5k: High School Sweatheart: 1972 Datsun 240Z
Every gearhead has a unique relationship with his first car — usually a high school car, sometimes college if he was a late bloomer. Some of them have even managed to hang onto those cars for decades and if you can find one, it can be a fantastic deal. The kid who first owned that car did silly stuff to/with it, but as he aged, the updates, repairs and fixes to the car became better and by the third rebuild of component X — it will be done correctly. Additionally, there is a level of satisfaction from a loved long term owner car that you won’t get from buying a rusted barn find or freshly fried and flipped fish. Find this 1972 Datsun 240Z offered for $5,300 in Pasadena, CA via craigslist.
The vision of some high school kid fixing your soon to be classic isn’t exactly what you might want to hear…but what if that high school kid held onto this car for the next 30 years. Now, you’ve got a 50 year old dude who has poured his blood, sweat, tears, beer, and his kid’s college fund into some kind of relic from his glory days.
The Datsun 240Z was powered by a 2.4 liter inline-6 fed by twin SU-carburettors and rated at 150 horsepower. The Z is a light car and combined with a butt-on-the-pavement seating position, it offers a surprising amount of fun to the dollar. This one is unfortunately equipped with an automatic transmission, but a 5-speed swap should be a straightforward bolt-in affair with easily available parts.
See a cheaper/better Zurvivor for less? tips@dailyturismo.com
This ticks a few boxes: it's a birth year car, it's a model I've lusted after since I was about seven, and the seller is the long-time owner. But the slushbox kills it for me, because though it may be a "straightforward bolt-in affair", I'd be the guy who would manage to give it five reverse gears and one forward gear. Besides, in true DT fashion, I'll wait for one where the previous owner's time and money went into the swap, if one was needed in the first place.
I've been a party to two of these swaps, they are about a 2.5 out of 5 on the backyard mechanic scale of difficulty.
See here.
In addition to the benefits you guys pointed out, long-term owners typically paid low (by today's numbers) and are often out of touch with the current market for the vehicle in question. In the best cases, the pricing reflects that.
Hmmm.wonder what state it came from? Those are @ 2012 Cali plates judgng by the numbers. If owner bought it in '82 I wonder from where? If it is a Cali car then all is good rust wise. Otherwise….DANGER.WILL ROBNSON! DANGER!
Maybe his Dad bought the high school seller a sporty looking automatic to keep him safe! No danger burning rubber with ths puppy.
Bring a 5 speed!
Good catch on the plate. Looks solid from the 20' away, low light "potato-cam" photos, but any potential buyer should request pictures of:
1. Under the battery tray
2. Spare tire well
3. Floor pans inside and outside
4. Front "frame" rails
5. Rear hatch area, specifically the corners where the taillight fascia panel meets the body
6. Area around the wheel arch, particularly where the wheel arch meets the rocker panel area
7. The roof at the rear corners just aft of the B pillars.
8. Rocker panel seam where the inner door seal meets the inside trim / carpet.
9. Rear corners of both front doors.
Bring a 5-speed… and a telescoping mirror, a few magnets, or a paint depth gauge. Also make sure when you're driving it, if it stinks like oily exhaust or raw fuel to check the rear fuel filler area, there are a bunch of evap hoses that run through there and they always rot out.
The 6Fxxxx plate is probably pre-2012. I have an early 2010 model year car with a 6Mxxxx plate also in the greater LA area. I'd wager these plates are from 2009 or maybe 2008. But yeah, good catch!
I've heard of the DMV requiring new plates when there are registration issues, but I'm not sure of the details on that. Also, some people just want shiny new plates if their old originals look tired and beat up.
Update: I spoke with the seller re: the 6FXXXX plate. Back in 1982 he had the option to go with the blue plates or the optional-issue Sunset plates, and he went with the latter. Fast forward to 2009: his Sunset plates were stolen in West Hollywood while he was at work and never recovered.
The state wouldn't reissue his original plate number or design after the plates were stolen so he had to get a sequential.
The car is an absolute gem, I've seen it in person, if anyone has any questions about it let me know. I'm out of town until Sunday but if he still has it, I will be buying it.
I'm now the owner of this vehicle. In keeping with tradition, it arrived to the casa de RyanM on the back of a flat bed. Though it runs and drives, it does neither for very long.
After Z-Bash (26 April @ the Z store, mark your calendars) I'm going to dive into this thing. Until then, it sits in my garage taunting me with its gorgeous lines.
Ryan: awesome, and congrats! Please do send pics and some words about the car to the tips@dailyturismo.com email address. We will post a success story. Glad to hear it arrived to you in true DT fashion – but seriously, have fun and good luck with the diagnosis.
hi there, good article and good thoughts, especially "Every gearhead has a unique relationship with his first car — usually a high school car, sometimes college if he was a late bloomer".
in that time they should know some engineering review for good driving lol)
AI sure has a long way to go before it takes over and eradicates humans…
Nice try Anonymous, I already spammed FTB today.
".. and his kid's college fund" I feel like I might kill such a dad, haha
Seriously speaking, having a car as a hobby is way better than computer games and reviews seen on Iwriteessays.com. If you do it right, your friends will want to hang out with you more often, your son will deify you and neighbors look up to you.
Scholarship. It is a word which makes each student eyes burning. Everyone wants it. Thus, first they have to write a shcholarship essay. With the following sample of it, everything is possible to manage primeessay.org/write-my-scholarship-essay-for-me.html