When you think of Japanese sports cars, you may think of the Supra, the NSX, or the 3000GT. They're all high-powered cars of remarkable power and (generally) amazing build quality. They're luxurious, they go quickly, and they'll last longer than any domestic car put against them. And they all owe their heritage to the Datsun 240Z, the first real Japanese sports car sold in the US—a car which shares almost nothing with its modern-day brothers. The 240Z is cheap and underpowered, and the fenders will rust right off if you forget to dry it after a car wash.
Nissan (then Datsun) started selling the 240Z in America in 1969—and America in 1969 was dominated by large brutish cars with hilariously large engines and little else. The 240Z wasn't positioned directly against cars like the Mustang or the Camaro, however—it competed directly against the British imports of the time: the MGs and the Triumphs. To this end, it performed quite well: the straight-6 in the 240Z was on-par with its British rivals and its light weight (around 2400lbs) was also fairly similarly classed. It also undercut the price on most (not all) of the UKian makes by a significant margin, which was good enough to move a significant number of units.
The Z line was sold in various forms for 30 years (until 1999) when it took a quick nap and got going again in 2003 with the 350Z model. The spirit of the original 240Z didn't survive intact from the beginning all the way to the end and by the early 1980s, the 280ZX and 300ZX models had become heavy and bloated touring cars instead of the spry boy-racer type launched in 1969.
Collectability: Good, for early models. Buy one rust-free and never feel bad giving it a good flogging.
(+) It's the first of the Japanese sports cars. Exotics like the Toyota 2000GT aside, the 240Z really was the beginning of the bona-fide Japanese sports car industry. Nearly every fast car from Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or Mitsubishi has a bit of the 240Z in its past.
(+) It's a really tidy car. Even compared with the cars American designers produced during their renaissance in the late 1960s, the 240Z is still a really great-looking car. The early models, in particular, are among the most handsome mid/small sports cars ever made.
(+) It's got a very colorful race history. 240Zs have been tossed in almost nearly every form of racing imaginable—from professional road courses to endurance racing to amateur rallies.
(+) It's not an uptight British sports car. This goes both in the sense that the 240Z is a fairly solid and durable little car, as well as the sense that it's a car that comes entirely without pretension. While it would be a sin to repaint a vintage Austin-Healey in anything other than an original factory color, you'd probably win an award for putting all sorts of crazy stripes on a 240Z. It's not a museum piece—it's a car.
(-) The rust. Oh, the rust. In the same way that I bemoan the Triumphs for their electrics and the Chevelles for their, well, everything, I bemoan the 240Z for its horrific rust problem. These cars are notorious for falling apart anywhere outside the high deserts of the southwest, to the point that finding a copy that isn't already holier than the Pope is often cause for a celebration.
(-) They forgot about the insides. Well, that's not strictly true, but the dashboard is made out of a type of plastic which cracks when you leave it out past 10am and the seating position is really cramped if you're taller than 5'8". All of the 240Zs are 2-seaters which means that unless you've got friends willing to lie down under the hatchback, you'll only ever be driving around with one other person.
Expect to pay: $3,000 for a 1973 240Z with some rust, or $10,000+ for a 1970 without holes that didn't come from the factory.
What to look for:
1970 models are worth the most due to their relative rarity and the simplicity of the bodies. Later models are saddled with chrome and bigger bumpers and thus aren't quite as collectible.
No rust. Really. The whole underbody is prone to serious rust, so it's worth a really good inspection. Rarely is the rust isolated to easily replacable body panels, so expect to spend a lot of time and money patching up holes if you buy a rusted car.
Uncracked dashboards are fairly costly and are worth a premium of at least $300.
Modifications galore! Pretty much anything goes—even a transplanted blown small-block Chevy V8...if it runs. The 240Z is fairly unique in the sense that most bodykits don't usually make it look like total crap.
Cumps
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