Automobile Magazine October 2012 Issue - Datsun 240Z vs Scion FR-S Article

[Gary in NJ]

I enjoyed the article. The brZ is on my shopping list...actually...its at the very top of my list. The writer got some details of the Z incorrect and perpetuated some tall-tales, but the comparison was interesting.

[Ben's Z]

The author also states the Z had non power brakes. What a tool.

[SportBikeMike]

How does one get the October issue of a magazine in August?

I drove to the nearest bookstore to get a copy and they only have the September issue on the rack. I guess that I will have to wait until next month. Oh well, I needed an excuse to drive the Z anyway. It had been sitting all lonely in the garage for over 24 hours...

I got a copy of the magazine at my grocery store (County Market) this morning, so it should be on the news stand at some places.

[Carl Beck]

Over-all a nice article with lots of praise for the Datsun 240Z. Yes, a few mistakes / misstatements.. but we are getting used to that by now. Also agree that the Comments from the Forum Members there were very positive about the 240Z and nice to read, instead of the usual trash talk.

Sad that Nissan gave them their Vintage Z without first assuring that it was tuned properly.. That car has been ridden hard and put away wet too many times. It was one of the first Vintage Z's completed and has been used by Nissan as their Press Car since the introduction of the Vintage Z's. It has had no where near the care that most of the other Vintage Z's in private hands have had.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[mgmoreau]

Hi Walter,

I have a subscription to Automobile so I think it arrives in my mail box a few weeks before they are on the newsstand. I get about five auto magazine and right now I have all the October issues.

How does one get the October issue of a magazine in August?

I drove to the nearest bookstore to get a copy and they only have the September issue on the rack. I guess that I will have to wait until next month. Oh well, I needed an excuse to drive the Z anyway. It had been sitting all lonely in the garage for over 24 hours...

[gnosez]

ah, just what I want in a sports car, assisted steering in whatever means provided!!! Drive the Dragon in any under $50k vehicle with assisted (sissy) steering and then do it in a Z with the same suspension as one of say the BRE or Sharp 240s. That's 35-40 yr old technology (heim joints, bump steer spacers, better bushings, etc.)The folks that have upgraded to add camber adjustment, poly bushings, and the like would IMHO take the 240. Now maybe some folks would rather drive a car with the road feel subdued to make their travels less of a work out but after driving dozens and dozens of other peoples car on the race track as an instructor I'll take my modified 240 steering response over an Audi, an M3, 1M, boxster, Z3 or S2000.

The estimated cost for one of the vintage 240s seems right on.

[Carl Beck]

I haven't seen a VZ change hands in the past three years for less than $40K. I doubt you could find one for sale for less than $45K, unless it was not maintained as it should be. When Nissan moved its HQ - they did let a couple go, thrugh the Dealers at bargain prices but that was a long time ago.

If the economy recovers a bit more - in a couple years I'd expect the VZ's to be in the $65K range. More if the Collector Car market heats up a bit more.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[clutchdust]

Neat article. I've seen a couple of the Scions around town and kind of admired them. I certainly don't think the looks will carry forward as well as the Z but if I were looking for a new, fun, sporty, little car, that's what I would be looking at. But in the meantime, I'm quite content with my 41 year old Z.

[Wade Nelson]

A longer quote from the article:

I put the stability control system in sport mode—I'm happy to have a safety net when I'm not in the Z—and luxuriate in the Scion's balance as the rear end rotates just enough to tuck around a corner at a faster speed than the Z could manage. Only, there it is, right in my rearview mirror. "That Z's pretty quick, given the right driver," a sweating, beaming Nelson says at the next switch point with a wink that! find absolutely infuriating. Actually, though, he's right. What the Datsun lacks in structural rigidity and refinement, it mostly makes up for with balance as good as that of the Scion and steering that communicates the moment its fourteen-inch radials begin to give way. In other words, the forty-one-year-old Datsun Z approaches the capabilities of a new Scion FR-S, at least as measured by seat-of-the-pants, real-world driving. What's even more surprising and splendid, though, is that the Scion FR-S feels a lot like a forty-one-year-old Datsun Z.

You can read the whole article at the link given elsewhere in this thread. What I did was screen-capture the above section, and ran it through a free online OCR program Very sneaky, huh?

[psdenno]

So does that mean that my 41 year old Z is as good as a "hot" 2012 sports car or that the Scion is not much improved over a car that was built 41 years ago?

Dennis

[jtmader]

I haven't seen a VZ change hands in the past three years for less than $40K. I doubt you could find one for sale for less than $45K, unless it was not maintained as it should be. When Nissan moved its HQ - they did let a couple go, thrugh the Dealers at bargain prices but that was a long time ago.

If the economy recovers a bit more - in a couple years I'd expect the VZ's to be in the $65K range. More if the Collector Car market heats up a bit more.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl - I think all of us VZ owners hope you are right.....don't know if we'll evere see $65K for our cars but I would be happy if they hit $50K some day.

Jeff Mader

[240260280z]

I talked to a mini owner friend who recalled the first shipment of 240z's arriving in Nova Scotia in 1970. All of the car enthusiasts went to the unloading/storage location at the port or railway and were looking in the windows ohhing and awing over the triple gauges on the dash and such.

A friend's dad was a Datsun dealer from the other side of the province. All of the dealers were brought over to meet the shipment and were given commemorative off-white Z-car hotwheels or similar. My friend had the one given to his dad but that was many moons ago and it is long gone.