The Nissan Z - Then and now

Originally Posted by SeattleLion

My 240 had manual rack-and-pinion steering and a fairly small 4 engine.

Originally Posted by turbodog

What?... MY 240 had an inline 6. 0 - 60 in about 8 sec, which was pretty good for those times, excluding the V8 muscle cars..

Originally Posted by SeattleLion

As one of the first people to own a 240Z in the U.S., I have been thinking about how the car and its ecosystem have changed. I also wonder how others see it.

When I got my first Z (1969 or 1970; I can't remember), the 240Z was one of a fairly large field of low-cost sports cars. It competed with the Triumph Spitfire, TR4, Fiat had one, and there were a few more. All cost under $4000. The 240 was a great value and competed very well in its class. Porsches were in a different class. A 911 cost $8,000 then. None were very high powered. My 240 had manual rack-and-pinion steering and a fairly small 4 engine. Zero to 60 was not great.

At that time Corvettes were considered muscle cars like GTO's and 409's. They didn't qualify to race with Z's or Porsche. They also weren't that nimble.

Just like the current 370Z the 240's had some problems with engine heat. My 240 would overheat (water) on hot days when I sustained over 60mph.

Now the world has changed drastically. Limits on engine displacement have changed so that now a Z can race a 'vette or a porsche. My 370 is pretty close to a muscle car with a 200 hp/ton power ratio. The 240 was well under 200hp.

All sorts of new things are discussed here because our Z's are now powerful cars that can be discussed along with Porsche and 'Vette.

It's not fair to compare cabin tech with the 240. Most of the radio stations were AM back then. The fact that the Z was air conditioned was a big deal (it didn't do too much good on really hot days). It is fair to say that as I remember it, the 240 was very nimble and would compare favorably to the 370. It's top speed certainly wasn't close to 155. I think I once got my 240 up to 100mpg. It may have been able to go faster, but I didn't try.

So now the car that cost $3500 costs over $40,000, and the Porsche now can go for well over $100k. What I find most interesting is that since the sports car market has largely shaken out all of the lower-end sports cars (even the MR2 is gone, just the Miata is left), the Z finds itself in comparisons with cars that cost over twice as much. I think the 370 does just fine in those comparisons. Of course Nissan couldn't build a Porsche for $40,000. It had to cut some corners (like an oil cooler). But just like the 240 I had 40 years ago, my 370 is pure fun to drive. And when you get down to it, that's exactly what it was made to be.

What do you think?

Originally Posted by turbodog

What?... MY 240 had an inline 6. 0 - 60 in about 8 sec, which was pretty good for those times, excluding the V8 muscle cars..

Originally Posted by SeattleLion

Was it a 6? I don't remember. I do remember lousy 0-60...of course I had owned a 69 GTO (0-60 in 3.something)

Originally Posted by ProfessorDave

I had a 68 LeMans with a 350/4 spd 3/4 racing cam, dual exhaust and LSD. Went 0-60 in um, well, it was some kind of blur I'll tell you that!