SeanDezart
Well-Known Forum User
..........the value of the 240 / 260's has been creeping up of late. They are icons of their age and as such are being recognised more and more for their inovation,engineering and style. Take one of these cars from the 70's and sit it next to a capri.. even the bullet 3lt capri pales at the side of one of the Z's.........
As the proper restoration of an S30 costs a great deal of money (in parts alone) and labour rates are the same if you restore a Porsche, E-Type or even more expensive classic car (Aston, Ferrari etc) AND your Z is an even rarer beast than most of these - you can even argue that there are considerably less Datsun Zs on the roads than Ferraris of a similar era........our cars should be valued higher than they are.
No, the point of this is not to claim higher re-sale values, I don't care how much yours or my Z is worth. The point is that these cars should be valued higher than at present.
They are still considered by some as cheap fun, cheap, simple to do up sports-cars - BANGERS !
And this attitude is keeping their profile low, lower than it should be.
We've been fighting for years against the 'sunny' tarnish, the cheap, made in Japan copy image with a little of 'their cars and bikes put our industry out of business'....bigotry too !
It's time that this club stood up and defended these cars as rightful inheritors of the middle sportscars range crown.
What's beneath us , MGS, Triumphs, Alfas, any major coproations' coupé - Capri, Celica, Opel GT....feel free to add to the list....and what's above us - E-Type and others (how many others with just two seats ?), Porsches, Corvettes, Mustangs.........?
Standard or modified, a Z beats most of them (of similar eras and sometimes later) in rallyes and on circuits.
But never mind that, even on the roads, your Z stands out, your Z is a better car to drive, more complete, more responding.
What I want to see is better cars out there, I'm fed up with seeing crap being advertised as potential gold-dust, cars being over-valued because Mr Smith from no. 79 once owned it and I'm fed up with people in this club keeping running dogs because they're cheap.
They'll always remain cheap (and I don't mean inexpensive) if we treat them as cheap.
Yes, I've been critical of recently advertised cars.....because in my opinion, they deserved it - teh good cars don't get advertised so openly, look at the cars that The Z Farm has sold, the imports that have been sold from William Galliers, some other cars that I'm priviledged to know about.
And there are people coming onto the Z scene who are attracted because they are different cars, great cars but appear inexpensive ! If bought by these people, soon to be disillusioned (not all I admit) these cars won't be loved....kept going at best on a shoestring budget, they'll fall the same way as did the Zs in the '80s except that they won't last as long because they're already 30+ years old !
The members of and the club itself MUST start presenting Zs as one of the most desirable classics.
A great spin-off to this would be a true rennaissance of genuine owners and genuine members, proud to be part of something bigger.
Save the Zs !
As the proper restoration of an S30 costs a great deal of money (in parts alone) and labour rates are the same if you restore a Porsche, E-Type or even more expensive classic car (Aston, Ferrari etc) AND your Z is an even rarer beast than most of these - you can even argue that there are considerably less Datsun Zs on the roads than Ferraris of a similar era........our cars should be valued higher than they are.
No, the point of this is not to claim higher re-sale values, I don't care how much yours or my Z is worth. The point is that these cars should be valued higher than at present.
They are still considered by some as cheap fun, cheap, simple to do up sports-cars - BANGERS !
And this attitude is keeping their profile low, lower than it should be.
We've been fighting for years against the 'sunny' tarnish, the cheap, made in Japan copy image with a little of 'their cars and bikes put our industry out of business'....bigotry too !
It's time that this club stood up and defended these cars as rightful inheritors of the middle sportscars range crown.
What's beneath us , MGS, Triumphs, Alfas, any major coproations' coupé - Capri, Celica, Opel GT....feel free to add to the list....and what's above us - E-Type and others (how many others with just two seats ?), Porsches, Corvettes, Mustangs.........?
Standard or modified, a Z beats most of them (of similar eras and sometimes later) in rallyes and on circuits.
But never mind that, even on the roads, your Z stands out, your Z is a better car to drive, more complete, more responding.
What I want to see is better cars out there, I'm fed up with seeing crap being advertised as potential gold-dust, cars being over-valued because Mr Smith from no. 79 once owned it and I'm fed up with people in this club keeping running dogs because they're cheap.
They'll always remain cheap (and I don't mean inexpensive) if we treat them as cheap.
Yes, I've been critical of recently advertised cars.....because in my opinion, they deserved it - teh good cars don't get advertised so openly, look at the cars that The Z Farm has sold, the imports that have been sold from William Galliers, some other cars that I'm priviledged to know about.
And there are people coming onto the Z scene who are attracted because they are different cars, great cars but appear inexpensive ! If bought by these people, soon to be disillusioned (not all I admit) these cars won't be loved....kept going at best on a shoestring budget, they'll fall the same way as did the Zs in the '80s except that they won't last as long because they're already 30+ years old !
The members of and the club itself MUST start presenting Zs as one of the most desirable classics.
A great spin-off to this would be a true rennaissance of genuine owners and genuine members, proud to be part of something bigger.
Save the Zs !
Car is available all the same for the discerning buyer.
