VIDEO: Datsun history 101 - The Woz and Black Gold
Awesome. Yeah, that's a good word to describe the Datsun 280ZX. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was busy in 1982 when he made this commercial for the Z car. Not only did he have time to organize the US Festival, he was shilling cars, too. Then there was that other thing he did, involving microprocessors, but that was in flux waiting on the flop of Steve Jobs' Lisa. That wasn't so awesome. The Datsun 280ZX, on the other hand, has gone on to earn vaunted status as a classic performance car from an era when it was still common to see Volaré wagons with the fake-wood vinyl applique everywhere you went.
YouTube strikes again, with these chestnuts from the past. Dig the Chyron text, total-cheese voiceover, and we'd totally forgotten about the "We Are Driven" tagline and text move. The other spot after the jump is the one we'd pick. Nevermind the achingly terrible pseudo-Shaft disco soundtrack and the risqué undertones that aren't very cleverly hinted at, that Z looks amazing in black and gold, kind of a spin on the "Bandit" Trans Ams without the screaming hood art.
Thanks for the tip, k0an!
[Source: Macenstein]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SPG 6:14PM (8/21/2007)
Holy crap, when I watched the "Black Gold" commercial I threw up in my mouth a little.
I could watch an entire season of "Remmington Steele" or even "Simon & Simon" but everybody has their cheeziness limits.
BTW, what is Steve's other sports car? Clearly not the car parked beside the ZX he drove in the commercial.
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AlexP 6:23PM (8/21/2007)
Oh, by the way.
He just got a speeding ticket for going 105MPH in his Prius.
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rip 6:26PM (8/21/2007)
Thank god we've replaced all those Volaré with the fake-wood vinyl appliqué ...
Now we have giant SUV's with fake air-intake and carbon fiber vinyl appliqué.
So much better... :P
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SPG 9:35PM (8/21/2007)
My favorite was the luxo Volare wagon. The Lebaron version (the K platform one was sweet too).
Actually for a european car fan I for some reason would love to own all the woodgrain 80's Chryslers.
The caravan with the wood grain and the turbo, the LeBaron wagon with the turbo, the Cherokee, and of course my ultimate favorite.... The Mark Cross LeBaron convertible with the three tone leather seats.
rip 6:27PM (8/21/2007)
Thank god we've replaced all those Volaré with the fake-wood vinyl appliqué ...
Now we have giant SUV's with fake air-intake and carbon fiber vinyl appliqué.
So much better... :P
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Rick R, 6:42PM (8/21/2007)
There's a Black Gold 10th Anniversary on ebay right now:
http://tinyurl.com/2jjyev
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KazO 8:11PM (8/21/2007)
IIRC 'awesome' was the marketing tagline for the Z during that time, so that wouldn't have been a woz-ism.
A cousin of mine had a 280zx turbo, but my parents had a PL510 and a 720 King Cab during those Datsun->Nissan days.
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Yggdrasilly 12:05PM (8/22/2007)
That photo photo just screams "I'll have the duck...with the mango shalsha..."
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Ineedatracknow 11:32PM (8/22/2007)
Good find. Datsun/Nissan have come a long way.
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