10 Cars that changed the World!

[RacerX]

And the 240Z is one of them!!

 

If you wish to read the entire list, here's the link:

 

http://www.drive.com.au/buy/TopTen/ChangedTheWorld.aspx

 

Here's the 240Z writeup:

 

Datsun 240Z

It's hard to imagine a motoring world without the high-tech sports cars from Japan. True, Japanese sporties don't have the cachet of Euro exotica with badges such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati, but they have changed the accessibility and affordability of high performance.

 

The car that proved the Japanese could deliver a proper sports car at a friendly price and make it work in any market came in the late 1960s: Datsun's 240Z.

 

Its derivative styling (long bonnet, short rear overhang) recalled the Jaguar E-Type, as did the in-line six-cylinder engine, but the Datsun was a proper sporty machine in its own right.

 

As well as providing flexible performance, the 240Z was also one of the first Japanese cars that could be said to handle even remotely properly.

 

The timing of the 240Z was right, too; it arrived just as the British sports-car industry was going down for the third time with antiquated designs such as the Austin Healey, MGB and E-Type, leaving the door open for a modern design with some dash and flair.

 

RacerX

[big-phil]

how about a 280 with a 240 front? does that count?

[strotter]

"I can tell you some of the cars that won't make it [as future classics] - the retro cars out there, the new Mini and the reborn VW Beetle.

 

"All the clones aspire to greatness, but they're just living off their forebears. They play upon the insecurities of the baby-boomers who are looking for cues to a gentler time - but, frankly, it amounts to design bankruptcy."

 

I couldn't agree with this statement more.