School me on Nissan/Datsun 240ZX/260ZX/280ZX/300ZX

[sugarwood]

A friend has a chance to get a free 1985 300ZX barn find.
I have not heard much about these cars.
I did some brief research, but am curious what the Pelican folks have directly experienced with this car.

Here's what I've learned so far: The early models seem very light at 2300 lbs. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about them. Nissan 240Z (70-73) and Nissan 260Z (74-78) were basically 150-160hp and weighed around 2300-2400 lbs. That's a better power to weight ratio than Miata & E30, and about on par with the 911 SC. It seems like they got heavier over the years. The 1980s models basically weighed 3000 lbs with the same 160hp, putting them on par with a base 944. That's still pretty light compared to most cars, though. Are they popular engine swap candidates? The 300ZX ('89-'96) was more a muscle car with 222hp on 3186 lbs. The turbos cars seem to be $10k cars, while the NA cars are more like $4500 cars.

What do you know about these cars?

Datsun 240Z - Road Test - Car Reviews - Car and Driver

[sugarwood]

I am going to watch these videos

[BeyGon]

children these days

[LakeCleElum]

Google - Wikipedia

[BeyGon]

yes, children, can't even respond here,

Originally Posted by sugarwood

pardon me ?

what, to embarrassed to respond, send a pm, funny. it was pretty obvious what I meant.

[sugarwood]

Do you have anything to contribute, you incoherent buffoon?

[Arizona_928]

Roadkill has the ratson.... I knew some drift guys that had one and he ran a 5.3 al truck engine. But then again he did not have much of a front end on the car either.....

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Google - Wikipedia

Please re-read the 3rd sentence in the OP.

[BeyGon]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

Do you have anything to contribute, you incoherent buffoon?

looks like I was correct, a child.

[sugarwood]

Just started this 45 min documentary on the car.

[rattlsnak]

I have owned 5 Z's over the years. 2 240's 1 260, and 2 280s. By today's standards, they aren't much, but back in the day, they were incredible, capable sports cars.

[Scuba Steve]

What I remember from the z31 board long ago was that the clutch is about the worst thing to change on one of those cars.

[Christien]

My mom used to drive an 87 300zx, and I drove it frequently through high school (she still blames me for burning out the clutch . ). It was an overweight pig. It pulled halfway decently in first gear, but after that it was terrible. It didn't handle very well due to the weight, though I was much less experienced in proper-handling sports cars then than I am now, so my memory might not be great. The digital dashboard was awful - it looked cheesy even when it was new. The t-bar roof was a pain - we rarely took the panels off. I remember the backseat being pretty small, even when I was 12 or 13 and a skinny toothpick. Basically, I really disliked it, and would never consider buying one now.

It did have a nice notch-y shifter, I'll give it that.

[manbridge 74]

I've only worked on a few of these over the years. Minor issues IIRC. Like a jeep or 911 there is a large after market. If you want to know the origin story you read this. Fascinating character, Mr. K was.

The Original Datsun Z-Car - Ate Up With Motor

[95avblm3]

My uncle had a 1970 240Z that he daily drove for 20 years. I remember as a small child that when I "got big enough" I got my turn to sit on the transmission hump and shift the gears for my uncle while he operated the clutch. My bro had to ride in the back as my uncle's GF was riding shotgun. It was genuinely fun! It's a miracle we survived, I suppose, being unrestrained in an early 70's car. But apparently this was acceptable at the time and we did survive and I am left with fantastic memories of a really cool car. I was sad when he let it go but rust was really taking a toll... very similar to our longhoods.

My mom had an '87 300ZX when I was in high school. I agree with Christien that it was probably an overweight dog but it was loads faster than my 98hp '87 Accord. Hers didn't have the digital dash but did have auto climate control, which is what I recall was the achilles heel of the car. It never functioned great. Mechanically, the car was pretty bulletproof. I found the T-tops to be easy to operate and cool (in an '80s sort of way) to roll around without them in place. For the later cars, I would recommend a more sparsely optioned model (they were available) to eliminate the problematic '80s era electronics. The analog guages were pretty clear to read and very functional as I recall.

'86 model year cars had the taillights of the '84s and '85s but introduced larger, flared fenders that would continue on throughout the '80s. To me, these are the best looking of the '80s 300s. I believe there were bolt on fender flares on the '85 turbos too.

2+2 models until the last generation looked goofy as the had a noticeably elongated roofline that kind of broke up the flow. I think they are less desirable. the backseats weren't really useful anyway.

That's about all I recall.

[id10t]

My first girlfriend had a 280zx w/ the T tops. Fun car to drive, very sporty, lots of get up and go but not a "scary" amount for a teenager compared to dad's 911. Way too small to have sex in, and the center console makes it hard to lean a seat back and get a hummer but it is do-able.

[stomachmonkey]

I think you are getting the reaction you are getting because as a car guy it would seem incredulous that the Z line is relatively unknown to you.

Having said that an 85' 300ZX is not what one would consider a notable barn find.

It's kinda like coming home to find a dead hooker in your bed instead of Heidi Klum.

You just can't muster the same level of excitement or enthusiasm.

[mreid]

Been there, done that...next.

[AFC-911]

I've found that I enjoy Petrolicious videos better when it's a down to earth older owner. I couldn't watch any of those.

What the heck is an Otaku?

[id10t]

Originally Posted by AFC-911

What the heck is an Otaku?

Think it is a non-japanese anime fan