If you find an early Datsun Z car parked in a carport that isn’t a pile of rust, you may be having a very good day. The seller of this 1971 Datsun 240Z enjoyed such luck, finding a genuine Series 1 car in surprisingly good shape that even drove under its own power to the car wash. With great colors and not much rust, it is absolutely destined for restoration, with the added bonus of being a genuine manual transmission car. The 240Z has some minor rust issues to sort out but nothing major, and it comes with a clean title in the seller’s name. Find the Z car here on eBay where bidding is at $8,125 with the reserve unmet.
The early 240Zs had all sort of little tells that it was a Series 1 car, including the vents in the rear decklid beneath the glass and the badges on the C-pillar. All of these details have been preserved on this car, along with its original hubcaps and a period-correct rear spoiler. And like any early edition of an imported model, this era of the 240Z came with the slim chrome bumpers that the car was designed for, as opposed to the bulbous appendages added a few years later. The seller notes that rust is limited to the driver’s side quarter along the front bottom part of the panel, and that the floors, spare tire well, and battery tray are all solid.
While the odometer says 51K, the seller confirms there’s no way to know if it’s accurate. The interior does present quite well for a driver-quality example, and offers some hope that the reading is accurate. The black leather seats are the perfect complement for the orange exterior, and the original bus-like steering wheel is a hallmark of the Z cars from this era. The seller notes the dash has a few splits like every Z car of this era does, and that the door panels are in good shape. Photos show what looks like an original radio, making this Series 1 car almost stock all the way through. One of the best ways to start a project is with a solid foundation, and this 240Z looks like a great starting point.
The engine bay is also nice and tidy, with no obvious signs of alterations or anyone previously messing around. Even the stock air cleaner housings with their orange paint are incredibly nice, and the paint – though faded – is consistent all the way through, offering hope that this is the original paint or at least a respray done ages ago. The listing notes that the 240Z was last registered in 1979, making it mildly insane that it’s still largely intact and healthy enough to fire up and drive under its own power, even though the seller acknowledges he wouldn’t go very far with it before addressing the exhaust, tires, and brakes. Hard to go wrong here, and I’m curious where the bidding will end up.
https://www.ultimatespecs.com/car-specs/Datsun/17938/1971-Datsun-S30-240Z.html
“Sold as is”
Uh oh.
Why do people always seem to flip these finds?
Because flippers searches out the “deal”, the make, model or year is virtually unimportant. They just need to find something undervalued, which is relatively easy to find. Everyone knows the best deals are never advertised, this puts an enthusiast at a distinct disadvantage since they are looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Because of this enthusiasts are often reactive and have to wait for a car to hit the open market.
Steve R
Will be more rust than meets the eye…even in Utah. Has been resprayed with some bondo shown.
Here again you may find that this car may be a ’70 model with the vents in the lift back. That was a one year item. But of course it could have been swapped out at one time. With these old cars who knows.
BimmerBill.
This has a build date of 12/70, so by the time it arrived at the dealer in the USA, it was probably early spring 1971, and as such it would have been sold as a 1971 car.
In looking at the photos carefully, I would say based on my experience as assistant service manager at one of the largest Datsun/BMW dealers in the USA, This is likely an original vehicle. I suspect it IS the actual mileage, the car was driven only from 1971 to 1979, that would be between 8 and 9 years. Roughly 7,000 miles a year.
Datsun [and Japanese cars in general] back in the early 1970s had very poor quality vinyl interior materials, especially seating surfaces. When I worked in the service dept and these cars were 5 to 7 years old, they often had split seams in the bucket seats from normal wear patterns.
Paint quality on these cars varied depending on color. This color was very popular, but didn’t wear well. So I’m not surprised to see the surface rust on this car. It lasted this long because of the semi-open condition of a carport.
My job saw me looking at the underside of many early Z cars while they were on a lift, as I often had to act as a go-between for mechanic and customer. What I’m seeing on this car is typical fpr what I was seeing in the mid to late 1970s.
As for the radio, it may be the original radio in the car when it was sold as a new car, but all early Z cars sold in the USA came with a mono AM/FM radio [no tape] with a built-in power antenna switch. I’m very familiar with these radios, because the dealership I worked at was selling every single Z car we could get, and we loaded them up with extras like stereo/tape radios, mag wheels, air dams, rear window louvers, and more.
I had an arrangement with the parts dept manager to buy all the removed AM/FM Z car radios and wheel covers really cheap. I took these to the big Carlisle parts event and sold every one I brought. The wheel covers were still packed in boxes of 4, never installed.
And this car still has the original power antenna. These were/are very fragile, and would break off if you got too close to a shrub branch. We had Z cars come in for a new power antenna on a regular basis. I let the mechanics know that I wanted all the old power antennas as they were removed, I could buy replacement antenna masts for under $4, and it took only a few minutes to replace the mast. The dealership didn’t want to repair the antennas as they made more $ replacing the antenna assembly. Again, these sold well at Carlisle!
This car, after stripping down to bare metal and new body/paint, should turn out well.
Wow Bill, Having those factory take off parts today would be like having gold. Also going through the dumpster at the end of the day getting the Datsun advertising materials would be amazing. I had a friend who worked at a Mitsubishi dealership and among other things have early EVO promo materials and a huge banner. All rescued from the trash. Thanks for your post. It can put the couch potatoes to rest. Not all original Z’s are rusty.
AMCFAN,
Starting in the late 1960s I began collecting “last year’s” stuff as the dealer’s began the new year rollouts. As soon as I had a car & driver’s license, I would drop by the various dealerships and let the sales manager know that I would come by and pick up whatever he wanted to make disappear. Some managers were snippy and said I had to go thru the dumpster myself, a couple said I could take nothing, but most welcomed me to take stuff.
I had a friend who had a big farm, and he had allowed me to repair an old corn bin and make it into a waterproof storage area for my old car parts and showroom/literature collections.
I had figured out what to collect as investments, and I concentrated on brochures and showroom stuff that featured mostly 2-door and convertible cars, along with performance items.
I eventually moved everything into a big 2-story building I found and purchased, a 350′ long by 35′ deep former turkey farm that I slowly turned into my restoration shop. I had unopened boxes of brochures like the various Hemi-equipped cars, Corvette & big block Chevy, GTO and Bonneville, Various Cutlass, Mustang/Cobra, Big block Ford, and I generally grabbed lots of foreign showroom items as well.
I began SLOWLY pulling out various brochures to sell at Carlisle and Hershey events, and when I used to sell items at the Beaulieu Autojumble in England, I brought examples of various US Hi-Po & European brochures that were grabbed up.
I had a section upstairs in the building, devoted to around 1,500 square feet of shelved vintage items & parts, the parts packed in Tomato boxes, and the literature in plastic tubs. Problem was, on 5 May 1995 the building was hit by a massive lightning strike, at about where the “collection” was stored. Everything was destroyed, gone up in smoke or twisted from the heat.
Prior to the fire I had taken photos of the building insides, and had proof of the stuff existing. When IRS audited me a couple of years later and questioned various losses, I talked about loosing tens of thousands of dollars in brochures. For example, I showed the IRS agent a photo of shelves with stacks of boxes for 1968-76 Hi-Po MoPaR brochures, 100 to a box. I then showed the guy what the current prices were for the brochures, and said “You do the math!” In the end, IRS gave me a bigger tax credit than I had asked for, and never audited me again.
Located in:
Layton, Utah
240Zs never had leather seats from the factory. Those seats are upholstered in vinyl.
$15k bid for this now and that’s more than all the money. Don’t regret selling my nice ‘72 for $9k in 2010, but only because I used the money to buy a 911 Carrera 3.2!
needs more pics of under it, and doesnt say if its a matching #s car or I missed it.
Looks like two of the photos shows the engine number on the tag and a matching number on the engine.
Scott, you are correct, this is a numbers matching vehicle.
WOW! Numbers matching! That’ll increase the selling price at least 10% or more, and the lucky buyer can pop the hood at cars and coffee and show the folks the evidence. Bet they’ll ooh and aahh with excitement to see that.
Kenn,
With older Datsun vehicles, and most European vehicles as well, the importance of knowing the car is equipped with the correct engine can be crucial when searching for the correct parts, as manufacturers often made multiple running changes, unlike many popular American car companies who generally held back on making changes until the annual model changes.
The Datsun & BMW dealership where I worked followed the manufacturer’s requirements when ordering new parts, that stipulated the parts order form include both the VIN and the engine number, as they don’t match.
Plus, knowing the engine number is original to the car helps support the belief the car is an original 59k mile vehicle. So while it will likely increase the value a bit, it will also help in the sale of the car, especially for those buyers who intend to restore it to factory original specs.
Bill, you’re the epitome of what makes the forum on this site, BAT and others so incredible and invaluable. Thanks for the interesting info. Do you currently own any Z’s or did you tire of them looking at them all day for so long? : )
Do you have much insight into their current values? I ask because there is a ’75 280 currently for sale local to me. Thus far I have only exchanged two brief messages with the seller, so I haven’t looked. But, it’s advertised as an original owner car (says he has lots of paperwork), all original including the paint, interior, engine and trans. Says some paint work was done on one side though and in photos the pass side door looks a shade off. 70k original miles. Coppery/brownish color, brown interior. In photos it looks the part as a nice, clean probable survivor. Not a show car, but very nice. Asking 33 grand.
That’s a lot. But, prices are increasing and they’re going for a lot. I just wasn’t sure if the 280’s were garnering as much as the 240 and 260’s.
Thanks again.
Eric,
I left the Datsun/BMW dealership in 1979, and have not kept up with prices on Z cars, I don’t have one, and I honestly don’t remember ever owning a Japanese car [with the exception of my 2008 Camry that is still going strong at 250,000 miles].
I will say that what I’ve heard from other owners, that the 280 cars are superior to the 240 and 260 versions, and especially when it comes to the 260 cars, those tended to give us emission and gas mileage problems when they were fairly new. We also had more 260 cars come in with damaged right rear wheels & suspensions, from drivers who lost control in tight corners and the right rear hitting curbs at speed.
I remember that copper colored paint, and it was probably my favorite. Almost like a root beer. I don’t know what these cars are selling for today, I haven’t tracked them in a while.
But I will say this: In my opinion there is nothing better than a garaged & well-kept, 1 or 2 owner vehicle that is rust free, fairly low mileage, and has not been substantially altered. All the cars I’ve kept over the years for my collection, have been one owner, low mileage cars. I’ve often paid higher than average prices for low mileage vehicles. Here is an example of what low mileage means for me:
I owned 2 almost identical vehicles, a 1949 Packard Custom Eight sedan, with about 80,000 miles, and a 1950 Packard Custom Eight sedan, with 11,000 miles. While the 1949 was a wonderful car to drive, and still quite reliable, the 1950 did so in almost total quiet driving down a road at 50mph. At idle the 1950 motor could not be heard when standing next to the front fender. No noise. The only noise from the outside of the car was a little chuffing sound at the tailpipe.
Now the value inherent with that difference is something that only the new buyer can decide. How much more of a premium does one place on an original vehicle?
Bill, thanks much for the reply and insight. I completely agree with your thoughts on original cars. They’re most definitely worthy of paying more for, the only question as you pose, is how much more. If it’s a car that’s sure to appreciate and you plan to keep for a while, it’s a good bet to wager.
I believe you have the right color in mind. I was thinking we could post photos here, but apparently not.
The 280’s do have ugly, clunky bumpers in my opinion, along with an odd silver-ish side mirror. But, these could easily be swapped out for pieces from earlier models while keeping the originals on the shelf.
Thanks again and sorry about your collection that I was just reading about in another reply. Nature can be cruel.
Yikes…….thats one crusty Z. I would have thought Utah was drier? I mean except for the snow. Theres a lot going on there thats going to take some dinero to straighten out…..and its up to 15 K already. Oh well.at this point best to find a nicer one and save on the heartache imho
Bill, thank you for the explanation. Finally I’ve heard a sensible reason for the numbers matching fascination. I appreciate your information. And courtesy in offering it!
Ended:
Aug 19, 2021
Winning bid:
US $15,000.00
[ 44 bids