was there ever a 280z?

jay28

jay28

Well-Known Forum User
I never thought there was a 280z, always thought there was a 280zx, or are they the same?

I thought they were the same but a guy on an irish forum said there was a 280z, from 1975-78, I never knew that :confused:
 
yes the 280z was available in the USA with 2.8 fuel injected engine,mine was a 1977 280z
 
jay28 said:
I never thought there was a 280z, always thought there was a 280zx, or are they the same?

I thought they were the same but a guy on an irish forum said there was a 280z, from 1975-78, I never knew that :confused:
Click to expand...

Yep! There was.
The best selling S30 by a long way!
 
the reason they ended up as a 280z was because they had too many problems with the 260z carbs to pass USA emissions laws so they put in 2.8 with fuel injection to get round the problems, thats why they run from 75-78
 
which is why the 260z is quite rare in the USA as it was only available for about one year
 
Yep. The 260z in the US was buggered by the government's new strict emissions laws (they took the compression ratios down and faffed with the ignition and took the 240 which had 150bhp down to 140bhp). In the US the 260 was only on sale for a year (1974), 'til it was replaced by the 280z which had a 2.8 that was rollin' on Bosch fuel injection. They did a 2 seater and 2 by 2 as well. It had possibly the world's daftest bumpers fitted to get round safety laws too. They did a special edition version called the ZAP which spawned a very rudimentary arcade game called "Datsun 280 Zzzap" (which I have...).
 
Taken with my own camera:
 

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When the 280z was launched they also introduced a host of other changes like I was telling you about at Mondello, such as heavier chassis, different door locks, etc. But instead of getting the 280Z we got the 280Z body but with the old 260Z engine carried on. Thats why my 260Z and Joe's 260Z being 1978 models are quite different to your early model. Ours are really 280Zs but with the 2.6 carb engine.
 
I thought when you said 280z you meant the 280zx, I didn't know there was such a thing as a 280z. Always thought the 280zx came after the 260z.
 
jay28 said:
I thought when you said 280z you meant the 280zx, I didn't know there was such a thing as a 280z. Always thought the 280zx came after the 260z.
Click to expand...
.........and so it did in every market except the N.American and domestic ones (Nissans two principle markets !!!). Ironic then as pmac stated that it was by far the most sucessful S30 commercially speaking ! Won a few races too of course ;) and recently participated in a world famous rally.........:rolleyes: !

But shouldn't this thread be in the 240/260Z section ?:eek:
 
Already discussed Jay and it was decided that there are so many models (include every JDM version) that the forum would be swamped so S30s, S130s......read the small print behind the titles.
 
Yeah, I was thinking about editing the name of the forums to include it but it's already in there (in the description).
 
Im almost 99% sure that we had the 280Z here, i remember those big ugly front bumpers.
As you now know, the 260Z was one year only in the states, but actually there was a early and a late 260Z model, the first half year model had the same bumpers as the -73 model 240Z, the same as i have with filler piece and heavier mounts.

Chris
 
I think some american army/airforce personel brought their 280z models over to use while they were stationed over in britain and europe during the cold war days probably why some ended up over here.
 
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