In the 1970's, two gas shortages, rising insurance premiums, an endlessly sluggish economy and government mandated restrictions on emissions and safety sucked most of the fun out of automobiles sold in the United States. While Porsche and the Chevrolet Corvette offered some glimmer of light, they were extreme in terms of performance and/or price. Datsun's Z cars of 1970-1978, however, were a wonderful combination of performance, comfort and price and offered something that neither Porsche and especially Corvette did not; meticulous build quality and reliability. The Datsun 240, 260 and original 280 Z's proved you could almost have it all and Datsun sold 40,000-60,000 of them a year consistently. That's about as many Corvettes as Chevrolet sold and far more cars than Porsche sold in the United States in a year back then. While the new for 1979 "ZX" was substantially less sporty than it's 1970-1978 forebears, build quality and reliability was as great as ever. However and surprisingly so, going on thirty seven years later, based on resale value, that fact makes little to no difference now.
Therein lies the rub with buying an old car whether for pleasure or as an investment - it's all about the car and what it represents. Datsun Z's were heralded for their reliability but chastised for Ferrari knock off styling. Corvettes were Corvettes and Porsches? Well, even us hard boiled Corvette fans have to admit that there is no substitute for Porsche. Anyway, buyers of old cars don't care or rarely care about how reliable or unreliable an old car was or is; it's not going to be used as a daily driver anyway so what's the difference. It's that ambivalence towards reliability that will drive up the value of late 1970's Corvettes, for example and being the owner of a '77 I sure hope so, while pristine Datsun 280ZX' like this one founder or remain stagnant. This mint 1979 ZX has an asking price of $10,000 - less than what a '79 Corvette would retail for in similar condition. It's a mystery as why that is too but the reality of the matter is - it's true; Datsun Z's don't hold their value.
Case in point regarding the ambivalence towards these cars, several years ago, Nissan, Datsun's parent company, attempted to sell factory refurbished old Z's in Nissan showrooms. That went over about as well as selling coffee at the beach in summertime. Again, why?
Might be...because at the end of the day, the Datsun Z, as good a car as it was, just never had the appeal of America's sports car, the Corvette. Especially the ridiculous C3's like my piece of crap, always breaking down, can't handle to save it's life, '77 that I adore. Sorry, beat me at the track all day long, Z car, never break down on your owner and be perfect at everything, I've got you beat where it counts every time.
You're also not a Porsche.
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