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This looks bad too... Can't believe this car was running smooth before teardown!!

Hey Comet Very best of luck to convince your parents. All great advice has already been given, so I will just add ..... don't let any of your boyfriends, current or future drive your Z car .... for at least 15 years.

My first car was a heavily modified 240z. Can't speak to the safely of it, but man it was a blast! Of course the truth is that they aren't very safe compared to any modern car, but I justify the risk by telling myself that it's a whole lot safer than a motorcycle - and it scratches the same itch for me at least.

Z's are not as safe as newer cars but much of whether you are at real risk is more about where you drive and how fast you drive. Are you in a rural area or a large city? Do you do a lot of high speed driving or mainly neighbor hood driving? I rebuild salvage cars and have seen many many modern cars that were fatal wrecks and dead is dead. The biggest factors in fatal wrecks is speed and whether you get hit from the side or not. The 2+2 car may have the reinforced doors, I don't know when they started that and it may have the newer door locks which were all done for safety as well as the larger bumpers. In the end I would put any of my kids in a classic Datsun. My 15 year old son just bought his first car a 72 510 wagon. We don't live in a hugely urban area and it is sort of like riding a motorcycle you have to drive very defensively.

If you are just talking about safety, In your parents eyes it all boils down to air bags vs no air bags. Guess which one wins. I do have to agree on that point. No matter what driving skills you have, It will always be the other guy that's going to do something stupid. In a car that small, think again which one will win. I think about that every time I get into mine. It's 1977 safe, not 2015 safe. You don't seem to be a "silly kid" so I'm not telling you not to get a Z but you have to realize most everybody that owns one has something else to drive. Do choose something worth driving every day and when it is feasible, get that Z and enjoy every minute of it. And When you do, A coupe would be my personal choice, but I've never driven a 2+2 so my opinion may be considered lopsided (also my daughter is about to turn 16 ).

Enjoy!