Rusty But Trusty

There are plenty of great classic imported sports cars out there with 4-cylinder engines, but regardless of any power and consumption difference, there’s just something about the feel of a six-cylinder engine, with the minimal filters of sound, smell, and heat that you get in an older car. So that makes it worth taking a look at the Z, with its 151hp/146 lb.-ft. 2.4 liter, most commonly running through a 4-speed manual transmission, and only 2300lb. of weight. However, with that power rating being achieved by some of the better 4-cylinders, like Datsun’s own 2000 Roadster and a European market Alfa Romeo, you’ll find today’s car a more compelling case for the S30 – consider this 1973 Datsun 240Z for sale for $2500 in Newberg, OR.

Now these are no longer a common sight on the roads as simple used cars, the shape does stand out as something very striking. Who knows why the owner refers to this as a rat rod, besides tricking people into clicking on the ad – does (flat black paint)+(engine swap)=(rat rod)? Oh wait, never mind, he forgot the red-painted steel wheels, so no dice. From this perspective, there’s no visible corrosion damage, but at the price you should count on some and be pleasantly surprised if it’s confined to a couple of spots.

The rear looks pretty clean – all trim, lights, and more are present and in good condition. The iconic slotted wheels are said to be in good shape, as are tires, and the car is said to be the seller’s daily driver. But let’s get back to that engine swap – this car features the 2.8-liter engine and 5-speed transmission from a 280Z, which is good for an increase of 19hp and 17 lb.-ft. of torque, and probably more if you assume the owner did not transfer over all the emissions garbage equipment from the donor car.

What is visible of the interior also looks surprisingly decent, though a couple of loose wires visible in this shot are cause for concern – perhaps they’re from the missing stereo? The horn button also seems to be missing, and the dash *might* be wearing a cap. It really does look like some cleaning and checking off a short to-do list would have this one in good shape for a rolling project. What direction would you take this nearly-blank canvas?

Tags: 240Z, datsun, Feature, japanese, sports car

This entry was posted on January 26, 2016 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.