Youngins: How'd you end up with a Z?

[Daeron]

I'm 36 now, and I was brought home from the hospital in 1972 in a new 240Z, the first new car my parents ever bought, it was sold a couple months later and they bought a truly hideous 4 door Chevy Impala to haul the family around in.

 

Flash forward to 1987 and there's only one car I want for my first, and I bought a '78 280Z, S-30's were just used cars then, and were plentiful.

 

Since that first '78, I have owned 11 S-30 Z's, and one lonely '82 ZXT, and a '90 ZXTT, and I currently own my '73 turbo car, a triple weber'd ZG flared '72, and a '78 Black Pearl. I have owned at least one S-30 Z continuously since the summer of 1987. I'll always have at least one

 

I even married a girl whose first car was a 77 280Z, she claims the '72 as hers now, and she's treasurer of the Cowtown Z Car Club. The Black Pearl is a project we're just starting for my son, who turns 15 in a few months, ya gotta start 'em off right!

 

now DATS what i'm friggin' talkin about!!!!!

[280zx 2by2]

got mine i believe just before i was 16, bought it at a gas station for $2100 lol, over payed by a good $1100 id say

 

i have got to the point where the car is just a dd and i could care less for restoring it

 

(and my car might not really apply to this thread being a 280zx 2+2)

 

i am looking to buy a neighbors 280z, park it somewhere where the rust wont get too bad and wait until i have the resources to restore it

[Iceman]

I'm 28 and I've had my Z since 2003. I always liked the look of the Z and never actually had any idea about the performance. I've always liked the compact size too. My Dad got me into classic cars a long time ago, and my first oldie was mý '65 GMC. After having my '89 honda prelude for a few years, I decided my next car was going to be RWD and smog exempt

 

After searching for a few months, I found my 1970 240Z in excellent condition. It was a little more than I was hoping to spend ($3500), but already had a late-model 280, T5, and rear-end swapped in, as well as adjustable coil-overs in the rear, and a very clean body.

[John Scott]

Cool thread. Nice to see so many still appreciating the early Z.

At 11 years of age may two favorite cars were the early Barracudas and the Corvettes... until I walked up to a brand new 1970 240Z, quickly fell in love with the sporty clean lines, and then gasped at the speedometer. 160, Wow!

[Empire]

I'm a car nut. I'm 25, and I have 4 cars and now a bike. My daily driver is an 07 Alitma. It gets me to work and home, that's it.

 

I've also got a '90 Mustang 5.0 trunk (stupid, loud, handles like a shopping cart, but puts a 10 year old's grin on my face), a '68 Lincoln Continental with suicide doors (I love big cars, and this one is the mac daddy to me).

 

Then there's my 240. It's on stands, torn apart, costing me a small forutne and taking up a lot of time. I've wanted one for years, and I still think it's got some of the sexiest lines ever. When my brother's brother in law (21 year old) talks about his 350z I just have to mention the 240 and command the respect it deserves from all other generations of Z. I'm such a prick.

[MAG58]

I'm 20. I had to stab a hooker for mine.

 

 

...Not really.

 

My parents gave me a choice when I was 15. I could have a car or a PPL. I said what if I built my car? They foolishly said that was ok.

 

And the story continues.

[whitechocolatelove]

im 20 and halfway bought my first z (81 zx na) for $300. the people got drunk and wouldnt let me have it and tried to cast a spell on my dad after he told the lady shed been rode more times than a public transit lol. after that i HAD to get another. so i found another 81 280zx na for $600 and tinkered with that for a year till i realized an early s30 was the logical way to go for a true sports car that was cheap and fun. so i found my 72 for $1500, rebuilt the l26 that was already in it, decided it wasnt enough, bought a turbo car, swapped it, didnt run right and didnt have anything else to drive, sold her, got depressed for 3 months after i realized what i did was stupid, bought her back, bought another turbo car and am in the process once again of transplanting the engine. now ive been able to take my time with her and actually put her together with a lot more care so hopefully shell come out with a lot better results.

[canammx1]

I am 17 years old. I got my 1983 280zx when I was 15. My dad had a 260z back in the day and my mom had a z31. I was looking at toyota tacoma's for a vehicle. Then my dad said don't you want a zcar? I was like you would let me have a zcar. And so I looked at s30's and almost bought a 1978 280z 2+2, but didn't get it. And I ended up with my 1983 280zx coupe non turbo.

[FiveSeventyZee]

I'm hoping a month isn't too old of a thread to revive but I just turned 17 and I've had my 240z for a while. I bought it last November (of 08) when I was 16. It's my first car.

 

I bought it because I wanted to learn how to work on and fix cars and figured the best way to learn is by doing. I decided to jump into a project car. Then to chose the car I chose the s30z for a few reasons. I like the old school car, I have a hatred or vendetta if you will against cars controlled by computers doing thousands or hundreds of thousands of calculations per second. I also wanted something I could have some fun with, in terms of possibly racing every now and then. I went japanese because I don't really like European cars that much and American of the 70's are only good for strait line drags. The last reason I chose it was because my uncle (dads brother) used to autoX and gymkhana cars and when he died he left his pair of 240z's to my other uncle (who still has them waiting to be finished, one for the shell and one for the engine/tranny/whatnot) and his name was also Jimmy so I felt a certain gravitation towards the cars he used to drive. A sort of nostalgia for a life I never lived I suppose.

 

Anywhoo, I found a 1972 240z for $1500 with a 5.7L chevy engine in it, went to check it out found out it had some performance parts on it (holley intake, eldo carb, custom strait pipes exhaust) and left a few days later hauling my first car and two tubs of parts that came from another 240z he had stripped for $1300.

 

10+ months later and I'm making a final push to get it on the road, I have to clean and reinstall my gas tank and change the tranny oil and I believe it will drive. I love the thought of pulling up to school in a car that I've built myself and spent less than $5k on and is 38 years old (21 years older than me) knowing it could beat most of the cars that my classmates get from their parents (e46's, a4's, 8th gen civics, cherokees, a g35, a rousch mustang, s430/500's, e350/500's oh and my friends 02 RSX type s with a bunch of CF and a fart can on the back...I live in a very wealthy area)

[Leon]

Wow, this is a very intersting thread. I am pretty new to this forum but I guess I'll add my story to the pile.

 

I'm 24 now, I bought my Z last summer, but my love for cars dates back to when I was 3 or 4 years old.

I was born in Russia, where at the time cars were considered a luxury. In fact, my parents did not even own a car let alone have one as a "project." I distinctly remember if we ever had to travel anywhere long distance we would take the train or find a friend of a friend who was traveling that way and would agree to take us along. Yet even back then my mind could think of nothing but cars, I knew all about the old Soviet era cars-Ladas, Volgas, Moskvitches, Zappos, etc, often talking about them with my parents and relatives, much to the amazement of the anyone present (or so I am told). My most memorable childhood experience had to be when my uncle took me on his lap when he was driving his old Moskvitch down a country road and let me steer. I think we went through more holes in the road that day then I have the rest of my life haha.

 

When we finally moved to the US in 1991 you cant imagine my amazement. Everyone had a car, and there were so many different models. Took me a while to get used to it. Our first family car was a 1980-something Plymouth Champ. Fast forward to high school. I always envied the kids with the cool cars but never really understood how anyone got the money to buy one. I drove the old family car, a 1991 Ford Taurus station wagon, not the prettiest car on the lot but I loved driving it. I focused on my studies and only really worked a lot my last year of high school where I used the money to buy a nice computer that I needed for when I left for college.

 

Since then, not much has changed. I am finishing up my Mechanical Engineering degree at Oregon State University. I've worked every summer for the last 3 years at one engineering firm or another, saving the money I made to get by the next year at school (my parents pay for my schooling but I pay for everything else). However, I would make daily rounds through craigslist for those three years, looking for a car, any car, that I could call my own.

 

Finally this summer my search came to an end. My parents were vising family back home (so noone was around to talk sense into me), I had just recieved two hearty paychecks, and I was feeling dangerous. I saw an add on craigslist for a 1975 280z for $1300 or so, the car seemed in good condition. The ad even said, "good for a project car you can drive". "Perfect", I thought, and made the call. The car was in the same town my girlfriend lived in, 2 hours away. I took off early from work that day, and, with my heart pounding the whole way, somehow made it to Eugene. The man who sold me the car was very nice and actually sold me it for less than $1000. I agreed to drive it to my girlfriends house and have the car shipped for $150 to my house in Portland the next morning. Everything seemed so great, a car, my own, to do with what I will at last! I was ecstatic

 

The drive to her house though quickly brought me back down from the clouds. The fuel filter was so clogged up I could not drive on the freeway any faster than about 45, and my lack of experience driving a stick made drivng on normal streets extremely intimidating. I was surprised I didnt cause any accidents, but I made it to her house in one piece. Next morning the car was delivered to my house and I made the call to my parents. I will never forget the words I said to them "So uh.. I dont know if this is good news, or bad, but I bought a car..." my dad just laughed and said "you crazy man, I should have seen this coming", we mostly left it at that.

 

So anyway, its been almost a year now me and the car have been through a lot. I've changed that damn fuel filter, but also the carbs, installed tokico shocks and springs, bought a used 6-1 header and had 2.25" exhaust made. More work is planned for this summer, perhaps I can run her in some autox events if she is up to it. Until then the car waits for my return back home. Its funny to think that I've waited 20 years for this car, now it just waits for me.

 

I never would have imagined that I could have a car of my own, and not just any car, a car which is effectively a toy. I dont want to seem too emotional but it really is a dream come true for me. I think we are all very lucky people to have these cars (or any cars) and hope we appreciate the gifts we have.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my story and sorry about it being so long, I tried to shorten it up but I dont think it makes sense unless you know it from the beginning.

 

Sorry to quote all this, but WTF, you almost described me!

 

I am 22 now and got my Z summer of '07. I was born in Moscow and I have been a car guy even before I can remember! There are pictures of me as a toddler playing with car toys and staring at busses and any vehicle that fell unto my eyes. My parents had a non-running Volga but my grandfather had a Moskvich. I was so happy to get a ride in that car! My grandfather was the first of my family to move in '91, and soon I found out he got a Ford. I was so excited about it since I had never seen one before, only the usual Lada, Moskvich, Zhiguli, etc.

 

When we moved to SF in 1994 my dad was able to get a slightly rusty 1987 Honda Accord, our first running car in my memory! I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It had pop-up lights and a moonroof, what more could a kid ask for? I went into "learn mode" and stared and learned every make, model and year of car that I saw on the road. When a cousin came to the US the first thing that came out of my mouth was "there are so many different marques of cars here!" Whenever my dad would come home with a "new" car, like the '84 Corolla we had (Damn, shoulda kept that one!), I sat in it checked out all the cool features and pretended I was driving (who didn't?).

 

In high school, I got my license at 16 and couldn't wait to drive by myself. Eventually I was driving a '94 Volvo 960 and then an '89 Audi 100 5-speed in high school. I was lucky enough to take the auto mechanics class as a freshman but unfortunately it was canned after that. That was when I was really able to start learning detailed things about cars and how they work. At the end of senior year, I was lucky enough to get a 2001 Accord Coupe (manual, of course). It was a dream come true!

 

After my first year at SDSU in Mechanical Engineering (at Cal Poly SLO now) I told my dad that I really wanted a project car. I didn't think anything of it, but one day he tells me there are a couple of Porsche 944s for sale cheap nearby. Of course I jump on it but it fell through. The rest of the summer I became obsessed with getting a project. I worked as a youth basketball coach every summer, but I yearned to work on a project with my hands. Many hours prowling Craigslist and a few drives to check out 944s, and still nothing of mine in the garage. The next summer I decided to expand my search. I narrowed it down to a RWD, stick, and likely a hatchback (just love that body style for some reason, wagons as well!). The cars I was mostly searching were 944s, Supras and Datsun Zs. It was tough considering my budget was under $1000. I found 280Zs and ZXs not knowing much about Z-Cars then, but my dad kept turning them down saying that they're too much work or that they're not worth it.

 

Finally after 2 years of searching, my patience paid off. I found a 240Z on Craigslist advertised for $800 and took a look at it. It was sitting in a driveway rusty, dirty and covered in cobwebs. The guy was cool, he said the PO had it in a barn and it drove until something happened to the carb and it would not start. I was so giddy but tried to stay focused, so I went home to sleep on it. The next day, with some convincing from my girlfriend (she knows how important cars are to me) I offered $400 and picked it up, unbeknownst to my dad! I finally decided to make an important decision on my own. I called AAA, the truck arrived and the driver comes out, mounts the Z to his truck and as I'm paying he says "you gonna put a 350 in it?" I thought it was funny because I didn't realize how common it was at the time. Finally the truck drives off with me behind it. When the tow truck was unloading at home, of course my dad arrives from work. He gets out the car, and just says "you're crazy" with a slight smirk on his face. The first night with my own car is unforgettable. I put it into the garage, took pictures and just stood in awe that it actually happened!

 

My appreciation for these cars has exponentailly grown, and I'm really glad I got the Z. I've been addicted ever since, learning, buying parts with all my spending money, and requesting parts and books as gifts. This car has helped me learn about so many aspects of automotive engineering. It has made me essentially fearless of any car project, where before I would think of a restoration as an almost superhuman feat (hell, it still seems that way... ). My first '71 is on jackstands torn totally apart, and now I have a rust free shell with Illuminas and Eibachs that I'll be using to accelerate the project. There is still plenty to learn but I feel so happy to have a car to work on and to eventually use for fun. I could have never imagined a better outcome, even 3 years ago!

 

I am in my last year at Cal Poly working on my senior project (engine development for our Formula SAE team). I feel so damn lucky to be able to have an amazing car, amazing community, and the opportunities I've had in life. I think this is getting corny but I feel good sharing this stuff. These forums have also been a big help for me, so thanks to all of you. They're such a great tool for taking my car love to an obsession, and the obsession into a quest for learning as much as I possibly can!

 

Sorry for the essay, hope I didn't bore anyone to sleep!

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

Sorry to quote all this, but WTF, you almost described me!

 

I am 22 now and got my Z summer of '07. I was born in Moscow and I have been a car guy even before I can remember! There are pictures of me as a toddler playing with car toys and staring at busses and any vehicle that fell unto my eyes. My parents had a non-running Volga but my grandfather had a Moskvich. I was so happy to get a ride in that car! My grandfather was the first of my family to move in '91, and soon I found out he got a Ford. I was so excited about it since I had never seen one before, only the usual Lada, Moskvich, Zhiguli, etc.

 

When we moved to SF in 1994 my dad was able to get a slightly rusty 1987 Honda Accord, our first running car in my memory! I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It had pop-up lights and a moonroof, what more could a kid ask for? I went into "learn mode" and stared and learned every make, model and year of car that I saw on the road. When a cousin came to the US the first thing that came out of my mouth was "there are so many different marques of cars here!" Whenever my dad would come home with a "new" car, like the '84 Corolla we had (Damn, shoulda kept that one!), I sat in it checked out all the cool features and pretended I was driving (who didn't?).

 

In high school, I got my license at 16 and couldn't wait to drive by myself. Eventually I was driving a '94 Volvo 960 and then an '89 Audi 100 5-speed in high school. I was lucky enough to take the auto mechanics class as a freshman but unfortunately it was canned after that. That was when I was really able to start learning detailed things about cars and how they work. At the end of senior year, I was lucky enough to get a 2001 Accord Coupe (manual, of course). It was a dream come true!

 

After my first year at SDSU in Mechanical Engineering (at Cal Poly SLO now) I told my dad that I really wanted a project car. I didn't think anything of it, but one day he tells me there are a couple of Porsche 944s for sale cheap nearby. Of course I jump on it but it fell through. The rest of the summer I became obsessed with getting a project. I worked as a youth basketball coach every summer, but I yearned to work on a project with my hands. Many hours prowling Craigslist and a few drives to check out 944s, and still nothing of mine in the garage. The next summer I decided to expand my search. I narrowed it down to a RWD, stick, and likely a hatchback (just love that body style for some reason, wagons as well!). The cars I was mostly searching were 944s, Supras and Datsun Zs. It was tough considering my budget was under $1000. I found 280Zs and ZXs not knowing much about Z-Cars then, but my dad kept turning them down saying that they're too much work or that they're not worth it.

 

Finally after 2 years of searching, my patience paid off. I found a 240Z on Craigslist advertised for $800 and took a look at it. It was sitting in a driveway rusty, dirty and covered in cobwebs. The guy was cool, he said the PO had it in a barn and it drove until something happened to the carb and it would not start. I was so giddy but tried to stay focused, so I went home to sleep on it. The next day, with some convincing from my girlfriend (she knows how important cars are to me) I offered $400 and picked it up, unbeknownst to my dad! I finally decided to make an important decision on my own. I called AAA, the truck arrived and the driver comes out, mounts the Z to his truck and as I'm paying he says "you gonna put a 350 in it?" I thought it was funny because I didn't realize how common it was at the time. Finally the truck drives off with me behind it. When the tow truck was unloading at home, of course my dad arrives from work. He gets out the car, and just says "you're crazy" with a slight smirk on his face. The first night with my own car is unforgettable. I put it into the garage, took pictures and just stood in awe that it actually happened!

 

My appreciation for these cars has exponentailly grown, and I'm really glad I got the Z. I've been addicted ever since, learning, buying parts with all my spending money, and requesting parts and books as gifts. This car has helped me learn about so many aspects of automotive engineering. It has made me essentially fearless of any car project, where before I would think of a restoration as an almost superhuman feat (hell, it still seems that way... ). My first '71 is on jackstands torn totally apart, and now I have a rust free shell with Illuminas and Eibachs that I'll be using to accelerate the project. There is still plenty to learn but I feel so happy to have a car to work on and to eventually use for fun. I could have never imagined a better outcome, even 3 years ago!

 

I am in my last year at Cal Poly working on my senior project (engine development for our Formula SAE team). I feel so damn lucky to be able to have an amazing car, amazing community, and the opportunities I've had in life. I think this is getting corny but I feel good sharing this stuff. These forums have also been a big help for me, so thanks to all of you. They're such a great tool for taking my car love to an obsession, and the obsession into a quest for learning as much as I possibly can!

 

Sorry for the essay, hope I didn't bore anyone to sleep!

 

Wow... your story is so similar its a little scary. I'm on my last 2 terms at OSU and am working on my senior project as well. Funny thing is I ALMOST ended up picking a project doing engine design for the FSAE team here. I ended up switching last minute when I found out there was an opportunity for a project to design and build an autonomous underwater vehicle for a competition next summer down in San Diego.

[Leon]

Wow... your story is so similar its a little scary. I'm on my last 2 terms at OSU and am working on my senior project as well. Funny thing is I ALMOST ended up picking a project doing engine design for the FSAE team here. I ended up switching last minute when I found out there was an opportunity for a project to design and build an autonomous underwater vehicle for a competition next summer down in San Diego.

 

Wow, that's crazy! Good luck with your project, it sounds challenging. As for FSAE, are you going to competition? We're going to Detroit this year, it would be cool to meet up. Regardless, I'm sure we'll meet somewhere, sometime! Send me a PM and let me know.

[z2go]

My Z story isn't exotic, but it involves nearly four decades and a father-son thing...

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=154415

[Zerocell5688]

Well i might as well post up my little story sense i'm here.

I'm 21 now and we got the S30 when i was about 14. Our Neighbor and his best friend are all into wheeling and dealing with local junkyards and getting crazy good deal on things and they picked up the Z for $3000 in CHERRY condition when i was like 12 so the car was sitting around in the yard for 2 years and he used it for his DD and tore the interior all up, blew up sodas and screwed the roof up and just wrecked it up and than one day he was driving back from Albuquerque and hit a patch of black ice and nearly took a nose dive off a cliff, luckally the guard rail saved him but but that nice signature dent thats in the front drivers side still sits to this day and it was that little incident that starts our story.

So our neighbors THEN wife tells him look your gonna kill yourself get rid of that stupid car so he started tellin people he wants $1500 for it and my dad was needing a car something fierce and he had owned a couple S30's before hand and thought well why not stick with what we know so we walked over with $600 in cash and he gave it too us, not running, cause he thought the fuel pump was out. We Pushed it into our yard and put some gas in the tank and fired it up! She was sputtering and than died so when we broke down and looked the old alternator it was barely hanging on and wasn't turning smooth and a few fuseable links were cooked so we soldered up some new wires and bought a new alternator and SHE"S ALIVE!!!

Well i might as well post up my little story

sense i'm here.

I'm 21 now and we got the S30 when i was

about 14. Our Neighbor and his best friend

are all into wheeling and dealing with local

junkyards and getting crazy good deal on

things and they picked up the Z for $3000 in

CHERRY condition when i was like 12 so the

car was sitting around in the yard for 2

years and he used it for his DD and tore the

interior all up, blew up sodas and screwed

the roof up and just wrecked it up and than

one day he was driving back from Albuquerque

and hit a patch of black ice and nearly took

a nose dive off a cliff, luckally the guard

rail saved him but but that nice signature

dent thats in the front drivers side still

sits to this day and it was that little

incident that starts our story.

So our neighbors THEN wife tells him look

your gonna kill yourself get rid of that

stupid car so he started tellin people he

wants $1500 for it and my dad was needing a

car something fierce and he had owned a

couple S30's before hand and thought well

why not stick with what we know so we walked

over with $600 in cash and he gave it too

us, not running, cause he thought the fuel

pump was out. We Pushed it into our yard and

put some gas in the tank and fired it up!

She was sputtering and than died so when we

broke down and looked the old alternator it

was barely hanging on and wasn't turning

smooth and a few fuseable links were cooked

so we soldered up some new wires and bought

a new alternator and SHE"S ALIVE!!!

The Z itself was a marvel to me when James

and Bob showed up with my lil 12 year old

brain was like where'd that Supercar come

from! It looked just like Eleanor from Gone

in 60 Seconds to me without the stripes to

me or a car James Bond would drive with the

"check seat belt" light and the obsure

switches all over the console. I just fell

head over heels in love. By this time the

fastest car i'd ever seen was my dad's 88

Prelude but this was a completely difference

monster! All i could think about was driving

the Z with its 5-speed, "BIG" I-6 and

monster ROAR (it had no eshaust at this

point)

I ended up going threw a Subaru

Justy, the Prelude, my Zx2, the Mustang, my

Mazda and finally as fate would have it when

i started my current job i was driving my

mom's truck and she cut me off so my dad

finally said ok you can have it and i couldn't belive it! I Bought my Z31 300 before this point but that things an auto nightmare not a super fine sexy machine like ma Fairlady! I've in the past 3 years become increasingly more obsessed with the Z and now its a full on part of my Existance! My Z is like a Liver or kidney or some other vital organ i don't know what the hell i'd do without her!

Thats my "little" story

~J

[killaimdie]

I saw mine in the backyard of my Fiance's Grandmother's house, she lives in Bakersfield and it was sitting against a fence in the middle of a big patch of sand. I asked about it and found out she bought it as a gift for her son a few years back from the original owner. Her son never did anything with it so I asked to buy it. a couple weeks later I towed it back to San Diego and I've just been performing a tune up on it so I can get it running better than it already was. All I have left is fluids, timing, and replacing some vacuum lines. It's a desert car so it has practically no rust, actually the only rust is on the battery seat, and it needs new suspension and she'll run like a brand new '79 280zx. I have the original title and all the stickers under the hood are clean and still there. I love this car. Oh yeah, I'm 24

[19762802+2]

My parents promised me that when I turned fourteen I would be able to buy a project car. I had grown up with our 1967 Ford LTD four door Hunter green 390 V8, and I always helped my dad out when I was younger. Every time I got birthday Money I put it into the bank probably started around 6ish. Well a few months after I turned 14, we were driving by a local town and around the corner was this Blue s30 2+2, It was love at first sight. After that I always begged my parents to stop by so I could check it out. After looking it over it didn't look to bad, at the time I had heard of 240s being rally cars but thats about it for what I knew about Datsuns. After I searched online about the cars and seeing if it would be worth it and coming across Hybridz a few times, I convinced my parents to let me try to get it. I called up the guy he was asking 500 bucks, I had only 350 bucks so I convinced him to bring it down. He told me that the car had been his grandfather's car and had been restored once before but had been sitting 9 years "supposedly" garaged. So we hopped into our little Ford Ranger and drove there and bought the car, it didn't run at the time so we had to tow it. With my mom towing and my dad in the Datsun we slowly rode the 30 miles home. After almost three years here I am now and I can't wait to get it finished. Oh and By the way I am 16.

[Midnight-280Z]

I'm 27 now, but had my Z since I was 24/25. I've always loved the Z looks and style. I was driving a couple of cars at the time before my Z (1995 SC300 5SPD, 1989 MR2). The MR2 I crashed on my way home from work. With that being said, I was having some problems with my SC300 at the time and decided it's time to get another DD. My friend has a 1975 Toyota Celica with side draft carbs, cams, exhaust and custom suspsenion which pushed me even harder to buy a Z. It's not fast but it sure can handle and sounds mean as hell. I used him as motivation for me to get a classic and make it faster than his. After searching for a couple of months, my car popped up on craigslit.

 

The owner was asking $2,500 for the car. After talking with the owner trying to find out some info about the car and if there has been any interest. I find out a few things, first thing is the car is "kinda sold" buyer said he would buy it but never came back to pay for the car. Second thing is a lot of people have been looking at the car, some people have been back a few times to talk with him and check out the car. I ask him if it's alright if I come by to check it out and he says sure, but like I said, it's kinda sold. I come by look at, take it for a test drive and then talk with him. I completely low ball him for the car 1K "CASH Right Now" I pull the stack of 20s and 100s out of my pocket and spread it apart to show him the money. he hesitates for a minute, and then we talk some more (Now he knows I'm serious and I got him thinking). I find out that the buyer who didn't come back was going to buy it for $1,500. He tells me, "If you'll pay me the same price I agreed with this other guy, I'll sell you the car." I pause to think....(thinking to myself...I have 1K on me..I get paid in 3 days and I'll be able to cover the rest I hope by then)Then I reply, okay but I need to come back at the end of the week to pay you the rest. I'll give you 1K now and the other later. He tells me just hold onto it till you have the full amount.

 

2 Days before I the day I pick up my car, I get a phone call from him. "Are you seriously interested? I have another guy who will pay me 2.5K for the car" I tell him "I'm dead serious. I have 1K on me and get paid tomorrow. I can get you the money but it won't be till around 11PM~12AM whenever I get off of work." He tells me, "I can get more money if I just sell this car to the other guy" I reply in a depressed voice "Yea...sorry I can't offer you that much, I just can't afford it." He then tells me, "Look, since I said I was going to sell it to you, I'll hold the car for you...BUT YOU BETTER NOT FLAKE ON ME!!!" on the day I'm getting all the money ready and arranging a ride to pick up the car, I get another call from him "Remember the guy I told you I was suppose to sell the car to but never came back to give me the money? Well, he just called and told me that he now has all the money and he'll give me 2K instead of the 1,500 for making me wait" I think to myself, I can be a jerk and say "You told me you were going to sell it to me, SO YOU BETTER SELL IT TO ME!" but I decide not to because he didn't sell the car to the other guy and lost some money. I tell him that it's up to him, I understand that this guy was suppose to be the guy that it was going to be sold to but he just never followed up on what happend. I tell him let me know what you decide on doing and I wasn't going to be mad or anything. 20 minutes later I get a call back from him. "I told the other guy the car was already sold and it was no longer available. When are you picking up the car?" I reply "See you in an hour"

 

That's how I got my car, immediately after I bought the Z I joined HybridZ. I ran into some financial problems down the road and have sold the SC300. That's right, I chose to keep my Z over my SC300. One day I'll probably get another SC again. I regret selling it..I should of became a gigolo for some side money instead j/k. Sorry for all the babbling...This threads sure does bring back some memories

[iHeartTouge]

I picked up my first s30 when I was 17. I got into Nissans and drifting when I was 16 and naturally became a big Nissan fan. I did a lot of researching older Nissans and all the motors Nissan has made. When I found out about S30s I knew I had to have one eventually. The 240sx I was driving was on its last leg end of junior year in highschool, so it was time for a new car.

I lurked craigslist for awhile looking for another 240sx when I remembered the Z cars. Did another search for Datsun, and there it was. Beautiful black, clean all original 1977 280z. Very little rust, lots of miles, but it didnt bother me. I changed my boxers and jumped on it. Picked it up for $3500.

It never gave me any out of the ordinary problems. Having older guys stop me on the street and tell me stories about when they had a Z is fun too. One guy told me about how he and a buddy were in his 260z driving across, I think he said, the Brooklyn Bridge at 120mph blasting Zeppelin back in the day. Crazy guy but cool stories. Drives a Z32 now.

Now I'm a couple months from 21 and I'm on my third. I still have the 77, but now have a 240z and an LS1 in the garage waiting for me to get another job. Sold another 240z I had.

[z2go]

I picked up my first s30 when I was 17. I got into Nissans and drifting when I was 16 and naturally became a big Nissan fan. I did a lot of researching older Nissans and all the motors Nissan has made. When I found out about S30s I knew I had to have one eventually. The 240sx I was driving was on its last leg end of junior year in highschool, so it was time for a new car.

I lurked craigslist for awhile looking for another 240sx when I remembered the Z cars. Did another search for Datsun, and there it was. Beautiful black, clean all original 1977 280z. Very little rust, lots of miles, but it didnt bother me. I changed my boxers and jumped on it. Picked it up for $3500.

It never gave me any out of the ordinary problems. Having older guys stop me on the street and tell me stories about when they had a Z is fun too. One guy told me about how he and a buddy were in his 260z driving across, I think he said, the Brooklyn Bridge at 120mph blasting Zeppelin back in the day. Crazy guy but cool stories. Drives a Z32 now.

Now I'm a couple months from 21 and I'm on my third. I still have the 77, but now have a 240z and an LS1 in the garage waiting for me to get another job. Sold another 240z I had.

 

 

It seems that once you get one, you can't get enough! I guess one Z is never really enough...

[Edward]

im 21 years old. the first time i saw a Z it was love at first site. i swear i rather have this car then a gf. it doesnt nag me, i can work on it when ever i want and get the satisfaction i need.

 

i dont know what it is about the Z but it just over took me and its all i think about day in and day out. i call it the curse of the devil z eh.

 

i crave to work on it when im not.

 

you might say its a waste of gas but i drive just for the hell of it. i dont have a destination i just drive till im satisfied.

 

lolz well thats my story for now.