Why did you buy a Z?

[Leon]

First one I saw was a gold 78 280Z owned by my little brother's friend the local lawyer's kid. I remember what I said when I saw it, walking back from my 62 VW Microbus: "I don't like it, the nose is too long!"

 

9 months later I was driving down Rte 58 in Okinawa in a newly-purchased 79 Toyota Carina GT and saw a 1975 Fairlady Z(S) on the lot.

 

Went to take a look, in "ZG Maroon" it was a one owner car with 98,000KM on it. Plastic Mats, and an elemental tinniness not there in the Lawyer Kid's 280Z. The car seemed far more elemental, less luxury, and more sporty. I fired it up and the 2 liter was ready to roll. I bought it by trading in my Carina and writing three post-dated checks for the next three pay days ($240 each...how appropriate!)

 

Now, it has to be said, in all honesty that I bought that car for $2400. There was another one just 1KM up the road at another lot. It was light silver, and was a 1971. It was for sale at the equivalent price of $3200. But it was a 71, meaning I needed to inspect it EVERY year. And why the hell did I want that car when the 75 had a two-year inspection left and was newer. And just as sharp looking.

 

Of course, I never looked under the hood. Nor did I pay attention to the badges on the grille or fenders. Hell, I didn't even realize the tachometer went to 10,000 rpms. Yeah, why would I want that old 71?

 

Hey, "Whats a Fairlady Z 432 anyway?"

 

My god. That is heartbreaking!

[josh817]

 

I don't even like reading that over again. It hurts.

[Racer Z]

Awesome stories

 

I was not quite yet in High School when the first 240Z was sold. My dad was into sports cars and so naturally I was too. For me it was love at first sight. But like most teen-agers, my thoughts soon shifted to girls, motorcycles, then a bag of candy and so on. Later I got my license and a job in Beverly Hills pumping gas. I would see a lot of nice cars come in, Porsche, Ferrari, 240Z and so on. The 240Z was the car I drooled over the most.

 

Thirty five years later my brother and I were at the track watching our Dad race his Alfa Romeo and got to talking about how much we wanted to race cars and what a good car might be. Money is always an issue, especially when it come to a money pit like a race car, so the talk was about what car can we afford that might be a good track car. We ended up with four or five car choices including the Z.

 

After looking at a bunch of old cars and doing some research, we settled on the 240Z. The Z had a strong racing history and was affordable. We found a 1973 240Z that was 100% stock, never crashed and not rusting. We bought that car in 2009 and we've enjoyed the 240Z so much that three years later (two weeks ago) we bought a second Z, a 1974 260Z. Both are dedicated track cars. I would like to get yet a third Z so I can have one as my daily driver.

 

Shortly after we bought the first Z, we were on a test drive and an old Ferrari pulled up next to us at a stop light. The driver looked over and in a very excited voice, asked us if that was an original Datsun 240Z. We were so stoked by this that we forgot to oogle his near perfect 40 year old Ferrari.

[Tony D]

Wow Tony D thats crazy that you passed up a Z 432!! I would kill for one of those! Its crazy to think back on stuff that we passed up because we didnt know any better

 

Not just once. The same car after being sold was offered to me by the new owner as a DIRECT SWAP for my 1973 240Z with flares. Specifically I was to leave the red tail lights in it as well...

 

The original owner was privy to the deal, and offered up the complete set of mechanical injection, racing cams, an rocket boxes full of spares up to and including a spare S20 Engine.

 

I'd already filled out governmental shipping documents in triplicate, so there was no way to get the 432 shipped along with my household goods.

 

I still know where the car is, and who owns it!

 

The decision and circumstances haunt me to this day, especially after being introduced to one of the premier 432/GTR restorers on the mainland of Japan...

[Tony D]

My god. That is heartbreaking!

 

Read directly above, if you dare!

[Tony D]

Did I mention the 73 he wanted to trade was basically a TUB? No suspension goodies, just stock stuff. No engine, no trans... A rolling chassis freshly repainted black with big flares.

 

Stealth Z and Corzette probably both know the car I'm talking about --- it was Rojer Puffer's 240Z minus the hood with retracting lights he'd had installed in 1981...

 

When in your life will you ever get the opportunity to trade a SHELL for a complete car (1 of 417)... KNOWING what it was by then, and being HAMSTRUNG by the government paperwork...you think YOU GUYS hurt reading it. Try LIVING it, and then REMEMBERING IT!

[calvin280zxt]

Bought my now parts car for 100 bucks from my buddy a 82 2x2 na that was the rustiest POS i have seen to date but man was it fast and fun. A true flintstone mobile. Sold it for 450$ then bought it back for 300 a couple years later. Then a couple years ago came across a 2x2 turbo automatic in great (looking) condition put all my good parts on it and my 5 speed. I was awesone looked good fast with ten psi o boost. Then i hit a bear. And since im hered it to full body work where it remains until all rust is destroyed

[Vintage-TechZ]

Did I mention the 73 he wanted to trade was basically a TUB? No suspension goodies, just stock stuff. No engine, no trans... A rolling chassis freshly repainted black with big flares.

 

Stealth Z and Corzette probably both know the car I'm talking about --- it was Rojer Puffer's 240Z minus the hood with retracting lights he'd had installed in 1981...

 

When in your life will you ever get the opportunity to trade a SHELL for a complete car (1 of 417)... KNOWING what it was by then, and being HAMSTRUNG by the government paperwork...you think YOU GUYS hurt reading it. Try LIVING it, and then REMEMBERING IT!

 

I can, can,can't breathe.........................

[gogriz91]

Went to Okinawa for the summer in '82 when I was 15 and the hot car to have was the S30. I remember coming back from Okuma we were on the Expressway when two Skylines that were racing went screaming by oppostie direction...a minute later a Fairlady Z police car went screaming by presumably to chase them down or pin them at the tollbooth. When I got a real job in 1986 I bought a 260 and I've had an S30 ever since.

[Leon]

Did I mention the 73 he wanted to trade was basically a TUB? No suspension goodies, just stock stuff. No engine, no trans... A rolling chassis freshly repainted black with big flares.

 

Stealth Z and Corzette probably both know the car I'm talking about --- it was Rojer Puffer's 240Z minus the hood with retracting lights he'd had installed in 1981...

 

When in your life will you ever get the opportunity to trade a SHELL for a complete car (1 of 417)... KNOWING what it was by then, and being HAMSTRUNG by the government paperwork...you think YOU GUYS hurt reading it. Try LIVING it, and then REMEMBERING IT!

Dagger in the heart! Is there a :passout: emoticon?

[Michael]

My story doesn't involve serendipitous encounters with smashingly good deals, negotiations with parents, Craigslist scores or barnyard finds, or teenage infatuation. My foray into Z's began in my late 20s, after spending a decade driving various nondescript Toyotas. At the time I was living in Los Angeles, going through graduate school, and bemoaning my impending entry into the "professional world" without getting the sports-car bug out of my system. But I didn't want a "new car" - too expensive and too tame. I bought a Z because I was interested in a limber, attractive older sports-car with a large engine compartment that could seamlessly receive a V8 transplant. I never really wanted a muscle car or a classic sports car, but an eclectic blend of both. The choices were something English or nominally English (Shelby Cobra, Sunbeam Tiger); the Z; an Opel GT; and a handful of other 70s Japanese cars such as the Celica or RX-7. But I didn't want a convertible, which ruled out the British options. The Opel and RX-7 really had rather small engine bays (especially the Opel), and the Celica was too much like a generic coupe according to my tastes of the time. Plus, I always liked hatchbacks. The Z was a natural choice. My first attempt was a 1972, with awful rust problems, as it turned out. My second attempt was a reasonable rust-free 1978. My current car, bought at the twilight of the 20th century, is a combination of those two. It has been an on-again off-again romance. After many years of dead-end and angst-ridden tribulations, the car finally runs, albeit turning it into something genuinely enjoyable and reliable will require many more years and dedication of labor.

 

 

The irony is that today, my daily driver is a Mazda Miata - a convertible, a lowly 4-cylinder lacking grunt or poise. But there is something endearingly charming about it, not the least of which is the remarkable reliability for a 20+ year-old car with sporting pretensions. Sometimes I fantasize about getting another Miata for a V8 swap, but it's so much more difficult in the Miata than in a Z, that a person of my lethargy and ignorance would be completely overwhelmed. You see, it takes decades of sports-car ownership to genuinely appreciate one's limits!

Edited April 23, 2012 by Michael

[OldAndyAndTheSea]

I got into Datsun's because apparently I LOVE throwing endless amounts of time and money into a rusty bottomless pit.

 

But, do I regret ANY part of it?

 

 

 

Nah. Not at all.

[Tony D]

Gogriz91, the car chasing something on the Okinawa Expressway was an RX7.

There weren't any Z Koban Cars on Oki, but the Savannah RX7 ran the expressway.

The Z's were in Kanagawa, on the mainland.

 

I got warned by him in 84 after passing him at 200KPH... I stayed stopped at the Ishikawa off ramp at the light till he caught up and warned me over a tail lamp that wasn't working.

 

Earlier in the year, when first on the island doing Togue Racing with a long-lost school acquaintance in his Toyota Carina GT the same RX7 ran us down, followed by the biggest Japanese I've ever seen pulling my friend Douglas out the drivers window, punching him once in the face, then doing a head slam twice on the hood... Followed by the entangled giant stomping to my side of the car and scolding me for letting him drive that fast (145 in a 30...)

 

Then he said "You, safety drive! Friend no drive anymore today!"

 

Wether that referred to Douglas laying in the gutter half concious and bleeding, or that he just thought the display would scare me into following the speed limits (uh...) I don't know.

 

I never had that issue with the JP's. I think to this day Douglas got it because he wasn't wearing a seat belt, and I was... I got stopped for far mor egregious violations ("your car... I see UNDERNEATH!") and was always treated with polite disbelief ("Why you stop?")

 

Z Stories from Okinawa? I got a ton!

 

But what you CAN do is tell the pompous git who poo-poohed the existence of toll booths on the Okinawa Expresseay when I talked about them that they INDEED existed 25 years ago!

[Tony D]

I have a photo of that Savannah on my Facebook Photo Page...

[Racer Z]

I got into Datsun's because apparently I LOVE throwing endless amounts of time and money into a rusty bottomless pit.

 

Z's aren't the only rusting money pit. You've just described every car and truck ever made that survived long enough to get old and rusty. And a few boats too. LMAO

[texis30O]

My father was the VP of the Z Club of Houston back in the late 70's. I have scars on my body from Z's before I had a desire to own them. Being branded at a young age with gas being slung in my eyes from filing up gas tanks, to going to autocross events I was destined to own a Z. I own a 70 240Z, Turbo Tom car. I am friends with the original owner who put the kit on the car. As a kid my dad had a friend that used to come to the house and steal my cookie jar and torment me every time he was at the house. He taught me cuss words and how to shoot the finger. I had always wanted a fast Z. My mom's had a L28 motor swap and my dad's had a few goodies on it as well. We moved to Saudi Arabia and I grew up. My dad kept in contact with said " bad influence" and I got to see him from time to time. He was now ranting and raving about his 911 turbo and all of the things he had done to it. I wondered about his Z......... Fast forward to 2006 I got a call form my dad saying that said "bad influence" needed his newly bought house remodeled.....I steped up to the plate and did the remodel......for my work, I got the Z............. I have been putting it back to it's former glory slowly as I have two kids, and businesses to deal with..... I am bringing it back from it's garaged dungeon of 14+ years and in a few more years I will get his 911 and convert it to a RWB 911............

Edited April 23, 2012 by texis30O

[rejracer]

I was in the process of selling my 72 bus and had wanted a Z car for some time. I did not know much about them back then, (1994) I wanted a ZX but they were out of my price range. I had looked at several Z's, many of them were just worn out. It just so happened that a co-worker was selling his at the same time, and for the amount that I was selling the bus for. This car happened to be tuned right, already had the 2.8 in it, was running 3.54's and I think a 260z 4 speed. I was working at Salerno Motorsports at the time, and one of the selling points for me was "it's faster than a 348". Faster than a Ferrari! I was sold. A few weeks later I found a buyer for the bus, and then the gradual process of improving, breaking, repairing modifying began. I've driven it countless times to LA, San Diego, Oregon, and Reno.

 

1st mod: Headlight relay 2nd mod: Electronic ignition. 3nd mod: 5spd after 4 speed lost the counter shaft bearing. 4th mod: get 280z tach so it will work with the ZX distributor. 6th mod: get new wiring harness after battery slid and positive terminal hit chassis and let all the smoke out of every harness in the car. 7th mod: Momo steering wheel after I bent the stocker, I also replaced a the front bumper, headlight bucket and fender as a result of that incident I could continue on and on, but lets just put it this way.

 

I've not replaced the long block, steering column, doors, and tail lights. Every other part has been replaced at least once. Car now has 350k on it.

 

2 clutches, 1 set of clutch hydraulics, 3 transmissions, 3 differentials, 2 drivelines, 2 sets of halfshafts, 1 set of wheel bearings, 1 exhaust system, 3 sets of headlights, 2 master cylinders, 1 set of front calipers, All gauges.

 

What's up next: 16x8 Rota RB-R's, L28ET and 71c swap, volt meter mod, stereo. Distant future: EMS, inter cooler, custom intake, injectors, LSD.

 

edit: In spite of all the things that have failed and been upgraded over the years, it's still been the cheapest car per mile that I've ever owned.

Edited April 26, 2012 by rejracer

[LoneStarS30Z]

Triple post.

Edited April 26, 2012 by LoneStarS30Z

[LoneStarS30Z]

Triple post.

Edited April 26, 2012 by LoneStarS30Z

[LoneStarS30Z]

First one I saw was a gold 78 280Z owned by my little brother's friend the local lawyer's kid. I remember what I said when I saw it, walking back from my 62 VW Microbus: "I don't like it, the nose is too long!"

 

9 months later I was driving down Rte 58 in Okinawa in a newly-purchased 79 Toyota Carina GT and saw a 1975 Fairlady Z(S) on the lot.

 

Went to take a look, in "ZG Maroon" it was a one owner car with 98,000KM on it. Plastic Mats, and an elemental tinniness not there in the Lawyer Kid's 280Z. The car seemed far more elemental, less luxury, and more sporty. I fired it up and the 2 liter was ready to roll. I bought it by trading in my Carina and writing three post-dated checks for the next three pay days ($240 each...how appropriate!)

 

Now, it has to be said, in all honesty that I bought that car for $2400. There was another one just 1KM up the road at another lot. It was light silver, and was a 1971. It was for sale at the equivalent price of $3200. But it was a 71, meaning I needed to inspect it EVERY year. And why the hell did I want that car when the 75 had a two-year inspection left and was newer. And just as sharp looking.

 

Of course, I never looked under the hood. Nor did I pay attention to the badges on the grille or fenders. Hell, I didn't even realize the tachometer went to 10,000 rpms. Yeah, why would I want that old 71?

 

Hey, "Whats a Fairlady Z 432 anyway?"

 

 

 

This one kind of hits home. I'm living out here in Okinawa, I'm sure it's changed a ton since then (insert old man jab here ). That's pretty cool a 432 once resided on this dinky island, my jaw would scrape the pavement if I saw one. I've seen a few Z's out here, 2 ZG noses and 2+2. All 3 looked IMMACULATE. The Japanese really value their old sports cars, and it shows when if you want a nice Z it's not uncommon for the asking price to be in the $30K+ range. One can always dream though! I plan to splurge on mainland parts shopping one day.

 

Route 58 is extremely busy these days, but once you get north past Nago heading towards Hedo Point, it's absolutely gorgeous. Snaking along the coastline on smooth roads is a dream come true really. Then there's the intense mountain roads, some great driving to be had when you find it!

 

 

 

Back on topic. I don't really remember why I originally wanted a Z, all that I know is I'm glad to have gotten one. It's by far my favorite car I've owned, it's so charismatic. I also enjoy the community around it, everyone I've met that owns a Z or something old school has been extremely down to earth and nice. I miss my Z to death and there isn't a day I'm not planning or scheming on what I should do to it when I'm back in the States one day.