As we all know by now (or most of you, at least, have been beaten to death with this information), I bought a 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 out of a salvage yard a few years back. I am happy to report that the car is reaching some critical milestones in its return to glory and I’ll be updating it here soon. But as this 1971 Datsun 240Z goes to show, I’m not the only one crazy enough to save a desirable car from the boneyard. The seller reports that the owner prior to him purchased the car from a recycler that had wisely set it aside as a complete vehicle. He never got it to run but the current caretaker has, and it’s listed here on eBay with bids to $5,800 and no reserve.
This is a Series II 240Z, but it’s still close enough to the earliest version with all the benefits that come from early production. These include the smaller bumpers as shown here, which are in surprisingly good shape. The wheels are almost a staple of Z car ownership at this point, as almost every car I’ve sen without the original wheels and tires are shod with these period-correct rollers. The seller reports that the Datsun was given to a donation and/or charity facility in the late 90s which apparently couldn’t sell an antique vehicle, so it was shipped off to the local junkyard. That facility was smart enough to see the potential of a largely solid sports car and set it aside as a complete car.
The owner prior to the seller rescued it, but then left it in his garage for the duration of ownership. As he never got around to messing with the salvage yard sacrifice, he let it go to the seller when he was in the process of moving. The seller notes a later 260Z engine has been installed which is almost as common of a sight as the wheels are. The seller has gotten the Z to run under its own power and apparently it can make quick jogs around the neighborhood without issue. However, he cautions that he hasn’t driven it much more than the distance around his community, so you’ll want to plan for more work to be done before driving it a significant distance.
In addition to being a runner, the other attractive aspect of this early Series II car is the mostly solid structure. Almost every Z car that hasn’t been restored has some rust somewhere but this one is a very good starting point for a driver-quality restoration. There’s some rust in the dog legs and some holes in the floor; otherwise, the seller doesn’t report any major areas of pure cancer in this specimen. The paint job is obviously rough and wears several shades of blue, and the interior will need proper reconditioning. Still, we’re just glad to see that this junkyard save may finally get a shot at a sufficient refresh with its next owner.
Nice find. Love the junk yard save history as my Crosley, Studebaker, and two Porsche 356s came out of junk yards along with hundreds of parts and panels to restore other cars over the years. Also, junk yards are a good historical tour of what was going on way back when.
Good point!
A friend of mine and former neighbor runs a county landfill. One afternoon he came home with a nice looking boat.
Seems he had a woman show up at the gates that Saturday morning at opening time; behind her truck was a large 2 year old bass boat and trailer with a very new Yamaha motor.
She made it obvious it was the reason for her visit there-practically all the mileage on the trailer had been to her now ex’s girlfriends house…yes it sounds like another urban legend but Allen was into RC airplanes and this is NOT something he personal CFO/COO would e approved.
He put a sign on it and It was gone 3 days later.
You brought up a piece of my junk yard history I’d forgotten about. My all time favorite race car, the ’59 Convertible D you’ve see on BF a couple of times was on the trailer heading to a wrecking yard when I found out about it. After acquiring it for $85 I got given the rustiest ’60 356B coupe that I have ever seen. Used that B coupe to outfit the race car and then had to dispose of it. Normally would have taken it to the local wrecking yard but it was closed and the owner arrested for drug smuggling. Solution: Cut the car up into little pieces (easy as there wasn’t much metal left to cut up) and feed it to the trash guys a couple times a week. That was 1973 and it’s still in the local land fill.
Should do a feature on junkyard saves. We see tons of vehicles with little to no hope and those that have been in collections being previously over restored mixed in. The latter is like buying an overpriced animal at a pet store.
Lets see some honest rescues and saves.
Years ago, I bought a thrashed, but recently smogged 1980 Ford Fiesta off of CL for $200.00. I pulled the engine (and any other useable parts) and swapped it with the highly-modified engine in my other Fiesta purchased out of state (I lived in California). Took it down, got it titled, smogged and registered and then swapped engines again (fairly quick and easy). All paperwork in order, plus no smog equipment and higher HP. To dispose of the unneeded body, I cut it up with my Sawzall and put it in the metal recycling bin at the landfill- no questions asked. I eventually sold the car with the spare smog compliant engine to avoid having to repeat this operation every two years for smog tests.
It was lucky that the junkyard was able to set it aside and save a valuable car. Some states are not so junk-car friendly. For instance the last that I read, California junkyards have 30 days from the time they receive a junk car to the time they must crush it for re-cycling.
Awesome.
Kudos to the junkyard seller and the buyer for saving this beauty.
RELISTED:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275735930345