Before the 370Z, the original Z car wasn’t even marketed as a Nissan in the United States. Codenamed S30, the Datsun 240Z totaled 168,584 examples of the breed of which 148,115 were delivered stateside.
Known as the Fairlady Z in Japan because the president of Nissan – Katsuji Kawamata – liked the Broadway musical My Fair Lady, the rear-driven coupe with inline-six oomph paved the way for Nissan’s sporting ambitions.
The 1971 model in the photo gallery, painted green over brown vinyl, shows only 21,750 miles on the odometer and retains the original window sticker. This unmolested survivor of a bygone era when sports cars were simpler just sold for the mind-boggling sum of $310,000 on Bring a Trailer, the kind of money that Bentley charges for a 2020 Mulsanne full-sized luxobarge.
Series I models with no mods whatsoever, matching numbers and everything, are extremely rare. This explains how the lil’ 240Z sold for so much money online, and the car’s history is more impressive than you’d imagine.
Delivered new to Munson Datsuns of Marion, Indiana, dealership owner James Munson and his son Ronald Munson have driven the sportster on and off for quite a long time. Ronald died in May 2019, and a few months later, the vehicle was purchased “by a friend and fellow dentist” according to BaT.
“The selling dealer acquired it in December 2019 and has since adjusted the carburetors, changed the oil, mounted new tires, and performed detailing.” A clean Indiana title complements the extra set of period-correct wheels, lots of spares looking like they were manufactured yesterday, and many booklets.
Originally sold for $3,757 in 1971 ($24,000 adjusted for inflation), the 240Z cranked out 150 horsepower and 146 pound-feet of torque when it was new. The seller decided to convert the distributor to electronic ignition in December 2019, but nevertheless, this baby looks like a time capsule inside and out.
Bring a Trailer has 235 auction results for the 240Z at the time of writing, and this example of the breed is the most expensive yet. A different 1971 model converted into a race car sold for $11,000 a few weeks ago while a one-family-owned Series I grabbed $22,000 at auction.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News