Datsun 240Z: The Japanese Sports Car That Changed Everything
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Some cars earn their place in history quietly, through decades of appreciation and rising auction prices. The Datsun 240Z arrived in 1969 and made its case loudly from the very first moment. Here was a Japanese sports car that matched the Europeans at their own game, looked utterly sensational, and cost a fraction of the price. The world took notice.
Half a century on, the 240Z is no longer a bargain. It is a bona fide collector's car, commanding serious money and serious respect. The question is not whether it deserves the attention. The question is how one car from Yokohama managed to get everything so right.
Origins and History
By the late 1960s, Nissan (then trading as Datsun in export markets) was hungry for credibility beyond reliable saloons and pick-up trucks. Chief product planner Yutaka Katayama, known affectionately as Mr K, had watched American buyers fall hard for European sports cars. He believed Japan could build something better.
The brief was simple and enormously ambitious in equal measure: a genuine sports car, affordable enough for a young professional, refined enough for a long motorway cruise, and exciting enough to win on track. Yoshihiko Matsuo led the styling team, working in secret from Nissan's corporate headquarters. The result, revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1969, stopped the room.
In America, where most of the production would be sold, the 240Z arrived priced at under $3,500. A Porsche 911 cost more than twice that. Ferrari was not even in the same conversation. Nissan had done it.
The Design
Matsuo's team drew a long bonnet, a sweeping fastback roofline, and a short, rounded tail. The proportions owed something to the E-type Jaguar and something to contemporary Italian coachwork, yet the 240Z looked entirely its own thing. Every surface flowed into the next with a confidence that had no right to come from a manufacturer with no sports car heritage.
The cabin was narrow and driver-focused, with a high transmission tunnel and deeply reclined seats. Round gauges faced the driver. The steering wheel sat close. It felt purposeful without feeling spartan, which was a neat trick for the money.
Detail work was thoughtful throughout. The pop-up headlamps kept the snout clean. The black rubber bumper overriders were almost sculptural. Even the five-spoke alloy wheels, optional at first, looked right in a way that many contemporary designs still do not.
Performance and Driving
Under that long bonnet sat a 2.4-litre straight-six engine producing 151 bhp in US specification. Smooth, willing, and eager to rev, it was derived from a unit shared with Nissan's saloon range but transformed for sporting use with twin SU carburettors and a more aggressive camshaft profile.
Zero to 60 mph took around eight seconds, which sounds modest now but felt urgent in 1969. Top speed was a genuine 125 mph. More important than the numbers was the character: a willing, free-revving engine mated to a slick five-speed gearbox, with rear-wheel drive and a suspension setup that rewarded a confident driver.
The 240Z communicated. It had feel through the steering, feedback through the chassis, and a gearchange that clicked home with satisfying precision. Japanese sports cars had arrived.
Racing Pedigree
Nissan did not build the 240Z as a competition car, but it became one almost immediately. In American SCCA racing it dominated its class throughout the early 1970s, with drivers including Bob Sharp and Pete Brock developing it into a formidable circuit weapon. The car's rigid structure and well-sorted suspension geometry made it a natural candidate for modification.
The Safari Rally provided perhaps the greatest stage. Nissan entered works 240Z cars in the gruelling East African event, finishing first overall in 1971 with Edgar Herrmann and Hans Schuller at the wheel. It was a remarkable result for a car that had been on sale for barely two years, against established European opposition on their home continent.
That rallying success fed directly back into showroom perception. The 240Z was not just a pretty face. It could fight, and win, in the harshest conditions imaginable.
Buying a Datsun 240Z Today
Values have risen sharply over the past decade and show no sign of softening. Expect to pay anywhere from £25,000 for a solid driver-quality car to £60,000 or beyond for a fully restored, numbers-matching example in original colour. American cars are most common on the market; Japanese domestic models occasionally appear and attract a premium.
Rust is the primary concern. The front inner wings, sills, floor pans, and spare wheel well are notorious for corrosion, particularly on cars that spent time in salted road conditions. A thorough inspection with a damp meter and a torch is essential before any purchase. Structural rust is expensive to address properly.
Mechanically, the straight-six is robust and well-supported by specialist suppliers. Carburettor rebuild kits, suspension components, and body panels are all available through the Z Car Club and dedicated suppliers in the UK and US. A sympathetically maintained original car is almost always preferable to a heavily modified one, and the market agrees.
Shop Datsun 240Z Art at KK Automotive Art
KK Automotive Art does not yet have a Datsun 240Z design in our collection. We are working on bringing this iconic car to our range, watch this space! In the meantime, explore our classic car phone cases, classic car mugs and limited edition prints.
Explore more Japanese classics in our classic cars blog.