Find or Sell Used Cars, Trucks, and SUVs in USA

1972 Datsun 240z Original Body And Paint Garage Kept Calf Cream Puff Survivor on 2040-cars

Year:1972 Mileage:120000
Location:

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Vehicle Title:Clear
Engine:2.8L
For Sale By:Private Seller
Condition:
Used: A vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections. ...
Year
: 1972
Drive Type: Manual
Make: Datsun
Mileage: 120,000
Model: Z-Series
Warranty: Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty
Trim: black

Hello Datsun enthusiasts.  For your consideration, is one of the best Z car finds I have ever seen.. or owned. I will list this just once, with a low reserve that makes this the best value I have personally seen within Z car community.  If it does not sell, it will go into winter hibernation.  They don't come around every day in this kind of condition.  It is a well sorted powerful and original driver.  Please ask any questions before bidding.  I'm happy to take any pic of the car you want and send them to you via my Iphone.  I encourage you to see the car in person, and in effort to assist you, I am willing to drive the car to airport for your viewing pleasure, should you want to fly in.  This is a car I feel completely comfortable driving anywhere.  Z cars are as solid as they come.  I've owned countless Z cars and various Datsun models over the years.. I feel I know them well, and know what to look for.. Hopefully my description and pictures will represent that statement.  On to the details.

Body and Paint:

Personally, there is nothing I prefer more than to find a Z still wearing its original paint.  There is no hidden collision damage, no rust repair.. Nothing to hide.. A very honest old Z here.  And, in my opinion, the best color.. Orange!!  The paint still has lots of luster.  Body lines are factory perfect.  Yes, it does have door dings and some scratches here and there.. No major damage anywhere, and absolutely no evidence of previous collision or paint work.  Extra clean battery area, hatch jamb, floors, and crazy clean spare tire well.  It does have a bit of rust localized to the doglegs (bottom corner of rockers, see pic), this is an extremely common area and there is a patch panel that you can replace that small area if you want. It has some light bubbling on the pass side wheel arch.  The floors are totally solid with one very small hole on the drivers side, again, very localized, solid all around it.. Floors are extremely solid.  Pass side is solid.  It seems the battery area was always properly cared for.. This is very important as many cars have suffered from battery corrosion that runs down the inside of the pass frame rail (under the floor), you will often see blistering or worse at the very end of the frame rail, they rot from the inside out when the battery is neglected.. Not this car!  Solid!!  The roof is always a critical part of the car to take in consideration, its your eye line and is often damaged by kids, tree limbs, stacking stuff on it, etc.  The roof is very very nice.  Bottom of the doors, underside of hatch, jambs, all nice and clean.  I'm the kind of owner that hand waxes the door jambs and hardest to get to nooks and crannies.  When looking under the hood at the frame rails, you will be very happy. A nice car here. I certainly wouldn't be repainting this car.. ever.  Some people prefer to find one that is in this condition, so they know it has no hidden issues, then respray it.. Not me.  Again, ask for a pic of any close up you want.  Ebay only offers 24 pics.. not enough in my opinion.

Interior:

Very clean.. Original vinyl throughout is in excellent condition.. Not new condition, but no tears, very nice.  Dash is nice, but does have 3 small cracks.  Has carpet style cover for protection.  Has nice carpet in the back and has 260z embossed floor mats for the front carpet.  I prefer just the mats to keep the pedals free and safe and quick clean and clean of the floors.  It has a newer car stereo with 6x9 speakers in the back in boxes.  Gauges all work with the exception of the tach and clock.  It has electronic ignition (280zx distributor) and I have not put the 280z tach in yet.  Heater works great, ventilation controls work well.  Every single light on the car works, including glove box, both interior lights, under hood light, and reverse lights.  Door locks work well too.  Weather stripping is in excellent condition.  Door gaskets have been replaced and as often is the case, its tough to get the doors adjusted perfect until the gaskets break in.  I just push on the drivers door to compress the gasket before opening.. Passenger side is near perfect.  No door rattles and windows work well.. A little bit more effort than normal maybe to roll up drivers window.  Windshield is fine, but does have some slight scratches from wiper blades being used when in poor shape.  Rear plastic hard pieces are all excellent.  Seats have Motorsport Auto's seat kit installed, but the seats are not operating smoothly.. I don't know why, they do slide on their tracks and recline etc, but not without extra effort.. I'm guessing,that perhaps the car had heavy set owners at some point?  

Mechanical/Drivetrain:

This car looks like an all stock car from the outside.. and is.. But, it doesn't run and drive like an original 240Z.  This thing rips!  It has an 1981 280zx motor, 5 speed and rear diff (R 200 3.9).  These components were removed from a one owner car with 80K original miles.  I put a new clutch in it with a Fidanza lightweight aluminum flywheel.  It also has electronic ignition, utilizing the 280zx distributor.  I completely rebuilt a nice set of early 4 screw SU's and used a "Euro" style balance tube without any of the smog fittings.  K&N air filters, 3 core aluminum radiator, new Nissan water pump.  MSA ceramic coated headers with 2.5" exhaust, combined with the light flywheel, 3.9 gearing, electronic ignition.. Make this car get off the line quick!  It will go over any mountain pass in 5th gear as fast as you want.  Valves have been recently adjusted and the carbs are balanced. Most replaceable parts under the hood, were replaced. Original wire harness throughout has not been tampered with and everything works.It runs cooler than any Z I have owned.  I've put 10,000 trouble free miles on it in the 5 years I've had it.  Consistently gets 27 to 29 mpg on the freeway.  I have done a 2,000 mile trip in it with no problem.  

Suspension/Brakes:

I removed every part of the suspension.  I had all parts bead blasted and then coated them twice with POR 15.  Every original bolt or fastener was removed, stripped and re-zinc coated.  No incorrect aftermarket bolts that are the wrong length and head size!  Every single bushing in the car has been replaced with a poly bushing.  Not one missed.  I put KYB strut inserts in it with Tokico springs.. lowering the car approx 1".  It has 4 piston Toyota calipers that are a very noticeable braking improvement.  New rotors, wheel bearings, wheel cylinders, etc.  Rides, stops and steers incredibly well.  Nothing needed. 

Known issues:

1) The 5 speed trans works perfectly in all gears and has no noises, but it does pop out of reverse sometimes.  When shifting into reverse, it feels like its not going in all the way?  Its been this way since I put in and has no effect on driving the car otherwise.  If it was a forward gear, I would have dealt with it.  It's not a concern for me.  
2) One headlight seems to have a ground issue or something as it is not as bright as the other.
3) As mentioned above, I have not made the tach work after doing the electronic ignition upgrade.  I do have a 280Z tach that is needed and will include with the car.
4) Missing antenae

Summary:
This is an amazing find.  Original California car with original paint and no real rust issues, or previous collision damage.  Driving it is exciting and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  No mistakes with this car.  Every upgrade was methodically planned out and carefully executed.  I absolutely love this car!!  You will too.  I will list this just this once.  So, if you are serious, bid now.  I am willing to answer any questions you may have with the car and am able to do a walk around while on the phone.  Unless, a car of this age is thoroughly documented, there is no way to verify actual mileage.. Miles, unknown. I know Z cars well and especially this one.  Awesome car!


On Nov-06-13 at 19:10:26 PST, seller added the following information:

A couple things I realized I forgot.. Im sure there will be more!  

1) The steering wheel was a gift and will not be included.. The original steering wheel will be installed if sold.
2) Car did have dealer installed A/C, It was previously removed.  No A/C components come with the car.

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Auto blog

Fiat contemplating sub-brand to compete with Dacia, Datsun

Tue, 05 Feb 2013

You can add Fiat to the admittedly short list of automakers considering a low-cost brand to rival Dacia. The inexpensive Eastern European brand from Renault-Nissan has performed on the balance sheet like a premium model line, and the money the alliance is taking off the table is encouraging other players to deal themselves in. Pretty soon Nissan's Datsun sub-brand will join the Dacia party, going on sale in Russia, Indonesia and India and will claim even more rubles, rupiahs and rupees for the parent company. Volkswagen recently said it will make a decision this year on a budget line for the Chinese market. With the euthanasia of Lancia and plans to move the Fiat brand upmarket, company CEO Sergio Marchionne wonders aloud to Automotive News Europe whether there could be room for a new budget brand underneath Fiat.
We're told that the initiative has been in the idea box for five years and even moved to the stage of name considerations, like Innocenti, but worries about profit kept it from realization. If such a range were to be developed, Marchionne says it couldn't be built in Italy and stay within budget, and the company is "analyzing its manufacturing capacity outside of Europe to see if a low-cost brand is viable."

Datsun reveals new On-Do budget sedan in Russia [w/video]

Tue, 08 Apr 2014

When Nissan revived the Datsun brand name, it essentially hit the "undo" button on the rebranding it undertook decades ago. But this time, the Datsun name is being used solely as a budget brand for developing markets. The reborn marque launched in India this past July with its Go hatchback, returned in September with the Go+ minivan and revealed the Redi-Go concept just last month. And now it's back again with the new On-Do sedan.
Launched in Moscow by CEO Carlos Ghosn, the On-Do was designed and engineered in Japan specifically for the Russian market - Nissan's fifth largest worldwide - where it will be built at the AvtoVaz plant in Togliatti. Decidedly budget-oriented, the Datsun On-Do is a four-door, five-seat econo-box measuring 172 inches long, 67 inches wide and 60 inches tall with an 18.7 cubic-foot trunk which Datsun describes as class-leading. Punctuating an otherwise bland shape is a large front grille and lighting front and rear that looks (and very well might be) bigger than the wheels.
Not that the Datsun On-Do needs a big contact patch to transfer power to the road: motivation is provided by a 1.6-liter engine with a grand total of - wait for it... wait a little longer - 87 horsepower. Which might strike you as a reasonable amount of muscle, considering the 400,000 rubles Datsun is getting for the On-Do (but consider that translates to about $11,300). That's a couple grand more than what Nissan gets for the Micra in that other giant northern country, or about the same amount it gets for the Versa in the US (which sells in Russia for 499k in rubles) - both of which are powered by what is in all likelihood the same 1.6-liter four but producing 109 hp. Of course Russia has different tax rates than the United States or Canada, but with such little power, the Datsun would fall into Russia's lowest tax bracket.

Datsun's lackluster initial sales fall below Tata Nano

Wed, 15 Oct 2014

When Tata introduced the Nano back in 2008, everyone was amazed at how cheap it was. They called it a game changer, but no game was changed. In fact, it took Tata five years to sell the 250,000 units it had the capacity to build in a single year. As it turns out, even buyers in what economists call "developing markets" like India aren't necessarily interested in buying an ultra-cheap automobile. And now it appears that Nissan may be falling into the same trap.
A little over a year ago, Nissan revived its old moniker Datsun to serve as a budget brand - similar to what ally Renault did with Dacia. Its lineup (consisting of models like the Go hatchback, Go+ minivan, On-Do sedan and Mi-Do hatch) is largely based on old architecture, packaged with little more than basic equipment and sold at rock-bottom prices. But Bloomberg reports that, even in the brand's core markets like India and Indonesia, the new Datsuns haven't been selling.
According to local industry figures, Datsun has sold fewer than 10,000 units of its $5,100 Go hatchbacks in India since its introduction back in March. Maruti Suzuki, by comparison, sells twice that many of its similarly priced Alto hatchbacks every month. In fact, after peaking in April, Datsun only sold 607 units in India this past July, dipping 77 percent to drop below even the number of Nanos which Tata sold that month.