Future for the 280ZX marque?

B

BORN TO RUN

Forum User
I recently placed an advert for all the parts I have left from my 280 days and have received next to no interest (this is not a plug, honest !) which makes me wonder if anyone is interested in the marque anymore.(I know this is the 280 section of the forum so I guess those reading this are!)It seems to me that if you want a classic you buy a 240/260 and if you want supercar performance you go the Z32 or new 350 route and the 280 is only deemed fit for daily driver use. The 280 and perhaps the Z31 just don't seem to have the same following.I know I don't have mine anymore and my car interests have gone in a different direction but I had my car for over 10 years and still think the 280 deserves the same following as the other marques seem to generate.As the 280's left get older and if they are not restored etc. then the marque could die out completely !! Of course then those left would be worth a fortune !!
Is this a fair assessment of the situation and if so why has it come to this?
 
Russ

Russ

Club Member
My personal thoughts on the 280 are this...

It's a capable car, but has those 80s looks (even if it was penned in the 70s, it still looks 80s to me), and the 80s were an awful era for any design. I like the Z31 a bit as it's a bit cool still, S30s to me look beautiful, and the Z32 is pretty timeless. The 280s are like the middle child and shows it's age... Maybe generations after mine will look at the 80s differently.

It was a bit of an awkward era really, suppose it depends on what you like.

If it's not desirable to the masses then there is no reason for it to survive, hence they don't fetch a great amount of money, and people don't own the cars so don't need the parts. That or they are incredibly reliable and don't rot?

Thankfully some people do very much like it, just probably not the majority :)
 
JEZ 280ZX

JEZ 280ZX

Well-Known Forum User
Hi,
I think of the 280ZX as more of a late '70's car and the Z31 as the '80's design, complete with it's supercar pop-up lights!
Many people either seem to go for the classic looking 240/260 design or are into the later Japanese tuning style of the Z32 300ZX.
Unfortunately the 280ZX just seems to get broken for it's mechanical parts, which are then applied to the earlier cars!
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
zedhead260 said:
The problem IMO is -
Too many 2+2 versions, too many auto versions and no turbo model offered.
Click to expand...

Ditto - it never had the right image either ! And they've really suffered as parts have been used for the S30s ! Diffs, gearboxes, brakes, engines.....

The rule of supply and demand is ever present ! The Z31 is a bargain car, the Z32s are becoming so (if not already) - the 280ZX is.....unsaleable ?

Ducks to avoid low flying parts !
 
B

barriejames

Active Forum User
280zx

sorry to say 280 will never be a classic nor 300 or even new 350. They lack soul don't ask me why they just do. Yes they are better cars than 240 and 260 but history does strange things and the 240 is the only true icon and even then you have trouble getting sensible money for one as people just think it's an old Datsun!!!!:confused:
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
I agree with you ! But just look at those ''old Datsuns" in Roadsports so far ! Beating much more exlcusive, more expensive machines with 'all the right badges on' :D !
 
A

andrew.clarke15

New Forum User
Supply and demand

You guys are right but it it wasn't for the fact that the 280 was not popular I would not be able to afford a little bit of history, For not much more than a grand I got a car in great condition which is quick and handles well ( by 1979 standards) and deffinately turns heads. So the laws of supply and demand say you will find a buyer for a car like that just not at the £3-6000 you will pay for a 240/260:eek: :280Z:
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
True, very true.

Now try and find a std exhaust for your car ! One has to buy a 280 is great condition 'cos to do one up'll cost a fortune IF one can find the parts !
 
P

pmac

Well-Known Forum User
but it it wasn't for the fact that the 280 was not popular
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Not popular??????
Says who????
382000 of them produced
More than DOUBLE the number for 240Zs(156000)

The fact that it wasnt/isnt very popular in a small island just off Europe is not in any way a true reflection of the worldwide success of the 280ZX
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
They still sold more in your miserable island than 240s ! And he was referring to it not being popular NOW ! Do you have buyers for all your 280 parts ? No ! Why not if they're popular ?
 
Mr.F

Mr.F

Inactive
Those who own, or have owned, the 280ZX coupe will know that they are great cars in their own right and have every chance of becoming sought-after and rare classics. The problem with the 280 and the 300 in the U.K. is that the Nissan regime operating at the time only saw fit to offer the 2+2 versions, to promote the virtues of automatic transmission in a sports tourer and to provide some odd interior colour choices. The motoring press of the period hammered the 280ZX and later the 300ZX for not being a 240Z - that was never the intention of the design! The quotes of the era are still burned into the minds of most modern-day journalists and the majority of the cattle which make up the "informed" public.

If the 280ZX / 300ZX of choice in the UK had been the manual turbo coupe then today's opinion may be very different.
 
B

barriejames

Active Forum User
280 debate

The debate rages on and yes my original comments were in my opinion only. But lets be realistic I don't make the rules here 240 and 260z are worth far more than 280's even though they are better cars to drive and probably out perform the 240 in every way,but hey so does my megane and focus and that is missing the point. I think it's about dimensions and somehow the later z cars just don't seem to cut it.

Thanks
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
Mr.F said:
Those who own, or have owned, the 280ZX coupe will know that they are great cars in their own right and have every chance of becoming sought-after and rare classics. The problem with the 280 and the 300 in the U.K. is that the Nissan regime operating at the time only saw fit to offer the 2+2 versions, to promote the virtues of automatic transmission in a sports tourer and to provide some odd interior colour choices. The motoring press of the period hammered the 280ZX and later the 300ZX for not being a 240Z - that was never the intention of the design! The quotes of the era are still burned into the minds of most modern-day journalists and the majority of the cattle which make up the "informed" public.

If the 280ZX / 300ZX of choice in the UK had been the manual turbo coupe then today's opinion may be very different.
Click to expand...

All true ! And which explains but doesn't change the fact that today the Z31s and 280ZXs are the least desirable of the Z series, followed by 260 2+2s.

I'm not your typical "informed" cattle public and I've had the recent opportunity to read and comment upon most of the write ups around the world (in English and French) on the complete Z series. I have a 280ZX coupé and a Z31 turbo because of one fact - they were cheap, no, let's say - inexpensive. I wasn't driven to buy one because my soul cried out or I had seen some racing somewhere far away in the world. They were, are a lot of car for the money, not to be compared with the earlier S30s but against the other cars offered at the time by other manufacturers; nobody compares 1985 911 turbos against mid '70s 911Ts - why do we ?

But the damage is done, more two seater imports and turbo/performance versions would probably have altered things by Botnars' accountants said -profit, and loaded ZXs sold for more than manual 2 seaters !

I won't say that earlier Zs are worth more because we've seen some inexpensive Zs change hands recently but the earlier cars are more sought after. Except of course for the Z32s which are very popular and the enormous quantities sold of Z33s ! One has to admit that the Z33 is THE most sought after Z in the UK !
 
SeanDezart

SeanDezart

Well-Known Forum User
So says miserable of Greenford :D !

Where've you been then ? Missed you ! Might have to calm down now you're back.............might !
 
STEVE BURNS

STEVE BURNS

Club Member
Respect the 280ZX for what it did

Excert from a post by Mr F on 15/06/04

Was it not the 280ZX's success in the U.S.A. that lifted the Fairlady range to the title of "Best Selling Sports Car of all Time", only recently usurped by the Mazda MX-5? Surely this would grant it a place in history and some respect?
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Just wonder if the 280ZX hadn't been so successful whether the following Z31/Z32 and Z33 would have been produced

Slag them of if you want but without the 280ZX success the whole Fairlady range would have been discontinued
 
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