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!
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!
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