Final Parking Space: 1978 Datsun 280Z

Nissan began selling the Datsun 240Z in the United States as a 1970 model, and Z-Cars have been available here ever since (except for a couple of short pauses over the decades). I still encounter quite a few discarded 280ZXs and 300ZXs during my junkyard travels, but the first-generation 1970-1978 cars are much more difficult to find. Here’s one that now resides in the same boneyard near Denver, Colorado that recently brought us the 1972 Plymouth Duster and 1972 Fiat 850 Spider.

This generation of the Z-Car was called the S30 within the Nissan organization, and it was badged as the Nissan Fairlady Z in its homeland. It was available as a two-seat hatchback coupe and (beginning in the 1974 model year) as a 2+2 hatchback coupe.

The 240Z had a 2.4-liter L-Series SOHC engine and was sold in the United States through 1973. For 1974, the engine got stroked to 2.6 liters and the car became the one-year-only 260Z (for the rest of the world, the 260Z stuck around a while longer).

In order to meet American emissions standards, the 2.6 engine was bored out to give a displacement of 2.8 liters. The compression ratio was lowered and Bosch electronic fuel injection replaced the twin Hitachi SU carburetors used on the 240Z and 260Z. The 280Z was sold in the United States and Canada for the 1975 through 1978 model years, after which it was replaced by the bigger and more luxurious 280ZX.

This engine was rated at 149 horsepower and 163 pound-feet, which was respectable power for a sports car of the time. Curb weight was a mere 2,628 pounds, which resulted in a better power-to-weight ratio than the one achieved by the more powerful but significantly heavier 1978 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. The Datsun 810/Maxima used the 2.4-liter version of this engine through 1984.

The base transmission in the 1978 280Z was a good old four-on-the-floor manual, but this car has the optional five-speed (which cost an extra $185, or about $931 in 2024 dollars). A three-speed automatic was available for $365 ($1837 after inflation).

The MSRP for this car started at $8498, which comes to about $42,767 in today’s money. A new 1978 Camaro Z28 listed at $5604 ($28,203 now).

The beefier 280ZX was more effective at luring away potential Camaro and Mustang shoppers than this much smaller car. In 1978, this car competed for American sales with such imported rivals as the $9195 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, $6995 Mazda RX-7 GS, and $6750 Triumph TR7. Toyota jumped in with the Celica Supra a year later, giving Nissan’s nemesis a six-cylinder Z-Car competitor for North America.

Japanese cars of this era were exceptionally rust-prone (even in California), but this one seems relatively corrosion-free. There’s some nasty damage to the left front and the interior is well-roasted, but otherwise it’s in surprisingly good condition for a junkyard S30. Perhaps it would have been rescued in other regions, but Denver is a two-day tow to the West Coast or big Midwestern cities.