RR of the Day: 1976 Datsun 280Z
A couple of years ago, Flickr user "devnulled" grew tired of the project he was working on, a race conversion of a 1994 Eagle Talon. Like many of us do, he was online browsing eBay Motors one day when he stumbled across a car that caught his eye: a blue '76 Datsun 280 Z. He wound up bidding on the car, which did not meet reserve and never wound up being sold. He stayed in touch with the owner, however, and eventually convinced him to sell the car to him.
The Talon project car was quickly parted out for funds, and "Devnulled" hopped a plane from his home state of Colorado to Sacramento, where the Z car lived, so he could bring it home. The seller, incidentally, was the second owner of the car, but it had not left the same family for over 23 years. It had 82,000 miles on the odometer and been maintained by a local Z mechanic. Apparently, said mechanic did a good job through the years, as the Z made the 800-mile trip across the desert and through the mountains back to Colorado without incident. In fact, "devnull" made enough money playing cards in Nevada to cover the tax on it. Perhaps the car brought him good luck.
Going forward, he plans to improve the car's performance without molesting its classic good looks. Good idea, we say. As it stands now, it's a very worthy Reader Ride of the Day.
Follow the jump for a list of current and planned modifications, as well as two more photographs and instructions on how to submit your own car for consideration.
Current cosmetic/maintenance updates:
- New paint
- 16" Performance Wheels (that is literally the brand name of the wheels.. came with the car)
- Falken Tires
- Mirrors from a later Z
- Stubby antenna
- Reupholstered seats
- Alpine CD Player
- K & N Air Filter
Planned modifications:
- Update lights to H4's
- Update brakes to Disc brakes
- Tokico Adjustable Shocks
- Performance rebuild of engine or engine swap (still not sure which of these I want to do...)
- 17" Tires and Wheels
- Swap in the bumpers from the 240Z
Current mileage: 89,167
How to submit to RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Search for and join the group called 'Autoblog RR of the Day'. Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide if possible and include as much information about it and yourself as possible. Even if your ride is sweet, it will not be chosen if there's not a lot of info accompanying it. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done, that's it!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1bighorn 10:32AM (3/05/2008)
in what year was the datsun 240, 260 or 280 (z) first available in the color gold?
i have had 1 240, 2 260's and 2 280 z's. never have owned a zx but do like the 8o+ body style. my last 260 was stolen by a local nissan dealer in an insurance deal. car was totaled by insurance and before i could even clean it out, the nissan dealer claims to have disposed of the vehicle. while i was on a med cruise, my wife told me that she saw the car inside their shop going thru restore. i was po'ed but what can ya do?
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Eleventeen 8:48AM (12/20/2006)
Classic Z cars are always cool in my book. This one looks well taken care of too.
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BartMack 8:46AM (12/20/2006)
What a fantastic car.... this owner has much to be proud of. Gosh I wish this was still made!
I love the 2 door long nose hatch style, especially when such a car has good performance capabilities. There are so few cars of this body type available today, and all the good ones are up at 50-60k+.
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DriftPunch 8:50AM (12/20/2006)
I like this alot, and much of the reason why is because of the 16 inch wheels. I suspect I won't like it as much once the size increases. I think that sidewall height is really important on a car like this. Much larger and it will lose a lot of its class. The line between classic and gaudy can easily be crossed.
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Phil L. 9:25AM (12/20/2006)
A side comment... I suspect a fairly large percentage of cars on eBay sell this way: A car auction never meets reserve, but serious potential buyers can now negotiate with the owner outside of the auction format. I'm sure eBay doesn't like this aspect that comes into play for any auction, particularly higher-dollars items, but I see few ways to avoid it within their current structure.
Great car, devnulled! I like to see a classic that has been kept true to its roots.
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Bill 9:31AM (12/20/2006)
I know who I'm voting for...
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DefMan 9:35AM (12/20/2006)
Christ, I miss my 240. I know where it went and maybe one day I'll be able to get it back.
Dev, you have a beautiful car and you should be proud, it will get my vote for RR of the week for sure!
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Lance 9:55AM (12/20/2006)
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I love the old Z cars...
Putting myself in the owner's shoes, I'd be torn between tweaking the inline-6 or dropping in a small-block Chevy myself... I adore the tick-tick-ticking of the fuel injectors on the stock motor at idle, but the pseudo-sleeper factor of a rumbling V-8 (which mates up to the stock tranny & only requires a readily available motor mount kit) would be mighty tempting!
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Richard Warren 10:07AM (12/20/2006)
Sweet, another great Datsun.
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Eric 10:01AM (12/20/2006)
My dad had one exactly like this one except with a T top. Awww i miss my childhood summers on the roads.
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ssgtakeo 1:08PM (12/20/2006)
Wow, that's beautiful.
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Benoit Cerrina 11:44AM (12/20/2006)
very nice car but I am not sure about the planned mods
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Kiichiro Toyoda 12:12PM (12/20/2006)
A timeless classic.
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iamhoff 12:27PM (12/20/2006)
Another great older ride. First that 510, then the Celica and now this. One of my long term goals is to find a 70s Z-car (pre-ZX) and restore it/fix it up. That one is off to a beautiful start. It's gonna be tough to pick a winner.
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chuck goolsbee 1:45PM (12/20/2006)
Well chosen Fairlady!
Truly the car that provided the beachhead for the Japanese here in the US market. It is nice to see it so well preserved, and kept true to the designers' intent. So many old Z-cars have been lumped with V8's or pimped in some excessive fashion. Nice color too!
--chuck
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greg 10:52AM (3/07/2008)
If this is going to general comments I'm in. I noticed a similar color to mine which I have owned forever. Z's are way to soft, and the Adco heavy duty sway bars and Koni shocks make it handle. My Z
http://zekfrivolous.com/280z/page_01.htm
james fear 12:41PM (12/20/2006)
Slap in an sr20det Please! Get some nice same size yet nicely retro styled wheels(like chaparrals), 17's will look too beefy/ricey.
But seriously, great car!
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Brandon Harper 12:41PM (12/20/2006)
Thanks for the comments guys. I go back and forth about if I want to touch this car at all or not, so I'll be interested in what you have to say. So far the consensus seems to be to leave it alone. ;)
BTW, the 17" wheels I've been thinking about are these:
http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/LNP01/25-1088
More true to the era of the car, but I also get a lot of compliments on the existing wheels as well.
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Eric 1:24PM (12/20/2006)
Dev - If you want to stay with that "retro" look try these Panasports http://www.panasport.com/fs16.html. I've had the lightened racing version on my 240Z for several years.
If you want to go 17" and drop some coin try these Simmons FR-17s http://www.groupawheels.com/images/240z_FR17.jpg http://www.simmonswheel.com.au/range.html, they're the best wheels I've ever seen on a Z-Car. Unfortunately, about six-months after I imported a set about 10 years ago, some thug-in-training jacked them in my parking lot. Hope his cell mate showed him how to really "pimp his ride".
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big jimmy 1:23PM (12/20/2006)
My dad owned a red one, this 280 looks good in blue
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