Classic Car Weekly - S30 Buying Guide

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
This is a 'Heads Up' so that you don't miss it. Unlike a monthly magazine this paper will be removed from sale tomorrow! It's number 1260 Wednesday 3 December.

Being Membership Sec. I was approached by the wife of a 'Freelance Motoring Specialist' to identify a 'member' for the 'Owner's View' section of a Buying Guide relating to the 240Z/260Z.

I invited Andrew Muir to write about his car which he accepted. I thought it would be good to give his lovely 2+2 some publicity.

I asked who was writing the Buying Guide and she said that they had an expert, anyway to cut it short I put forward my views and MrF kindly agreed to get involved too.

Even then the journalist kept putting a 'slant' on things which distorted the facts, however it's not too bad.

Here's an example:

They said:

While Z cars have come and gone over the years, it’s the 240 that’s by far the most collectable.

Then they improved it to:

Historically the 240Z has always been considered to be by far the most collectable Z, but the rarer 260Z two-seater is now recognised as the very desirable car that it is.

And then it finally got printed as:

Historically the 240Z has always been considered to be by far the most collectable Z, but the rarer 260Z two-seater is now recognised as the most desirable of the models.

The whole article was limited to 600 words and I sent them a draft of 2500.

I'll publish the full (2500 words) article on our website - we've needed one for a while.
 
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richiep

Club Member
Hmmm, somewhat hyperbolic shift between those three versions isn't it? Indicative of someone making changes further down the line who doesn't know what they are talking about.

Journalists and editors do like to talk ******** though (I work in a semi-journalistic environment!).
 
This is a 'Heads Up' so that you don't miss it. Unlike a monthly magazine this paper will be removed from sale tomorrow! It's number 1260 Wednesday 3 December.

Being Membership Sec. I was approached by the wife of a 'Freelance Motoring Specialist' to identify a 'member' for the 'Owner's View' section of a Buying Guide relating to the 240Z/260Z.

I invited Andrew Muir to write about his car which he accepted. I thought it would be good to give his lovely 2+2 some publicity.

I asked who was writing the Buying Guide and she said that they had an expert, anyway to cut it short I put forward my views and MrF kindly agreed to get involved too.

Even then the journalist kept putting a 'slant' on things which distorted the facts, however it's not too bad.

Here's an example:

They said:

While Z cars have come and gone over the years, it’s the 240 that’s by far the most collectable.

Then they improved it to:

Historically the 240Z has always been considered to be by far the most collectable Z, but the rarer 260Z two-seater is now recognised as the very desirable car that it is.

And then it finally got printed as:

Historically the 240Z has always been considered to be by far the most collectable Z, but the rarer 260Z two-seater is now recognised as the most desirable of the models.

The whole article was limited to 600 words and I sent them a draft of 2500.

I'll publish the full (2500 words) article on our website - we've needed one for a while.


Well done for trying Rob. Just shows how little these idiots read what they write or actually think about.:(
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
The main point I wanted to get across in the 'guide' was that many parts especially body panels are not available and that prospective buyers need to understand that. It hasn't really come across as strongly as it should.

On the front page the headline is 'Datsun 240Z - £3k could bag you an all-time Icon'. Completely misleading :smash:
 
The main point I wanted to get across in the 'guide' was that many parts especially body panels are not available and that prospective buyers need to understand that. That hasn't really come across as strongly as it should really.

On the front page the headline is 'Datsun 240Z - £3k could bag you an all-time Icon'. Completely misleading :smash:

Have you been back in touch to tell them how inaccurate the whole thing is?
 
I don't see why it'd be worth buying with all its inaccurate info? I'd go as far to say that this type of publicity is bad for the brand and owners. It really is annoying that they print this type of stuff at all.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Have you been back in touch to tell them how inaccurate the whole thing is?

Franky the whole thing is not inaccurate but it would have been if we hadn't been involved.

We tried to raise the profile of the 260 including the 2+2 which seems to have got through. However the wording was changed after the 'final' draft was agreed.

Also we gave the price range from 3k- 5k (Resto Project) right up to 25k (Concours). So they chose to publicize the absolute bottom figure on the front page but more accurate figures are in the article.

They also offered to send a free copy - that never happened.

Oh well it's about as good as it can be (in 600 words) unless you produce it yourself.
 
Franky the whole thing is not inaccurate but it would have been if we hadn't been involved.

We tried to raise the profile of the 260 including the 2+2 which seems to have got through. However the wording was changed after the 'final' draft was agreed.

Also we gave the price range from 3k- 5k (Resto Project) right up to 25k (Concours). So they chose to publicize the absolute bottom figure on the front page but more accurate figures are in the article.

They also offered to send a free copy - that never happened.

Oh well it's about as good as it can be (in 600 words) unless you produce it yourself.

I'm not doubting your intentions or what you said at all.

However what the reader see's is that the 260z is the most desirable, you can get a decent project from 3k, upper values are 25k. We all know anything worth starting with the lack of panels etc starts at atleast 5k unless the seller isn't aware of what they've got etc. There's a fair few cars already sold for £30k.

The rest might be accurate however its the key points that they've managed to get wrong that people will see and will have the most impact.
 

Stockdale

Club Member
I have read the article and thought it was a refreshing change from the almost unending 'British' sports car topics encountered in both Classic Car Weekly and Classic Car Buyer. What it certainly has done is to at least put the cars into a bit of a spotlight where they are otherwise so often ignored. Both have been printing ridiculously low buyers cost for each of the models for years.

Not really sure how accurate it needed to be. It is after all a piece of 'Journalism' and so not to be completely trusted in any event.

Well done to those who contributed:bow:
 

Jake RAH

Well-Known Forum User
I never buy rags these days but picked up a copy today as I happened to pop into tescos and had seen the article mentioned a few days back here on the forums. The very first thing I noticed after the main headline and main pics was the names Mike Feeney, Rob Gaskin & Andrew Muir. Well done gents :thumbs:
As for journalists cocking up the facts, they almost always do. I know, I've been in the music biz all my life and they always get the story wrong, mess up the facts or just write a pile of doggy doo. They are also very good at just nicking other peoples work and just rearranging it a bit, then adding their own name to it.
Oh hang on or is that just what talentless songwriters do! :D

Anyway can't be a bad thing the Z getting a plug :thumbs:
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
Having worked for over 35 years as a journalist (no longer) I am amazed they gave you any editorial control over what was published - rare to get pre-publication drafts, I can tell you.
I, too, am irritated when facts get bent, changed or misinterpreted - but am happy the 260 is gaining more recognition and pleased that Zs are in the spotlight - so don't beat yourself up too much, Rob!
 

RIDDLER

Well-Known Forum User
Just popped out in the pi**ing rain to buy a copy. First thought was that £2.50 is a high price for 80-pages of newsprint that has poor typography and amateurish page lay-out.
However, the articles looked quite interesting so will probably enjoy reading it!
 

280REZ

280ZX 2 + 2 Targa ,Auto 1981
Club Member
My Father-in-law dropped a copy off for me. My eyes were attracted to the bargain 3k for a 240Z. :)
 
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