Datsun Evaluation

What would a good price for it be?

  • 10K

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • 11K

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 12K

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 13K+

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • <10K

    Votes: 2 50.0%

  • Total voters
    4
  • Poll closed .

Herc34es

Club Member
Hello! Please my apologies if this is not the correct place to put it :S

I am really new to purchasing classic cars and I am always very skeptical with making the right purchase (my wife will murder me for buying a datsun over a 2021 car.).

I found this datsun: https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1328077
and I got extra pictures in this folder here. The car currently doesn't drive. It has quite some rust at the bottom (prob new panel but again I am not an expert yet).

I would really appreciate any tips.
 

Attachments

  • Datsun 280 pics.zip
    6.7 MB · Views: 65

Mr Tenno

Digital Officer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Hard to call a value on that without seeing it in person. Seems to be pretty straight but then has very nasty looking rust patches (which will be even worse behind)
 

Herc34es

Club Member
Exactly what worries me... Also I am not experienced in person as well, thus a bit worried I will miss a lot of things :/
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
Car looks an honest enough project but all these original, unrestored cars will have some rust, even the US dry state imports. You need to see it in the flesh as well before parting with any money. If you’re not okay with doing the repairs yourself it could be a costly business, so take someone who knows about these cars (or certainly cars of this era) with you.
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
It could mean instant death when your missus sees it,walk away,too many people asking silly money for classic cars,they are jumping on the band wagon,spend 25 k ish or a tad more on a mint 240/260,you will not get your money back like you would if it was a 240/260 even though the 280 is a much better car to drive due to it’s running gear,they were meant mainly for the USA so leave em there to enjoy
 

IbanezDan51

Well-Known Forum User
It could mean instant death when your missus sees it,walk away,too many people asking silly money for classic cars,they are jumping on the band wagon,spend 25 k ish or a tad more on a mint 240/260,you will not get your money back like you would if it was a 240/260 even though the 280 is a much better car to drive due to it’s running gear,they were meant mainly for the USA so leave em there to enjoy

Find me a mint 240Z for 25k ish and I’ll have them all
 

Farmer42

Club Member
IMO, I would leave it alone. Without it running & driving you can't be sure of the condition of the engine, drivetrain, brakes, suspension etc. You would be looking at around £10k to restore assuming there is no galloping rot in things like sills, rear quarters and floors that you can't see at first glance. Then if you have to start replacing mechanicals it gets expensive. You could end up putting upwards of £15k into it on top of the purchase and you are then into the realms of restored car money. 280Z are not worth that sort of money and you will not get that back.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
WhatsApp Image 2021-04-20 at 15.45.10.jpeg WhatsApp Image 2021-04-20 at 15.45.11.jpeg If you are not experienced with Classic cars and can't do the work yourself this is not the car for you. This car from a distance will attract a person like yourself who wants a car that looks the same as a 240 and appears to be a cheap 'way in' to these well respected and appreciating cars.

I did consider offering to view this car (Coventry is fairly close) but I've had a look at all the pictures and to be honest I don't need to see it in the flesh. The two pictures of the underside of the footwells say it all.

A brown 280 sold last week on ebay for £9600 I think and that was a more 'sound' car than this.

My advice is don't buy it, especially if your wife is against a classic car anyway. This car needs to be bought by an experienced Datsun enthusiast with facilities and skills (and money) to restore it in a big garage.
 
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Albrecht

Well-Known Forum User
My advice is don't buy it, especially if your wife is against a classic car anyway. This car needs to be bought by an experienced Datsun enthusiast with facilities and skills (and money) to restore it in a big garage.

^This. It's a massive project hidden behind an air of 50-foot respectability. Iceberg.
 

Herc34es

Club Member
IMO, I would leave it alone. Without it running & driving you can't be sure of the condition of the engine, drivetrain, brakes, suspension etc. You would be looking at around £10k to restore assuming there is no galloping rot in things like sills, rear quarters and floors that you can't see at first glance. Then if you have to start replacing mechanicals it gets expensive. You could end up putting upwards of £15k into it on top of the purchase and you are then into the realms of restored car money. 280Z are not worth that sort of money and you will not get that back.

Thank you everyone for the feedback!

I completely agree! I am always extremely skeptical of the listings, that's why I am always asking for tons of pics before buying, as well as videos etc. I am new to the "game" but I try to be as careful as possible.

I hope I will not sound stupid here, but why a 280Z is not worth that sort of money? :p
 

Ped

Club Member
The rust on the doors and sills looks pretty bad to me. As others have said it will be worse than you expect, so for £15k sounds too much. 28os are just not as valuable or seen as 'pure' as the 240z. No doubt they will increase in value, but you would end up spending a lot to get it restored.
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
As Farmer said they ain’t worth as much as a 240/260 and I did say a tad more,I know of a nice 240 for 28 k and it’s totally standard I’ll get the bloke to pop round if you really want one,he has a nice 260 as well,not sure if that’s for sale though
 

richiep

Club Member
View attachment 44618 View attachment 44619 If you are not experienced with Classic cars and can't do the work yourself this is not the car for you.

My advice is don't buy it, especially if your wife is against a classic car anyway. This car needs to be bought by an experienced Datsun enthusiast with facilities and skills (and money) to restore it in a big garage.

^This. It's a massive project hidden behind an air of 50-foot respectability. Iceberg.

I third these comments. There's plenty of positives about the car - BUT only if you have the skills, knowledge, and facilities to know what you are looking at and what needs doing to address the negatives. As Rob notes, it is suited to an experienced enthusiast, given some of the repairs needed will be involved and would only be cost effective if one is doing the work oneself. It will need new floors, underfloor supports, chassis rail gussets, possibly a chassis rail, battery tray area (not shown so assume that too is rotten through); also, the rust around the filler is nasty and will require fabrication (no off-the-shelf repair panels for that area), the door is trash, etc. And I've not even mentioned the mechanicals. You get the picture! I think 15k is too much given the rust issues and non-running nature.
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
It’s RHD but you obviously don’t want it then and yeah agree with Rob it needs loads done,don’t rush into buying something you don’t know much about,you buy cheap you get cheap
 
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