Over the past few months I’ve been on a rigorous search for the perfect classic Datsun Z. By perfect I mean one that fit into my budget, had an original and intact interior and one that required some work but not too much. Finding an original series Z was not an easy task since there were so few of them popping up for sale and those that did either had been modified heavily or were in terrible condition. Then last Monday while jumping from one instagram account to another, I found a small car collector who had a beautiful orange 240Z in his possession. I decided to leave him a comment randomly asking if it was for sale and to my surprise, the next morning I woke up to find a reply that if I was serious to give him a call. So I did and after I was done with work I headed over to his place to check the car out.
The car had one owner for the past 11 years, the exterior was in great shape and the interior was all there, even the original tape player. After taking the car for a small drive around the block I knew this was the one for me. The asking price wasn’t very far off from what I thought was reasonable for a 240Z in this condition and after negotiating with the owner for a little bit, he agreed to drop down the price and take my offer with the stipulation that if I was ever to sell the car to let him know in case he wanted to buy it back. And so just like that, next day we got the paperwork done and I was a proud owner of a 1973 Datsun 240Z.
The car is mostly stock except for the engine and gearbox which are from the newer 280z, a common modification since engine and gearbox parts for the 280z are more readily available. For such a physically small car, the interior is actually spacious. I’m 6’1 and don’t feel squeezed in the car at all, in fact its pretty comfortable. I’ve been driving the car non stop since Wednesday and it’s just a ton of fun on the road. As a pretty OCD this car should in fact be driving me insane since there are a ton of rattles and so many imperfections all ovre. It’s like utter chaos but I think thats why I’m loving the experience so much, it’s the opposite of what I usually am.
[YouTube]
Right now I’m not planning any major work on the car, I’m just going to drive it the way it is until the weather gets too hot for it and then will start working on it. I don’t have any plans yet but I did get inspired a lot last night after watching the video above. Come summer I’ll probably do an engine rebuild, replace all the bushings, install an aftermarket AC system and also get a new suspension. I managed to make a deal with ProTech Monte-Carlo and I’ll be dropping the car off to them tomorrow for some extreme detailing. I’m really curious to see how the car comes out after that since it should look factory new especially the interior.
My dad used to have a similar 240Z back in 1973, it was the first car he purchased when he moved to Kuwait and I just recently heard the story on how he got it. My dad’s an interior designer and was working on the interior of one of the properties for Abdulaziz Al Babtain. Al Babtain were the dealers of Datsun and so most of his meetings would take place at the dealership. One day while walking into the dealership he saw them rolling in a 240Z onto the showroom floor. My dad asked Abdulaziz what that car was and he told him it was the new 240Z. He then asked my dad if he liked it and wanted the car. My dad told him it was beautiful but he had just moved to Kuwait and couldn’t afford to buy one right now. Abdulaziz then called the sales manager over and told him to take my dad’s ID and register the car in his name. He told my dad to pay for it whenever he could which my dad ended up doing over time with small installments. The picture above was taken back in 1973 on Plajat street in Salmiya and my dad wants me to reshoot him now in the same spot but with my car. That should be fun.
I hope the weather stays like this for just a little bit more so I can enjoy the car as much as I can. If you see an orange 240Z zooming down the Gulf Road, that is probably me.
