Robotsan
Club Member
I've always loved these cars since I was a kid in the 80s, but I ended up going down a BMW route and currently own a lovely low mileage e46 M3 which a brilliant all-rounder. But recently I've found myself lusting after 240/260/280Zs! I also have a supercharged R53 Mini as the main runabout, so the M3 is mostly used for weekends and long drives. I realise a Z wouldn't be anything like as practical or comfortable for long journeys, but maybe I'd get another cheap car for those and sell the Mini.
I've just read @Rob Gaskin 's great buyers guide, and I'm trying to read as much as possible about these cars before I start asking the same old questions, but I've reached a point where I still need to ask some of them!
I'm starting to get a steer on the values, and what certain features add or take away to the prices. Seems you can still get the occasional bargain at auctions, but the restored RHD Zs are pricey on the whole!
With my M3, the body was immaculate, and all I've done is cosmetic work - new paint on the front end, replaced various worn internal & external trims, seats, wheels, etc. Everything is available, and 99% of it new - but I gather from Rob's guide, this is not quite the same case with the Zs?
Apart from the dashboards (which I know are like hen's teeth), are you able to buy new parts from Datsun for any of the interior, or external trim parts? In the guide, it says Nissan & pattern part suppliers supply a lot of mechanical parts, which sounds promising. But then it sounds like alternators and starter motors are not available, so have to be refurbished used parts? How much are we talking for things like that? What about a clutch? Are any other common points of failure not available new?
And what about aftermarket suspension? I see a lot of youtube videos featuring cars with coilovers. Surely no, or very few manufacturers sell new coilovers for such an old car? Do they have to engineer parts intended for another car onto a Z? Same question for shocks and springs I guess.
Finally, as I have never been in a Z, let alone driven one, I think I really need to sort that out before I go much further! Does anyone have any advice about how I can go about that? I would never want to give a seller false hope by turning up to test drive their car without the intention of buying it.
So are there any non-selling (or at least, not yet selling) owners in the North West who fancy showing off their car to a prospective new owner?!
The oldest thing I've driven was my '85 Baur E30 convertible, which was agricultural to say the least, but that was partly due to the poor condition it was in. Other than that, my dad had a Mark II Jag, and a '72 Lotus Elan +2, which is probably the most comparable to a Z I guess. But I never drove either, so I just don't know what to expect.
Thanks for any advice!
I've just read @Rob Gaskin 's great buyers guide, and I'm trying to read as much as possible about these cars before I start asking the same old questions, but I've reached a point where I still need to ask some of them!
I'm starting to get a steer on the values, and what certain features add or take away to the prices. Seems you can still get the occasional bargain at auctions, but the restored RHD Zs are pricey on the whole!
With my M3, the body was immaculate, and all I've done is cosmetic work - new paint on the front end, replaced various worn internal & external trims, seats, wheels, etc. Everything is available, and 99% of it new - but I gather from Rob's guide, this is not quite the same case with the Zs?
Apart from the dashboards (which I know are like hen's teeth), are you able to buy new parts from Datsun for any of the interior, or external trim parts? In the guide, it says Nissan & pattern part suppliers supply a lot of mechanical parts, which sounds promising. But then it sounds like alternators and starter motors are not available, so have to be refurbished used parts? How much are we talking for things like that? What about a clutch? Are any other common points of failure not available new?
And what about aftermarket suspension? I see a lot of youtube videos featuring cars with coilovers. Surely no, or very few manufacturers sell new coilovers for such an old car? Do they have to engineer parts intended for another car onto a Z? Same question for shocks and springs I guess.
Finally, as I have never been in a Z, let alone driven one, I think I really need to sort that out before I go much further! Does anyone have any advice about how I can go about that? I would never want to give a seller false hope by turning up to test drive their car without the intention of buying it.
So are there any non-selling (or at least, not yet selling) owners in the North West who fancy showing off their car to a prospective new owner?!
The oldest thing I've driven was my '85 Baur E30 convertible, which was agricultural to say the least, but that was partly due to the poor condition it was in. Other than that, my dad had a Mark II Jag, and a '72 Lotus Elan +2, which is probably the most comparable to a Z I guess. But I never drove either, so I just don't know what to expect.
Thanks for any advice!