(first posted 9/19/2011) The Datsun 240 Z was as a true revolutionary, smashing the long-stagnant sports car market of the sixties into smithereens. It was long overdue too; folks were getting cranky for the messiah: a truly modern, sporty two-seater with four-wheel independent suspension, a zippy OHC six engine, dazzling styling, all served up at a reasonable price; say $3500 (about $23k in 2020 dollars). The hole in the market for such a car was begging to be filled. And Datsun stepped up and delivered, with a grand-slam home run. But like most revolutionaries, the Z was anything but truly original. But then neither was Che nor Lenin; they studied Marx. And Datsun? They took their studies seriously too.
Prior to 1970, the sporty two-seater segment was over-ripe for change. The creaky and outdated British roadsters were rolling relics begging to be put out of their misery; the superb Porsche always was pricey and quickly getting more so; the attractive but none too cheap nor reliable Italians were barely hanging on by virtue of their pretty faces; and the Corvette wasn’t exactly budget-priced and was entering the long dark decade of the seventies. Nissan took note and sent its Z right at the bulls eye of that target market. And where did their inspiration come from? How about another famous Z?
GM’s John Z. DeLorean saw the same market hole: something below the ‘Vette in price and yet smashingly more attractive than the MG or Triumphs. And he saw it years earlier. The 1964 Pontiac Banshee concept had the formula nailed: Pontiac’s new OHC six wrapped in a delicious and highly advanced bod. It’s styling foreshadowed the ’68 Vette, but without the exaggerations. The nearly production-ready Banshee was nixed by the timid GM brass, fearing the market wasn’t big enough for it and the Corvette both.
An iffy speculation? Perhaps, but the story of the 240Z’s origins and paternity is endlessly intriguing and rife with rumor, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to throw another ingredient into it. In the early sixties, Nissan wanted an image-mobile to spicy up its stodgy rep. Albrecht Goertz, a protege of renowned stylist Raymond Loewy, went to Japan around that time to help Nissan develop their clay modeling expertise. Nissan and Yamaha entered into a development project for a sporty coupe using a Yamaha engine, and Goertz did the design. To be called the Nissan 2000GT, the project was still-born, and a restless and eager Yamaha took it to Toyota.
In need of some image polishing themselves, Toyota bit and the result is the stunning and legendary Toyota 2000GT. Toyota claims their own designer Satoru Nozaki did the final work, and that may well be. But Goertz’ influence on both the Toyota and the 240Z is undeniable. But the expensive production GT was much more of an image-mobile in the mold of today’s Lexus LFA than what the Banshee promised and the 240Z finally delivered.
The Z may have numerous claims on its parentage, but a few are too obvious to discount, in lieu of DNA tests. The Datsun 510, a revolutionary car in its own right, and the subject of a recent CC, was a key genetic donor, in that its new OHC four sprouted two more cylinders to make the Z’s six. And given that Yatuka Katayama (Mr. K) had helped shepherd that into its final form, and that he fought successfully for a renaming of the Z’s Japanese Fairlady moniker, he certainly can take a bow.
The Datsun 1800 donated its front suspension, and other pieces from the corporate bin were used wherever possible. The rear suspension was new, but so similar to the Lotus’ that it is rightfully called a Chapman strut. And then there is that body that wrapped it all. John DeLorean would have been proud; it’s decidedly un-GM-esque in detail, but the long flowing hood, the clear lines, the well set-back cockpit, the bulging hood, the delightfully resolved tail; there’s just not a bad angle, line or detail on this Z.
I mean that generally and specifically; this particular car was a nice find, because it’s hard to find one of the early Zs that is as clean, untampered with, and shows off its designer’s intent as well as this one. They tend to look too fussy, burdened with too much trim and emblems. But this one, having lost its hood ornament, looks as good as as any Z I’ve ever seen. It has almost a concept car’s purity, and every angle is a joy to behold. I’d forgotten just how terrific and timeless a design this car was until I stumbled unto this one. It was hard to stop shooting and walk on. And it’s obviously hard to stop talking about it.
Of course, things went only down hill after the first few years of Zdom. It’s a depressing tale; I know there are fans of the later cars and its successors, but for me there will only ever be the early 240Z to speak its brilliant intent and execution. Light, lithe, with a motor that still had some genuine Zing in those last days of pre-smog choked dullness and crankiness. Yes, the 240Z was far from perfect, its handling exhibiting some of the same twitchiness at the limit like its 510 little brother. Nissan would soon take care of that all too well; it slowly morphed the Z from a poor-mans XK-E into a bloated Camaro wanna-be.
But the Z’s decline into plushly upholstered boulevard cruiserdom was soon exploited by Mazda with their gem, the RX-7. Taking the original Z formula (minus the IRS but with a rotary), and keeping it tight and light, the RX-7 carved out as nice a chunk of the market as it carved canyon curves. Of course, the RX-7 lost the way too eventually, until the Miata reclaimed it for good. It’s taken a while, but it was inevitable that someone would eventually find the sweet spot and stick to it as religiously as a warm tire on a hot back-road curve.
Just imagine if the 240Z had been available as a roadster too, and stuck to its mission: revolution would have become orthodoxZy.
Oops – the technical difficulties with this post continue. Comments were evidently closed by mistake, but are open now.
Any reason why clicking on the pics in Paul’s articles 404s? I’m stumped.
Me too. We will look into this.
Mike, the problem is on our end. Paul left us with a few pieces to run while he is on vacation and there seems to be something funny with the pictures. We will keep on it, but this one may have to wait a few days to get fixed.
Right click the image … then click “View Image” on the popup menu.
Give it a try. It should work.
I just ran across an early 280 Z yesterday on my way back from Cleveland. It was on I-80/90 near Sandusky, Ohio headed west to Toledo. When I first came upon it, I thought it was a 240, I’d forgotten that there was the period before the Z’s were ‘Brougham-ed’. The car I saw yesterday could be the feature car’s younger brother, so to speak.
I knew several people who had these cars, my favorite one was the guy who swapped in a Chevy small block. IIRC, he grenaded the original six, and this was the cheapest way to keep the car on the road. The small block turned it into a rocket, even with the TH350 automatic. 35 years later, it is still a vivid memory.
The whole conversion was a combination of desperation and convenient parts nearby, but the car was a total kludge. The car was a stick, but converted to automatic. The original radiator didn’t have connections for the trans cooling lines, so they crammed in a radiator from an automatic Vega or Monza, but it was still too small and they never got the universal radiator hoses to work without them kinking somewhere. There were other issues too, like a dodgy electrical system, but I no longer recall what they were. By the time he finally destroyed the rear end, the car was way too rusty for even his standards (and they really weren’t all that high to begin with) and it was finally scrapped.
But, as a MM exercise, I would love to have that 240 with the 350. What a ride…
I had a cousin who lived around Sandusky in the ’70s (still does). When he was first married, he and his wife had kind of a dream garage – a Jeep CJ-5 with the 304 and a stick, and a silver 280Z (I think it was around a ’76 or so). This was one of the early 280s, before they started emulating Camaros.
I was a teenager, and he let me drive the Z one evening. I was used to a ’67 Galaxie with a 2 bbl 390, and lemmie tell ya – that Z was the fastest thing I had ever driven in my life, up to that time. I remember the thing pushing me back into the seat and holding me there for quite awhile until I let off the gas. I had never experienced such a rush of power before.
Unfortunately, the Z died early when my cousin got into some water that was deeper than it looked. I forget if that caused a wreck or if a good soaking totalled it. But that car gives me a warm feeling for the earlier Zs to this day.
So what does your cousin drive today? A 370Z and a Patriot? Automotive tastes are pretty consistent in my family. In the 1960s my grandparents had a ’66 Continental sedan and a ’65 T-Bird convertible; their last new cars were an ’87 Continental and a ’77 T-Bird. My folks had a ’77 245DL, ’79 Bonneville (company car) and ’51 Porsche 356 when I was born, and now they have an ’07 XC90, ’01 911 Carrera, and ’60 Porsche 356. My aunt is on her third Audi, the first one was an ’86 4000 Quattro purchased in 1988. Another aunt had a 1979 or so red 245DL when I was a kid, and now has a late model XC70 wagon. And another uncle has driven Suburbans since at least the mid 1980s, way before they were fashionable!
Howabout a Honda CR-V and an Accord. Here in the midwest, a lot of folks gravitate away from automotive drama as they get older.
Not my dad! He will be 60 next month and the 911 is a daily driver. He puts snow tires on it and drives it all winter too.
I grew up in the age of the “Brougham-ed” 280ZX, but those of us in high school who knew our sports cars all wanted a 240Z. Of course, we all ended up driving our parents’ cast-off station wagons.
There had been a posting about the brougham era Datsun Z’s, on this site or TTAC. We called them the Disco cars, as the owners invariably were the kind of guy who wore open chested shirts with gold chains and hung out at the local discoteque trying to impress the high school girls who managed to get in…
Us other guys who drove around in muscle cars or trucks & etc., weren’t impressed. With either the cars or their owners.
Anybody remember the Scarab?
I do now! I remember seeing these ads back in the day. I would have to say that was one of the first ‘tuner’ cars I’d ever heard of. Excepting the cars I saw in Germany when I was there in the late 70’s.
But who the hell ever heard of a Bavaria or an Irmscher in Ohio?
There is a 260Z out here with a big hp 383/350 & Skyline GTR awd running gear, it is a rocket in hillclimbs, autocrosses etc, so much grunt & grip.
I was in the air force when these came out. My experience with British and Italian sports cars were: I drove a room mate’s 1958 MGA around base while he was overseas, but never left base with it – I was scared of that thing, as it was really a bomb! I rode in a friend’s Fiat Spider, which was cool, but it was new, and I hitched a ride to town in a TR-6, but that was it. Then the 240Z came out and the officers went nuts over it! A couple of them bought these, but of course, I never got to ride in one. The closest thing I rode in to one of these was years later in a guy’s RX-7, which was about the same size.
I never drank the “foreign car” kool-aid and was perfectly happy with my big avatar above! I did, however, envy some of the Japanese cars for their fuel economy, though.
The looks of the original 240Z were stunning, though, I admit that!
I do drive an MX5, though, as our fun car. Times and attitudes change.
I too remember when they came out. In fact a friend of my father had a Datsun dealership and he offered me a 240Z without having to wait on the waiting list. At the time I had my 1968 Cougar and thought about it for a week. I then turned down the offer and kept the Cougar for 47 years now.
Great writeup. I think you should have given more credit to the XKE at least for overall look/proportions. Several friends had these and they were wonderful. Also knew people with 260s and 280s and you are right, these were not nearly as much fun.
Exactly Jaguar, especially XKE, should get a lot more credit.
Looking at this car afresh its quite easy to see the evolution from the early fairladys already covered here the long hood short deck goes directly back to the E type Jaguar and its XK120 ancestry those are the cars that everyone trying to design a sporty car looked to for ideas including Delorean and Iaccoca. The engine evolved from the Prince/Skyline race cars of the mid 60s which in turn were cribbed from Mercedes not Pontiac, too much GM cool aid Paul.
The result was a brilliant sports car it was billed as a Japanese Etype but not as fast but a hell of a lot cheaper and still looks great today it was the car that put Datsun on the map and put another reason behind the decision here to have a local engine builder hotting up engines sent direct from the factory fo instalation into new cars. Datsun SSS sedans were factory warranted hotrods in NZ Dennis Marwood of worlds fastest Humber80 fame could get an extra 25hp out of a Datsun1200 that Datsun were prepared to guarentee. Datsun was actually in the fast car game back then and the 240Z was the icing on the cake.
What a beautiful 240Z. I remember around when the 350Z was introduced, the classic Z-cars went through a minor resurgence, which I suspect was mostly brought on by Nissan marketing trying to build up hype for them! But however it started, Nissan commissioned a fleet of restored 240 and 260Zs, selling them for $25k or so. But the Nissan dealers around here all tried to price gouge (of course), asking some crazy amount, I cant remember but I think it was around $50k each. They were not exactly restored, a better description is probably rebuilt by the factory. Everything was like new or better, the one I got to check out was amazing. I dont think the hype was sustained, so I doubt many actually sold for that kind of money. They were nice enough for slightly updated early 70s technology, but I think you would be better off buying a less perfect one and fixing it up a bit better for daily driving.
BTW, there were quite a few roadster conversions done on Z-cars over the years, but its not a great looking car with the roof cut off. Even when they are finished well, the lines just dont flow as well. I much prefer the hardtop.
I was thinking the same about the same thing.
To sum it up, Nissan USA established Vintage Z programme in 1996 as a stopgap measure until the new 350Z was introduced. Nissan planned a series run of refurbishing 200 240Z and selling them for $27,500. However, the poor marketing effort and higher price killed the programme in 1997 after restoring 37 and selling 35 240Z (Nissan kept two).
To put things in perspective today, Mercedes-Benz Classic Car programme today is very similar to what Nissan tried to accomplish with its Vintage Z. Last week, I saw a ‘brand new’ 1968 280SL at Mercedes-Benz Niederlassung München for €249,500. Ouchie!
When I was a kid, the neighbors across the street had a bright red 280ZX. It had the six-spoke alloy wheels and was always clean. They were a younger married couple with no kids, but I remember that car very well. I was a car nut even at age 5-7 and they were pretty easygoing about my wandering over and checking the car out. They had it quite a while too, up to the early 1990s I believe.
I was offered a late 280ZX or something of the sort in trade for my beat up Cammanche recently, I politely declined.
The morphing of the 240 into the bloatmobile is nothing more than social evolution in marketing. They all do it, ever since Darwin was expanded on by Galton, the world has been viewing everything through the eye of “progress”. What does one do when there is no real progress to be made? Make it bigger, faster, smoother, more comfortable, that’s what. So you move a car from entry level – compact all the way up to upper level – mid-sized. Then you introduce a new compact to take it’s place. it’s a circular treadmill giving the illusion of progress. Honda Civic to Honda Fit, it’s the same car in concept, just separated by several cycles of “progress”.
An old girlfriend had a 10th Anniversary 280ZX. Got to drive that around several places, and loved every minute of it. Even with the bloat.
Yes, I DID always want an original 240Z. Classic stuff.
A fabulous car. And a remarkable history.
So many dead-ends to this tale…why in HELL didn’t Pontiac go with the Banshee? It was basically a slimmed out 68 Corvette…all the allure without all the weight.
And Nissan…they had a winner with the Z. They even managed to keep the appeal through the Battering-Ram Bumper era. Why could they NOT see that messing with a successful formula was an exercise in futility?
Wasn’t selling? Commoditized? Withdraw it for a year. Rework it with revolutionary power…not a heavier engine, but aluminum, or rotary. Even raise the price, if that’s what they needed, to gain the aura of exclusivity.
What they DID…and Albrecht Goertz commented on this in a short interview with Car & Driver – was tamper with a successful package, making it disjointed and conflicted. Goertz’s comment when he saw the 208ZX, was I think someone at Nissan said, I don’t know what to do with it, but the car doesn’t have it anymore.
He was probably spot-on. And likely the same confused corporate drones later ran Nissan into the crapper – and into the arms of Renault.
Such a waste. Such a loss. Such a car…it shall not pass this way again.
Regardless of his later misfortunes, it’s easy to see how being unable to get something as appealing as the Banshee through to production drove John DeLorean up the wall and out of GM.
I also have more appreciation for Mazda every time I read another account of how a car company got greedy and ruined a great design by evolving it into something indistinguishable from the original. The MX-5/Miata has only changed enough to stay current–I hope they can keep making it that way, and when they can’t any longer, I hope they cancel it as a modern classic instead of morphing it into junk.
GM senior management vetoed the two-seat Banshee because they feared (probably correctly) that it would cannibalize Vette sales. They likely figured (again, probably correctly) that the F-body would have better economies of scale and sell in far greater volume.
I don’t doubt that was the rationale. But in a few short years, those same alleged managers okayed the importation of the Opel GT…which also probably cut somewhat into the Corvette market. Not deeply; but buyers who were looking for Batmobile styling could buy it in a lighter, tighter package.
Which by appearances was the Banshee’s target. A smaller interpretation of the Corvette…which had gained weight and was to gain much more.
Point I was making, and I still hold to it, was that there were some REAL dumb decisions being made in GM HQ. And one reason the Z was such a runaway success was that it had that segment of the market, almost completely to itself. The Opel was not true competition, with a less practical layout and marginal power.
It’s worth noting, though, that it was not the same management. Jack Gordon was GM president when the Banshee was developed, but by the time the Opel GT came around, Ed Cole had taken his place, and Cole had a different attitude toward sports cars — he’d been chief engineer of Chevrolet during the development of the Corvette, after all.
JPT,
Thinking of GM in the 1960’s, they designed and built 6 engines that weren’t in production at the end of the decade. Corvair, Pontiac 4, Buick 215 V8, Olds 215 V8, Buick V6 derivative of the 215 V8, Pontiac OHC 6. (I give the Chevy II four cylinder a pass for it’s industrial engine production.) That is a stunning series of write offs of investment capital. Then we start the 1970’s…
Exactly AteUpWithMotor!
Pure coincidence, just watched the old 007 “You Only Live Twice” from ’67, and enjoyed a nice car chase led by the Toyota 2000GT convertible.
That’s a great 007 movie. I especially like the part with the bad guys’ car being picked up by the giant magnet and dropped in the ocean. I think they were driving a Toyota Crown or Nissan President.
That was a Toyota Crown in “You Only Live Twice”
I owned one in the late 1980s. It was the first car I bought in the U.S.A. It looked just like this one, but wasn’t in cherry condition like the one in the photo. It was a fun car to drive: plenty of power with the triple carbs it had on it. It wasn’t the most comfortable car to drive, and being 6 foot 2, it took a few grunts and wiggles to get in and out of it. The area under the hatch was big enough to carry a 3rd person on our regular beer runs to the liquor store. It also had a stock wood steering wheel and gear knob for that faux english touch. It was a great looking car that had performance to match its looks, and like all Datsuns, very reliable.
Just found a Fairlady this model for sale on trademe nz with the Japanese engine still aboard 2.0 twincam 6 seems the export models differed from the JDM versions I never realised before did anyone else know?
Katayama succeeded in having the Fairlady name deleted from U.S. (and probably North American) 240Zs, but the JDM cars were badged Fairlady Z; I think the current Z-cars still are.
http://www.nissan.co.jp/Z/
Thanks — that’s what I thought. Around here, it’s not uncommon for 350/370Z owners to stick JDM Fairlady Z badges on their cars, so I figured the name was still in use in Japan.
“Fairlady” always made me think of her:
Datsun Fairlady = that’s unfair, lady.
…is this one pushrod or overhead actuation or both 🙂
JDM Fairlady Z.
There just isn’t a bad line on this car, and though contemporary European and American reviewers got huffy about its styling being ‘borrowed’, there really wasn’t anything else that combined that long snout/short deck with such a pugnacious stance. The Z probably best represents Japan’s development of home-grown styling mojo.
Great car, great write up. All around great job and another great read.
My son fell in love with these cars when he was five years old. They were already almost twenty years old. I had always driven big American iron and said that I would never drive a small car. I was keeping my eyes open and when my son was fourteen I found a one owner 1977 five speed two+two. This car was in great shape and I kept it for many years. I taught my son to drive in this car and we drove all the backroads of the Bay Area while he had his learner’s permit. He later got to drive it when he got his license. The 280z was powerful enough and the fuel injection had resolved the driveability issues that had plagued the 260Z. The ergonomics of these cars are outstanding, and they make my 70 Mustang feel like a old fifties pick up truck. I later had a 72 240Z for a while. This motor would really wind out, unlike the 77 which was really a smog motor. These are great cars, easily upgraded but watch out for rust.
I had one of these shortly after they came out. After a slew of MG’s, Austin-Healeys, the off Fiat and Ferrari, these were a real revelation. Ran fine, weren’t fussy and fiddle or cantankerous. Didn’t wear out and wee astoundingly durable and reliable. I drove more coast to coast with just oil changes, and basic tune-ups.
After all the Brit cars I’d owned, I knew that it needed a clutch and a valve job at 50 k. So I yanked off the head, only to see no wear. Same with the clutch. The clutch finally gave out at 175k … And in all that time, the timing chain needed an adjustment once.
For its time, a dead reliable sports car was amazing. Never mind the weather, it would start and run, and click off the miles without drama.
What did it in was the tin worm. Japanese steel was no match for eastern and Midwestern salt, and the car melted away, even as the engine ran as if in butter … Even today, 35 years later, I have a soft spot for the Z cars …
My parents had a Datsun 280Z when I was a boy. It was a fun car to ride in except it had no rear seat. It wasn’t a 2+2 model.
Very nice article and I completely agree. As I approach 60 looking back, one of my favorite cars was my 76 JDM Fairlady I bought and drove during a military tour in Japan – I agree with Paul – stock is best – mine had only a set of gold BBS wheels and a set of XKE-like headlight covers which unlike most after-market add-ons, really improved the look.
2.0L L-series six, fuel injected, 5 spd – it was just a great sports car – and absolutely reliable.
I knew an Argentinean engineer (nice guy) who drove a 240Z in SCCA events. He said he preferred it, for it was lighter than its successors. No surprise: His hero was Juan Manuel Fangio.
Carroll Shelby, in an interview, stated that Zora Duntov told him that GM never allowed him to take the Corvette in the direction he thought it needed to be taken. I suspect that the Banshee was the car he thought the Corvette should have been. Instead, GM took their flawed-but-elegant classic C2 and turned it into the bombastic C3 dickmobile, which was soon rendered impotent by emissions and fuel efficiency standards.
A GT coupe powered by a small inline six was already on the market with the Triumph GT6, although the performance of its pushrod engine barely matched that of Nissan’s L16 that preceded the L24 and its swing axle rear end was disastrous for handling.
Once Again: Paul and I agree on a car.
#GMTA
🙂
An intriguing maybe-true element of the development of the Z was that the hard points of the roof corners and overall dimensions were lifted exactly from the Ferrari 250 GTO.
I recall an R&T cover story, complete with panoramic photo at the start-finish front straight of a racetrack, with all of the GTOs at a marque reunion. Some wag snuck in a Z with a body kit, and fooled everyone. It came out after the fact, and was revealed only after the R&T cover story was published, so it was all immortalized. You really have to know which one is the fake, to be able to pick it out of the crowd.
I’m sorry, but if you can’t tell these two apart, even from some distance, you don’t belong at a Ferrari marque reunion.
The significantly higher body is the glaring most obvious difference. The differences in the windshield shapes, side windows, wheel openings, the door, among many other differences, are all very stark too. At least to me.
I think that’s part of the joke. The Ferrari owners themselves didn’t recognize the ruse. Or at least nothing was said. I don’t want to make fun of them (not too much, anyway). After all, no doubt it was a busy event and people were just happy to be there. Also, each GTO is a bit different from the others. Finally, perhaps no one wanted to be rude or otherwise question someone else’s car. Sometimes we underestimate how much people used to be quiet and be polite, twenty years or so ago, versus how people “gotcha” each other now.
But this was back in the day when the fake Ferris Bueller “Ferrari” did rankle among some of the Ferrarista, leavened with the knowledge that the movie didn’t trash a real one.
Back to the original idea, the basic shape and proportion of the Z does seem to match up to the GTO fairly well. The pictured example fake car does sit too high (is this the actual imposter from the reunion?), but then, that was a common issue with so many ‘70s Japanese cars. The cars sat too high on too-skinny tires for many people’s tastes.
the basic shape and proportion of the Z does seem to match up to the GTO fairly well.
That’s relative. The differences in its proportions jumps out at me. But the Z is the closest thing to use as a basis for one of these clones.
These clones all sit too high, because they are Datsun Zs under the disguise, meaning the basic body structure is all there.
I’ve never seen a different color on the back panel before–an improvement.
The Corvette at the time had little usable luggage space and no room for a rack.
I have a 1970 Datsun 510, and that will always be my Datsun model of choice—but of course I have loved the 240Z for decades and consistently rank it as one of my Top 5 Favorite Cars of All Time. Datsun was killing it, back around ’70 and ’71, no question. What pains me the most though is that this company that I once loved so much, is now a purveyor of vehicles so bland that they could barely make it even as viable rental car choices. Anyone want an Altima? Anyone? No. No one really does. And Nissan today more than any other automaker it seems is unwaveringly committed to the awful, soul-destroying CVT. Things change. And not always for the better.
Back in the early ‘70s, the Datsun showroom held the 510, the Z, the 1200, and the pickup. What other car line had 100% category killers in its chosen product nitches?
With all the success, I think people forget that these were death-traps their first year. With the poor camber of the McPherson struts and the bias-belt tires, in which camber is critical, multiplied with a huge amount of power for the time, operated by “enthusiastic” drivers, well… Radials, shock/anti-roll bar tuning maybe, I don’t think it took very much, and they survived the news coverage.
I owned a 1978 280Z (autocrossed it), three 510s (made one into a road-race car) and a Datsun KingCab, my girlfriend had a 1978 280Z (matcheys – LOL), mom & dad had a 1977 280Z 2+2, my uncle had a 1975 280Z 2+2, his wife had a 1970 240Z, my cousin had a 1980 gold/black 280ZX Anniversary Edition (luxury ride for executive golfers), my other cousin owned two Nissan dealerships and drove a new xxxZX every year, and my other cousin is a Marketing Manager for Nissan, USA (who keeps trying to give me a great deal on a 370Z). My boss back at that time had a red/black Turbo 280ZX and he let me drive it – HOLY rear-end-squat-cuz-of-the-810-rear-suspension – but it was FAST and I chirped the tires at 2nd and 3rd gear. I currently own a 1990 300ZX TwinTurbo – it’s apart right now waiting on me to finish “upgrades.” 😉
Being the curiosity nut I am, I thoroughly inspected them all as best as I was allowed and believe me, the basic differences between the early 240Z and the later 280Z was basically the smog and heavy bumpers on the latter. If you had removed the bumpers and removed the smog, they were basically the same car. I did not have the money back at that time, but I was constantly wanting to remove the smog and remove the bumpers and replace the front fascia with a “racing” front air-dam (as well as a “whale-tail” or “duck-tail” rear spoiler and fender-flares) like the one in the attached photo -> COOL! In my experience, the pit-falls of the first-generation Z were fuel-percolation due to the exhaust manifold directly underneath the Bosch L-Jetronic fuel-injection, and the propensity to rust (both are HORRIBLE here in Florida). Otherwise they are FUN!!
Thanks for prompting me to reminisce, and thanks for the read, and there’s so much more about our Zs but I think I know when to quit. Happy motoring, guys! 🙂
DS,
I have been thinking of engines of the 1960’s and 1970’s. One of the advantages of reverse flow inline engines is that they heat up faster due to the exhaust being under the carburetor. Obviously more important with carburetors, and in cold climates. Clearly, hot climates have different priorities. I saw that someone is making a DOHC 4 valve/cylinder head for the 240. It is quite expensive, but cross flow has it’s price.
Fuel-percolation was never a problem in my aunt’s carburetored 1970 240Z. But it was in my fuel-injected 1978 280Z.