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Zurvivor: 1971 Datsun 240Z

The Z car market is on the rise, and many nice cars have been turning up out of the wood work. Typically susceptible to extensive rust, nice surviving cars aren’t all too common. This 1971 model is a little rough around the edges, but overall is a very nice car. With great original looks, and several pluses to its condition, this orange Z is offered for the buy it now price of $24,500. Check it out here on eBay out of North Palm Springs, California.

The 2.4 inline 6 is a healthy condition runner that it thought to have 59,579 miles. Described as being garage kept its entire life, there is a fair amount of surface rust and oxidation in the engine bay. None of the visible rust is of a concern, but there is a strange area near the radiator support that looks to either be rusted, or is suffering from paint chipping.

One of the most common areas to age poorly, this Z car interior is surprisingly nice. The dash looks to be crack free which is a very rare treat, and the interior overall appears very well maintained, and fade free. A steering wheel wrap has been fitted to the steering wheel, which could mean that there are a few cracks in the rim. Also the seats are in very nice shape, but the seat foam is starting to break down in the driver side seat. A part of me suspects that the dash has been replaced with either an NOS part, or with a reproduction part. Same for the shift boot, and the shift knob. The factory radio is gone and in fact, there is no radio whatsoever in this Z car.

Unlike many Z cars, this ’71 is very rust free and straight. There looks to be a few minor dings on the body, but it could be an illusion from how shiny the paint is. The only flaws that take away from the appearance from this Z is the faded taillight panel, the faded optional 240Z side strips, and the weather worn badges and emblems. Overall a nice example, would you jump on this Zurvivor?

Comments

  1. Avatar Dick Johnson

    I don’t remember the decade when Nissan was rebuilding the 240 and selling it as a zero time car. They were selling for around 24k. Maybe the ‘Z’experts could shed some views on this. Should’a, would’a, could’a, but no money’a. Nice example.

    Like 5
  2. Avatar Ron

    I always liked these cars. My buddy had bought a 76 280z new back in the day and I had a motorcycle he loved to borrow on weekends so we would swap. That was a great car. I loved driving it. Anyway this one looks like a really nice example of an original car. I am not sure I would be willing to go that high for one of these though.

    Like 4
    • Avatar Barry Aydt

      Wow,had same one,same color,just with rust over rear wheel flares, in 83,bought for 750 dollars,repaired rust and new paint,turned out nice,sold for i think 2250, lol, ran great,

      Like 0
  3. Avatar ken TILLY Member

    A lot better deal than the 1961 Corvette Gasser that was on offer earlier for the same price.

    Like 5
  4. Avatar Tom Justice

    Given the prices I have seen in auctions for cars this good or worse, this price seems like a bargain.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Miguel

    Everything on this car is faded. I don’t get the high price.

    Maybe if it was a well taken care of example, but not a run of the mill car like this one.

    Like 5
    • Avatar Mountainwoodie

      True that…. showing a long term exposure to sun…….maybe the dash was replaced because the sun cooked it beyond the asking price :)

      As I have said (I think) fresh out of high school a friend and I made a cross country 24 hr dash in his new ’72 Z from NY to Denver to begin our voyage in mountainman hood. He became an airline pilot I hear….

      Every time I look at the dash of one of these I am instantly 17! So weird! Definitely on my bucket list

      Like 2
      • Avatar Miguel

        I am looking at a nice one here in Mexico. It is a 1971 for around 13K but is on the outskirts of Guadalajara so it will take some time to get there and I want inside storage for it once I have it.

        I don’t understand the prices these are commanding especially the carburated versions.

        The car is black with black and white seats, which I don’t think are original, and a very clean engine.

        I don’t think I can go wrong since I can send it across the border and get at least my money back if I need to.

        It has 280ZX wheels which look stupid on it, but that can be fixed.

        Since I have been yelled at for posting pictures of cars here in Mexico, I will let you tell me if you want to see a picture or two of it.

        Like 2
      • Avatar Miguel

        My father bought a ’76 model so he could have a car to go out in without having a place for us kids.

        The jumping of the rear was always weird on the acceleration and deacceleration. The squatting on acceleration I am talking about.

        It was much worse in the 280ZX models though.

        Like 0
      • Avatar PRA4SNW

        @Miguel: I like seeing pictures.

        Like 2
      • Avatar Miguel

        OK, here are a couple.

        Like 10
      • Avatar Miguel

        You always have to show the dash on these.

        Like 8
      • Avatar Miguel

        The rear.

        Like 7
      • Avatar Miguel

        And the engine. It is too bad we can’t put more than one picture per post.

        Like 8
    • Avatar Tom Justice

      Believe it or not, that is not a high price. Check out some auction prices of original 240’s; they are very dear especially compared to the 260/280 series. I know, it is crazy but Japanese cars are going up in value like crazy.

      Like 2
      • Avatar Miguel

        Asking is not getting.

        Like 2
    • Avatar Dick Johnson

      Miguel, quit making me hungry for GDL food. We had 26 hours off in GDL, and would go to the taqueria 4 blocks north of the Hilton GDL. Best fish tacos ever.

      We met chip Foose at the Hilton restarant at breakfast, also muy bueno, and got to visit with him and two speed shop merchants. My first officer peed his pants when he saw Chip and got excited. What a squid.

      Good times in GDL. Obviously miss going down there. I never got to go to the swap meet on Sundays. Great looking projects.

      Like 1
      • Avatar PRA4SNW

        I’ve been down for work a couple of times, not recently. Last time, we ate at a restaurant named Tequila’s. Got a decent education of that fine liquor that evening.
        Food was good, too.

        Like 3
  6. Avatar Dolphin Member

    The prices for these early Z cars are still moving upward, but this car has needs pretty much everywhere, and that would not lead me to pay the $24.5K asking. There are still better cars available for that money today, but you would have to search for one, and that’s not likely to be true very much longer.

    A California car is almost always more desirable than most other cars because of the rust these are so susceptible to. Unfortunately there are no underside shots of the car, but it’s likely that there’s little or no serious rust lurking under there. But you would want to confirm that before buying.

    There is an area of rust perforation on the panel at the bottom of the rear hatch opening. That area can collect water, so that’s not surprising. That panel is available in repro form, but it will take expert metalwork to R&R it, then some paintwork to make it right.

    Some might like what looks like the original # 918 orange paint, but there is plenty of non-original striping on the sides of the car that I would want to get rid of. Whether you could do that and not damage the original paint is questionable.

    The big issue for me is the fact that everything on the car is close to 50 years old, and looks it. The rubber seals look dry and probably have lots of little cracks, and the detail pics show wear, dirt, and maybe more problems. You would need to decide going in whether you want to replace all that stuff, or leave it like it is.

    If you want a ‘survivor’, this is probably one of the best California cars you are likely to find, but it’s a sun-baked version. If you want a nicely kept original without the sun-baked features, or a nicely restored car, you might not need to pay much more than the asking for this one—–if you look widely across the country, and soon. Prices are going up, and altho this car hasn’t sold yet at the asking price, it probably will eventually.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Steve R

      The eBay listing has 78 pictures including a dozen of the undercarriage. Click onto the sellers description, you will find them there.

      Steve R

      Like 2
    • Avatar Dolphin Member

      Thanks Steve. I did scroll down earlier but couldn’t get lower than the engine serial number photo, so didn’t see any underside shots. But the underside pics show the car to be dry and very solid. And the underside isn’t beat up like so many of these cars are, which is definitely a plus.

      I would take this car as a resto project in a heartbeat given the condition of the underside if the price was right. But if the buyer wants it perfect, paint and a new interior and engine bay including plastic panels and all the plastic/vinyl/rubber stuff in the interior & engine bay will add at least another $20K to $25K depending on paintwork costs where you live and how perfect you want it to be. And most of that vinyl and plastic will be repro, since almost all originals are perished by now and have mostly been bought up for ongoing restorations.

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Miguel

    Does anybody remember, besides the hub caps, what wheels were available for this car from the factory or the dealer?

    I know a lot of them had slotted mags but I don’t know if they came from the factory with them.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dolphin Member

      These cars all came out of the factory in Japan with black-painted pressed steel wheels and full push-on hubcaps. The early cars came with 4.5 inch wide wheels and later cars came with 5 inch wide wheels. The early hubcaps were a tad plain, so were not popular when the cars were new.

      However, dealers, not the Datsun factory, usually took off the steelies and substituted “mags”, which were actually made of cast, machined aluminum, were wider, and cost more, which was added to the cost of the car when new. There were many varieties, but most of them were the plain, slotted variety back then.

      Right now it’s very difficult to find original Z car steel wheels, especially the 4.5 inch ones. But for safety reasons it’s best to use 5 inch wheels anyway. There is a set of 4.5 inch early wheels for sale right now for $800. They are not cheap because they are pretty much unobtanium.

      Like 0
    • Avatar BMW4RunninTundra

      Miguel, you take what some of these guys/ladies say, seriously?! I think you can count on one hand, withthe same “user names” the complainers! As long as you have been here, i would have thought you would have given up paying attention to them, long ago!
      As for this Z, I like the rims and the rest of the car!

      Like 0
  8. Avatar Macon Michaux

    This one looks really nice to me. Not sun baked or really exposed that much; if it had been the orange would have faded quickly. Orange/red/yellow color spectrum is the first to fade out.

    Like 2
  9. Avatar Wolfram

    @Miguel, wow, what a beauty, that was the time when the Japanese built realy great cars

    i loved my Nissan Sunny, that my 54 ragtop Beetle i still miss and think it was a bad idea to sell them

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Robert Mitchell

    My father showed up at Christmas 1969 with serial number 367. He drove it for a decade and we stuck it in storage afterwords. Still sitting waiting for my brother to go through it. Little to no corrosion. He’s lazy.

    Like 3

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