The Datsun 240Z was released in America on Oct. 22, 1969, with a separate model, the Fairlady Z, for Japan. The Fairlady nameplate was a continuation from the previous gen Datsun Sports roadster, according to Wikipedia.
The father of the 240Z was the president of Nissan USA, Yutaka Katayama, affectionately known as “Mr. K.” (He was 106 when he died (on my birthday), Feb. 19, in 2015.) And it was he who insisted that the timing was right for a modern and affordable sports car in the U.S.
I was almost 16 when the Datsun 240Z debuted in 1969 as a 1970 model. I heard one prowling the neighborhood at night before I ever saw it — the driver just couldn’t resist keeping its straight-six engine tach-ed up in low gears.
Its howling exhaust note was nothing like the American V-8 muscle cars pounding every street in America. The Z’s sound had a forbidden allure and I knew it was special.
When I finally laid eyes on the car, its compact size, long hood and fistful of attitude seemed too tight for its big sound. It was nothing like the muscle this country had known. The Z-car’s 151 horsepower 2.4-liter inline six-cylinder had some bad connotations in America, like an old stove-bolt Chevy six. (The Fairlady Z continued with the 130-hp, 2.0-liter straight-six from the roadster.)
It was its own pony car, with rear-wheel drive and racing ambitions, by such famed pilots as Paul Newman and then John Morton (my racing hero) with Peter Brock’s Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE).
History
The Z-car went through many changes through its six generations, from the 260 Z (1974), the 280 (1975) and 280ZX (1978) to the 300ZX (1984) — until the nameplate was shelved from 1997-2002, mostly from cost and lack of interest and the rise of the SUV.
But the company wasn’t finished with it, entirely. In craziness to keep the legend alive, Nissan began buying up and restoring original 240Zs in 1998. The turn-key restored cars (one of which I tested) were sold at dealers for around $24,000. One of those brought-back Z’s sold at auction this year for $100,000.
In 2002, the nameplate returned as the 350Z followed by a redesigned 370Z in 2009. Except for a very mild styling change in 2013, not much at all has been updated, including its 332-horsepower, 3.7-liter V-6.
Today, the 370Z is a rear-wheel drive, two-seat hatchback or roadster with a six-speed manual transmission or optional seven-speed automatic. Coupe pricing starts at about $31,000 and the roadster at $43,000. (My road test of the 2019 50th anniversary model will run Nov. 17 in the Wheels section.)
