Nissan introduced the 240SX in Northern America, in 1989 and continued its sales till the year 1998. Two separate editions were manufactured between 1989 and 1998. The first edition, S13, was in production between 1989 and 1994 while the second, S14, between 1995 and 1998. Both the editions were based on the Nissan S platform.

The variants were titled the Zenki and the Chuki. The Zenki was produced during the period of 1989 and 1990 in two different chassis styles; the fastback (SE) and the coupe (XE). Closely designed on the Japanese Silvia, the Zenki differed by sporting retractable headlamps. The car used a different 2.4 Liter SOHC KA24E 3-valve per cylinder engine that produced 140 BHP. The United States edition was based on a 1.8 Liter DOHC CA18 engine minus the turbochargers installed as a standard equipment in the Japanese counterpart. The car featured 4-wheel disk brakes as a standard attachment, with additionally incorporating anti-lock brakes only in the SE edition. The Chuki model featured a different interior d'©cor along with a minor engine upgrade. The 'pig-nose' shaped bumper of the Zenki was done away with the replacement by a much curvier guard. The car had a special Hatchback version titled the 'LE' with a custom leather interior. The engine was the KA24DE DOHC with 4 valves per cylinder that produced 15 HP more, for a total output of 155 HP.

The SE and XE model were available with either a 4-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission. The coupe version had a heads-up display system with a digital speedometer. It also had a limited slip differential and the HICAS four wheel steering developed by Nissan. Customized MacPherson struts and a rear multilink suspension was added later in the year as an upgrade to newer pieces of the S13 models. A Special Edition was released in the year 1994 with a convertible chassis featuring a 4-speed Automatic transmission.