but the speculation was spread like a high school rumor and it became an “accepted fact”. Even on the wikipedia page, which came from one of the members.

So what is the truth?

MarkJM aka mmokm30 found the sales numbers of the M30 through the years it was offered.

 

Adding all that was sold from 1989-1994, it equals to be about 17,436 M30s were sold. Compared to the Q45, it was still a significantly lower number. We still don’t know the how many were converted to topless. But maybe the ASC sticker in the door might yield some clues (I was told by MarkJcm that those numbers are not related to how many were converted).

Additionally, when talking to Nori, he mentioned that Nissan Leopards were numbered around 38,000 in Japan.This is also a lower number than the other models.

Anyway you cut it, the F31 numbers were lower and with carelessness and ignorance, the numbers have significantly dwindled through the years.

So let this be known, there are more than 5000 M30s made… how many are still alive in 2017, that’s another question!

One thought on “The 5000 M30s myth…”

  1. I have one of the convertibles. In fact, it is the very one shown on your website here under the heading of the “gold package”, down toward the bottom of the page, parked in a parking lot. It is a white one with the “gold package”. I need to replace the front struts or determine whether or not the Sonar system is working or not…… any suggestions?

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