What's "YOUR" Z story?

[DavyZ]

In 1996 I finally had enough moolah to buy a Z. Although I wanted a 240Z, the only one I found in my price range was a 260Z. The car was a light blue 260Z that had cool wheels (Auxilary's car has them now) and dual webbers. It had some frame cancer and I sold it in 1999 after my brother used in college in So Cal.

 

I pined for another Z, this time without rust, and ended up bothering Yuichi from ZDriver.com until he sold it to me after he bought a new 350Z. I still have the car and will finally bring it to it's new home near Charlotte, NC on the weekend. This Z has some basic mods and I had some minor bodywork done on it (shave drip rails and vents). It needs some help and more and more money. I'm at a point in life that I just may finish the car---the desire has ALWAYS been there, but the money has not. Times have changed and I think I'm OK now.

 

Davy

[TeeJayHoward]

Somewhere around the year 2002:

 

I'm good friends with a guy I met in a high school->college transition program (he was my dormmate). He's on the hunt for a new car. His folks, me, and him travel all over looking for a decent car - The closest we came was a subaru station wagon that'd definitely seen better days.

 

We somehow or another end up at a mutual friend's house, whose father is selling a 280ZX. My friend's mother wanted one of those when she was our age. My friend takes it out for a test drive, and his mom is in the drivers seat when they return. They love the car.

 

I've ridden shotgun in that vehicle more times than I can count. I love it when the boost kicks in... The pushed-back-in-the-seat feeling is like nothing I've experienced before.

 

Fast forward to 2007:

 

About a week ago, I found a 1976 280Z for sale on Craigslist. $1400OBO, needs some minor work. I spend all day at work browsing Z forums, noting possible problem areas, and collecting prices for various items that may need to be fixed. The next day, I head on out the 40-someodd miles to take a look at the car. It's what I'd describe as "ghetto". Ugly spoiler sheetrock-screwed on, sunroof missing the glass, 100% trashed interior, 1" thick fiberglass hood with the "muscle-car cowl" on it... To put it frankly, I was disappointed. And the louver? UGH! Who actually LIKES those things? But, I figured, I'd give it a shot. I just wasted $10 worth of gas, and I want to get my money's worth.

 

I took it out for a test drive. It didn't have the punch that my friend's car did, but it ran pretty well. Many things felt... "Loose". Images of a future LS1 under the hood prompted me to run through my checklist, even though I was 90% sure I wasn't going to buy it. To my surprise, VERY few things on the checklist needed work. The body was mostly good, with some surface rust on one wheel well, and one floorpan needing work. I talied up what would need to be replaced, and, seeing that it could easily fit into my $250/month "resto fund", I offered them a grand for it.

 

I was surprised when the lady accepted my offer. Apparently, her father (grandfather?) had a stroke, and they needed travel funds ASAP. I called up my friend, had him take the rest of the day off at work, and drive the 150 miles to my apartment. We met up, drove down, and bought the car.

 

I've only owned the car for about a week, and it is my first Z, but I've already got big plans for it. It's going to get a parking lot restoration for the first few months, where I'll fix anything I can that doesn't require a garage. After that, I go into serious savings mode - Ramen for the masses. Several months down the line, I'll swap in either an LS series V8, RB series I6, or an L28ET. The decision hasn't really been made yet (I consider myself too uninformed still), but it's going to be one hell of a fun car.

 

I've got myself a '97 3000GT for a daily driver, so the Z's going to be my "fun" car. My friend still has his 280ZX, and I'm looking forward to one day taking a couple pics of our cars together. I'm hoping to turn my car into something like Clifton's 240z, but with Mustang GT rims, different bumpers, and "only" 300RWHP. Aside from that, the man damned near has my dream car

 

Now if I can only turn this Camaro-wannabe ratrod back into a proper Z...

[Challenger]

5 long years ago when I was in the 4th grade, I bought my 280z 2+2 from family friends who bought it originally. We worked on it planning on it being just a drive around mess around car, but as I got older I wanted to do it right. Now 5 years later and 1000's or hard earned dollars and it is nearing completion. 5 years and the furthest Ive driven it is across the street at the school parking lot.

[pparaska]

Back in 1979, I was a senior in high school. A friend, who had a 68 GT500 Shelby fastback (428 Cobra Jet, automatic, white with blue stripes) told me of his friend that owned a hair salon. I needed a cut and the place I usually went for a cut of my near shoulder length hair went out of business. The friend with the Shelby told me the guy was cool, a car guy, and if I was lucky I might see the owners smoking hot Venezuelan wife there that would make the trip all worth it (it WAS!) She had to be the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and few women compare to her to this day. Ooops I got sidetracked didn't I! LOL

 

Anyway, the salon owner cut my hair as we discussed the car that he had, right out in the parking space outside the big full glass wall to the place. It was a white 280Z. He was telling me it was turbocharged, etc. etc.

 

At the time I was driving a 70-1/2 Camaro with a 327 I had built the summer before. It was fun but I walked to the beat of a different drummer - the car had wide Corvette rally wheels and wide tires all the way around and was lowered for better handling. I was into handling when my buds were putting more air in their Hi-jackers to make the rear end come way off the ground to try to look like a funny car. Don't get me started!

 

So the Z was pretty entertaining. He let me drive it and the car was tight and the turbo gave it a decent amount of power that made it all very interesting....

 

The October 1980 HotRod Magazine arrived in the mail not long after that. There was an article about a Dentist's Bright Porsche Red Datsun Z with a turbo 327 conversion done by Scarab. The car had all Scarab stuff, etc. - Jim McNamar's car reminds me of it... I was HOOKED. A sexy looking car with hotrod power that handled too! What else would a teen-aged guy want!? (well, besides a hot girl friend, which I had already). I ordered the Scarab catalog and got all of the literature. And then decided that it would have to wait - it all cost so much, even the kit! For a high schooler anyway...

 

I totaled the Camaro in the summer of 1980 (the 327 engine and Turbo 400 trans were still good though!). I bought a beater 6cyl 1968 Chevy II/Nova and drove it for a year or so. But I remembered that Z in the mag. I dropped the 327 into it and found out what a NON-handling car that setup was.

 

My grandmother died and left me a few thousand bucks. I called up the hair-salon owner to help me find a decent 240Z. I found my Z - a 1973 240Z in 110 orange/red. All stock except 72 SUs. Drove it through much of college, until it became really unreliable (electrical system, rust was really bad, engine had a head gasket leak). It sat for years and a college buddy that had a 240Z convinced me to get it back on the road. I drove it for another 7 or 8 years and took it off the road for rust repair in the engine compartment. Then the plan started taking shape - way back in 1993 or so. The 327 was built for it and I started the frame rail replacement and subframe connector fabrication. 11 years after starting the project, it hit the road.

 

It's been a fun ride! And I finally got that "Scarab" Z I dreamed of. Well, my version anyway!

[wheelman]

I bought my first Z in 1984, it was a 260 with weber down draft carbs.

Through highschool I'd really been into hotrod VWs, had a 58 Kharmann Ghia with a built motor and fender flares. My older sister let me drive her 240Z one day and I was hooked, I just had to have one. After graduating I went off to college at USC and after one year found out it was too expensive and I really didn't know what I wanted to study. So I joined the Airforce and bought that 260.

Not long after joining the AF I got married and had my first child so the Z had to go, sold it to a guy who wrecked it about a month later.

I was able to satisfy my car habit for a while by working side jobs and built a 70 Ford pickup. Then I decided to get out of the military and move back to the Pacific Northwest. Ended up moving to the desert of central Washington and bought a house with a very small garage so no more car work. 10 years later we finally could afford a new house and I insisted on one with a garage large enough to actually use and told my wife that in 1 year I'd find a project car. I didn't really know what I wanted to build, the wife suggested another Z as we'd had many good times in that 260 and I always refered to it as my baby. So I googled to find Z related websites and ran across Hybridz. That was it I HAD to build a V8 Z. Within 2 months of moving into the new house I found a 73 240Z, bought it and drug it home. That was about 4 years and $6000.00 dollars ago.

Now it's powered by a 95 LT1/WC T5 combo, has all new poly bushings, coil overs, struts, R200 with LSD and is basically my auto-x car. It still needs a little rust repair and quite a bit of body work but it sure is fun to drive.

 

Wheelman

[Two40MuscleZ]

1971, dating twin cheerleaders at a rival High School. Their parents grad present to them was a silver 240! Sold My '55 Chevy Belair 2 dr hdtp (like a fool) and ordered one. Came home on military leave after a waiting list of 5 months. Christmas came early that year when I picked up the Z one week prior to that. Still have the car today, aka: "Two40MuscleZ" but its built a bit different with a 409 cid and over 650+hp. I also picked up Lone's old Z a while back and did a total rebuild aka: the "Orange Crate". I've just ordered a 6-71 roots style blower for it. The O.C. was recently featured in the Jan '07 Issue Super Street. Was hoping to feature them both at this years JCCS. Terry, informed me that I was the first person online to register for the show. Unfortunately, I was recently injured at work and I'm doubtful I will have them completed by the show deadline date. Next year!

 

VAN

[Dave240Z]

When I was a kid, my Dad and his best friend we’re really into Porsche’s. They would build and race them constantly. I have many memories of sitting in their garage handing over the occasional tool and watching them tune and adjust things. I even had a little Porsche mechanic suit that I wore to P-car outings. I think its safe to say that I either inherited the car bug, or caught it though direct contact. My dad daily drove a ’59 VW Bug with a complete 356 drivetrain. It was quite the sleeper in its day. His best friend owned (3) 356s, one speedster and two coupes. One of the Coupes had a swapped twin-plug Carrera drivetrain. He even drilled holes in the floor to reduce weight. Sounds crazy, but at the time these cars weren’t nearly as valuable as they are today.

 

Fast forward a couple years and my Dad’s friend is thinking about getting either a 911S or a Datsun 240Z. I wondered what the heck the Datsun was and he simply replied it’s the only other car that can compete with the 911. Unfortunately, he died on his way to an airplane race (he was an amateur air racer, built those planes in the garage) before he bought anything. Every time I saw a 240Z after that day, I couldn’t help but remember what he said.

 

Fast forward almost 2 decades more and many cars later. I had just crashed my homebuilt 1991 B18 powered Civic hatch. (today these are common, but at the time I did this there were no kits or adapters, so you had to do this yourself). I was in need of another car and found an early 1972 Datsun 240Z for sale locally. It was the typical “old lady” car, hubcaps and all. It was originally bought by said lady from a local dealership and daily driven for 25 years. She finally retired the car from daily duty and wanted to sell it. The car was visibly tired, but rust free and in decent shape. Everything was there, including original keys and the numbers matched. I made an offer of $1500 and it was mine. The year was 1996.

 

I made some basic repairs to the car and upgraded the wheels/tires to Panasports. Drove around like this for nearly 2 years while going to college doing 12K+/yr. The original L24 burned a little oil, but otherwise ran fine. One day, the transmission seized. Since I had been anticipating such a scenario, I had already purchased and rebuilt a 2.8L engine and 5spd transmission for the swap. Thus ended it’s stock status. I still have the original engine and transmission though and intend on restoring them at some point to keep it a numbers matching car.

 

As the years wore on, the car was slowly modified. First suspension, followed by webers and then brakes. I ended up throwing a rod on the 2.8L after an accidental visit to 8000+rpm during a missed shift. Continuing with the modification team, this was replaced with a fully built Rebello Racing 3.0L and fully rebuilt 280ZX close-ratio 5spd with 4:11 R180. Needless to say this was quite the upgrade. I continued driving this until ~2000 when I finally retired the Z from daily duty. Since then, I got married, bought a house and embarked on a complete house remodel. Unfortunately, the car has been sitting for most of this time due to both a lack of time and a lack of funds. It’s still regularly started and the battery has a trickle charger attached to keep everything in working order. Now that the house remodeling is finally winding down, time and cash are starting to free themselves up a bit. I have been looking at catalogs for some parts again and have finally started to re-tune the webers. New brakes are high on the list. My hope is to have the car ready by Summer of 2008 for some real driving again.

 

In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying my //M Coupe. It’s still technically a Z I guess and it offers a very similar driving experience; sitting over the rear wheels, straight 6 under the long hood and hatchback practicality.

[v8wannabe2]

Great thread! Here's my story, In 1983 my exbrother in law showed up with a 76 280,thinking he was going to impress me with it. I was into muscle cars at the time (previously owned a 66 satillite convertible with a 383, 69 400 firebird, 70 340 Duster). Well! we had an absolute blast that day flying around corners like never before. I bought the car from him a few months later and drove it for 5-6 years. Eventually I bought a 81 280ZX and sold the old 76. I should have looked closer at the car and some major rust problems caused me to sell it. I was Z less for the next few years until a neighbor's friend showed up with a 76! I immediately went over to him and told him that when he was ready to sell the car to come see me first. About 3 months later he did. The Z story doesn't stop there. I drove the car around Calgary Alberta for a few years then took a work transfer to Halifax Nova Scotia (about 3000 miles away). Onto a truck and a train and the Z was on th east coast. The house we had there had a single car garage with a pit and I bought my first mig welder to start fixing the car up. I got lucky when I was there and bought an old Z race car with triple mikunis, a new header, bigger sway bars and a bunch of other goodies. fast forward 3 years and I'm no where's near done when I accepted another transfer to a town outside of Toronto Ontario (1500 miles west). I had to throw the car back together to get the moving company to move the car and when we arrived in Ontario I tore it apart to pick up where I left off. What started as patching the floors had turned into a major resto/mod at this point. This gets better, after 3 years in Ontario I transferred again back to Calgary again and the car was thrown back together and on the truck 1 more time. It's now traveled across Canada and back, about 6000 miles. And here we are today 4 years later and it still sits in my garage, check my album if you want to see some pics.....not quite on the road yet, but I am determined it will be there soon.

[psdenno]

November 1971 - I had been living in the Philippines for a year and a half and was returning to the states by cruise ship. The ship made a couple stops in Japan and I took a side trip to Tokyo. Strolling through the Ginza, I saw a 240ZG on display in a large store display window. It was stunning. Returning to the States I needed a car as I had sold my Pontiac GP in the Philippines.

 

I found a 240Z at a dealership in Minneapolis. At that time there was about a nine month waiting list to get the car - or you could buy off the floor for a premium over sticker. Sticker was about $3,600 and I paid $4,375 including tax & license. I still have the Z and recently pulled it out of a 15 year storage. My son will be driving in a year and we're making a joint project out of the refurbishmant of the car. My dad and I worked on the car 35 years ago and it's a pleasure to work on it again with my son. He looks forward to driving it to high school. I think if my dad had given me a 36 year old car when I was in high school, I might not have been so excited. But the Z is different. After 36 years of ownership, the Z is still a very cool car.

Dennis

[Gollum]

My story isn't nearly as impressive as many of the stories listed here, but I'll share it anyway.

 

I think it was summer of 01' and I'd just turned 14 and was starting to go to the street races in the area with friends. But maybe I should back up a bit.

 

back when I was about 9 or so in 96' I think it was my neighbor caught the car bug. My brother had been into cars since he was in a car seat and could name cars off by make and model even though he couldn't read at all yet. This passion was passed on to me since I'm the younger brother, and so when this neighbor of ours started going from car to car to modify we took notice and turned quite a few wrenches.

 

Well this neighbor bought his dream honda, a del sol. Before this he had a few other cars, the most memorable of which was a bright yellow rabbit that he got into the 13s and he wasn't happy with it, so out it went. So by now it's about 98' and he's got his del sol running low 13's, and he's loving it. Well, not loving it enough seeing as he bought a turbo for it and we spent a few weeks putting all the pieces together (it wasn't a kit.. haha, wasn't really a market for a full kit back then, so it was a bunch of parts he ordered that 'might' fit together). Now he's into the low 12's, and he was happy, for a short while.

 

A friend of his had a brand new, off the showroom floor integra type r. Well, he wrapped it around a pole, like we all knew he would. So my neighbor being the guy he was, swaps the heads under the insurances nose. Well that made the car rev way nicer and was all around a better head setup and it was obvious, but still not enough. So he buys a nitrous bottle for it. Then we spend a week trying to figure out how to install this damn stuff. No instructions, no such thing as online help, and we just knew how it was 'supposed' to work.

 

Got that car into 10's finally... And then he melted a piston...

 

That was my major car experience as a child, that del sol. It was a fun little car, though not really my idea of a perfect car.

 

So fast forward and I'm now 14, going to street races with a different friend who's into hondas as well, though this is getting to the point in time where everyone seems to be into hondas. Well at one street race a 350 powered Z shows up. I don't even know what year/series it was, but who cars. It was loud, obnoxious, and fast despite the bald tires that made the car look like it was on ice.

 

Well when the fast and furious craze hit I'd had enough, and left that scene entirely. I didn't want to be around a bunch of idiots that would get me killed, so I stayed home from the races since.

 

Once I was 15 and getting around to getting my permit and such, I needed to figure out what I wanted to buy. Well my parents aren't made of money, and I didn't have much in the way of work, so I knew it had to be cheap. And that night at the races came rushing back. "what else could you fit in that engine bay if a 350 fits in it?" I thought to myself. And I started looking around for Z info, and came across this website. One of the first cars I saw was a jav V12 Z and my jaw hit the floor. "Holy mother of all crap, good god how can you fit that beast in there" I thought as it occurred to me that this might very well be one of the best budget race cars you could buy, since it seemed limitless in potential, and just limited to you wallet.

 

Well, I was young, and stupid. I looked around a lot and found several S30 cars I wanted to buy, but all out of my price range. Ended up driving up to redding to buy a 80' 280ZX for $2000 (about $800 too much, maybe more). I was 16 at this point, and it was my second car. First one was a hand me down old integra, blaa... Well, this ZX was in great shape it's just that the e-brake cable would stick, so I just left it in gear everywhere I went. Well, one night while I was away from the car, it popped out of gear. There wasn't any curbs, just rounded excuses for curbs. So it rolled about 50 feet down the hill and across the street into a tree. It'd made a full 90 degree turn so the wheels were turned well enough.

 

By some miracle no windows broke, and I just had to bang the wheel well out to make it drivable again. I drove it like that till I found a 81' 280ZX for $500 that didn't run. But mine ran so I didn't care, I'd make it work.

 

Well that car had head issues, and my other car is long gone (sold it for $250 to a junkyard).

 

So now I find myself looking for a turbo donor for my car. And I found one from a HZ member. I overpaid, and I knew it, but he needed to pay for college bills, so I was willing to spend the $500 more than it was worth on it. It was a fully running car, so maybe I didn't overpay THAT much, but this engine is over 200k so it's not like it's in mint condition.

 

So for the last year I've been doing this swap, and it's almost done. If I spent more time working on it and less time on this website maybe it'd be done by now.

 

Pictures of the three:

First one

Second one when I got it home

Second one at a show after it was on the road

And the new donor car with my turbo baby

 

 

Without this site I don't think I would have owned a single one of these cars. Well, maybe I would have, but I definitely wouldn't have learned so much, that's for sure.

[mobythevan]

This is pretty neat to think back...how I got to hybrid z cars went like this....

 

My first car was a 63 chevy-II with I think a 192 six and powerglide. Yanked that immediately and put in a sbc 350 with th350. I was immediately hooked on engine swapping. That thing would melt the little tires. But it was my first crack at serious auto work and had a lot of problems like starter heat soaking, couldn't change plugs, custom oil pan that didn't get welded good enough and leaked. So I got rid of it and bought a 66 impala SS with a 400 sbc that someone had swapped in. That car ran good but was a huge boat. So then at around 17 I would say, I was at a dirt bike garage getting help with a valve job for my honda and we are talking fast bikes/fast cars/etc. The owner says, see that datsun z car over there, it has a 400 sbc in it. Those things are crazy fast and you can buy the swap kit. Hmmmm, I love the way the z car looks.

 

Then life happened and nothing progressed for years, but finally got some money and thought about that V8 z car again. I rushed out and bought the first major pile of rust I found for $500 and got demoralized on the whole project. So in the meantime I thought I would pick up a daily driver 240z to keep me in the spirit. I picked up another $500 240z locally with no rust this time, but the engine turned out to be bad. So I went to the datsun junkyard (yeah we had one, but its gone now) to pick up an L28 to throw in there and get driving. The guy at the junkyard says they are going out of business so he has a 280zx turbo engine, BW T5 and all harness/electronics etc for $350. I say wow and the rest is history. I scrapped the major rust pile that would have been the V8 conversion. Learned a ship load about everything automotive by buidling the turbo 240z and then sold it because I wasn't mature yet.

 

Now I set here today with a V8 RX7 just because I'm a person of oppurtunity. The RX7 showed up, an engine showed up and a turbo showed up . But I suspect I will own another z car in the future, just keeping an eye out for the right oppurtunity. Lots of memories of the turbo 240z like the time I was passing two motorcycles at about 90 and the hatch blew open because the car body was being tweaked, that is fun stuff.

[Challenger]

Mabey in the next posts, people can put their age when they bought their first Z car? Lets see what the youngest z owners were. I know CALIFORNIATHUGZ was 13 I think, I got mine at 11, Im sure theres others that bought there cars around that age.

[wheelman]

I was 19 for the first and 38 for the second. Hmm, just noticed the double there, interesting.

 

Wheelman

[Goose52]

I read the road test of the 240Z in the April 1970 issue of Road&Track magazine and recognized the car as a great value. Then, in 1971 I visited my brother down in Miami and he pulls up in a blue 1970 Z - so that was my first ride. Between the article and that ride, I said to myself: I should get one of these someday...

 

Bought my Z new in 1972 while in the Marines, using a re-enlistment bonus to pay cash for the car. Had a BRE/Interpart header, spook, and rear spoiler installed by the dealer at delivery. After I had the car for a month or so, drove up to the BRE/Interpart shop in El Segundo, CA and bought the Mulholland suspension package. In ’73, put in a hotter cam. In ’74, bought a new WR OD 5-speed, driveshaft, and R-190 LSD w/4.44 gears from Datsun Comp ($575 through a mechanic friend at a dealer). The car scooted pretty good with that gearing. Car was up on blocks for a year while I was stationed in Japan in late ’74 into ’75.

 

By 1977, I wanted more power, so skipped the triple carb scene and went with a 331ci SB Chevy – 11:1 forged, cam, Edelbrock Tarantula manifold, 650 Holley double-pump carb, headers. Had to pull the R-190/4.44 out and put a R-180/3.36 in for the V-8 (the R-180 lasted while the V-8 was in). After 5 years with the V-8, I got married, needed a better transportation car, and was getting caught up with smog/legal issues with the swap, so in 1982, put in an L-28 with just a slightly hotter cam, and another 5-speed. In 1983, the R-180 pinion gear finally failed while I was doing a "agressive" 1-2 shift (must have been something to do with the V-8 service!) so put in an R-200/3.54.

 

In ‘86/’87, did a moderate refresh of the car – went through the mechanicals, had it repainted original color (901 silver). Then, didn’t do much but drive and enjoy it for nearly 20 years. Then, in late 2005, I started a mechanical refresh again (mostly suspension). In December 2005 (unfortunately) the head cracked and I had an oil pan full of coolant – so, an unplanned engine rebuild. As long as the engine was apart, went with flat-top pistons and a hotter cam. In January ’06, decided to go to the MSA show, so I worked on the cosmetics a bit and finally refreshed the interior. Just this year I installed Z-Therapy carbs with SM needles. The car should now be ready for another 20 years of driving. I will then be about 75 years old, and will probably not be able to steer the thing, so will have to pull out the quick steering knuckles and put stock ones in, and put in a really BIG steering wheel … and then drive it some more!

 

Over all this time, the car has only been out of service (not counting the year on blocks) for about 6-7 weeks due to engine swaps, rebuilds, paint, etc. It was a daily driver for the first 17 years and about a “twice a week†driver since then. It’s been a long, but fun, 35 years of ownership.

[Challenger]

Wheelman youll get your next Z when your 57.... Well have to wait and see.

[Regulatori]

I used to read my dad's old Road and Track magazines (starting from the 50s) and just fell in love with all of the classics Japanese and European sports cars. I always loved the Zs but I could never find a decently priced one that didn't have rust. In that time I ended up owning a Honda Civic, Porsche 911SC, and even a Datsun B210. One of my dad's friends had a really nice Z that I bugged for a couple years to sell....but he wouldn't budge until years later.

 

The car is 73, 280Z block swap with 3.1 stroker, triple Mikuni 44s, cam, header, 280 rear end/transmission, adjustable Tokico's/springs, and the car had a full restoration 5 years ago (no rust, shaved trim/badges, new paint, etc..) The car looks and runs great..interior looks almost new, only a few chips in paint, etc..

 

Guess how much my dad's friend sold it to me? $500.

I think he hooked me up because I'm in the military but it was an awesome deal nonetheless. All of my friends hate me for it.

[Challenger]

And I paid 800 for my rusted out barely running junker!!!

[dot]

$800!

Wow I paid $500 for mine in 1985.

Then replaced only what needed replacing...everthing.

[nbesheer]

Well I first Liked Z's when I saw the movie "Blind Date" or something like that with Bruce Willis, but anyways I was rather young so didn't really know that much anyways. But my dad got me a poster of a car just like it (Z31). Then when I was in 9th grade Year 2000 I had to help my dad dig sago palms out of his friends house who had a 1983 280zx that was For Sale, but the funny part was it only had a for sale sign on it but it was parked in the garage which was never open. (So I'm guessing the wife wanted him to sell it but he didn't). So then when I was 17 I went with my dad back to that guys house to buy his fridge or something and what do you know... the car is still there. Anyways it was for $5k with 137,000 miles I later learned that 5k was too much but what ever, the only problems with it was the wind shield washers wouldn't spray. But now I'm the happy owner of a 1983 280ZX N/A that's red and has a nice sounding exhaust that is the combination of a magnaflow, no cat and an exhaust leak. and a quick look at my shelfs shows small piles of money I save just for my car.

[Nunavut]

260Z 2+2, $400 on ebay! spent 5K without ever seeing it at AltZ in LA then flew with my wife and kid to LA and drove it back to Ottawa, I consider myself very lucky to have found this 2+2. I just love this car.