BRE-240Z

I agree with Carl's thoughtful commentary above. When someone modifies a car like this, they are applying their tastes (or lack thereof) to the car, and those tastes will not suit everyone who is a potential buyer of the car. I would never put those ugly seats in my Z, for instance. And I would never carpet over the diamond vinyl, etc....just my opinion, and my opinion isn't worth much. But just to give you a 'fer instance', this car would not interest me as much as an unmolested car would. It looks pretty clean, but $8K-$10K sounds about right, depending on the buyer.

I would get rid of the black background. The first thing you learn in publishing (web or otherwise) is that the human eye is trained to read black text on a white (or off-white, or grey, but otherwise neutral) background. And the multiple colors, multiple fonts, the use of '~' and '^-^' symbols and whatnot.....I don't mean to be too critical, but you did ask for feedback. The basic truth is that I wouldn't spend thirty seconds on that site. It hurt my eyes, and that's not an exaggeration. For us older types (30's-40's-50's), being able to read the text on your site is important. Somebody else mentioned this, but I don't get the fighting guy. I like video games as much as anybody, but I don't see what that has to do with the stuff that you want to sell. Put the kung fu guy on an 'about me' page or something. The good news is that I think that there is a huge market for performance parts for vintage cars, especially if you can get access to rare stuff that the generic parts houses can't get ahold of. And given what I know about you, I believe this to be the case. I have worked as a project manager, putting together corporate websites for multimillion dollar companies. We use professional web designers, of course, but you really don't need that kind of expense to put together a nice-looking website. I would be happy to help you (via PM or email) if you need specific information or have questions about how to improve. But there are some very basic problems on the site that I think should be dealt with, such as the reversed text that I mentioned before. My advice would be to take a web design class, or to find some e-commerce tools that will allow you to put forth a nice-looking storefront without too much effort. Put together a web site that looks as good as the parts you're selling, and the sky really is the limit. Good luck.

Maybe this will help. Let me know if you need more detail.

Dave, are you talking about where it mounts to the side of the car? My bumper is off the car right now, so I can definitely take some photos for you.

Very nice! Maybe it's just me, but I never get tired of Libres.....

Hello, and welcome to the club. There is a high price of admission on that car, but it sure looks good. Do you have more detailed photos? By the way, you're right, I don't see a driver's side mirror...but that's easily remedied.

Which is essentially what I said. You mentioned this being a black and white medium. That cuts both ways, depending on what YOU are looking for.

A lot of us have been through the same process you're about to start; you'll learn a lot from the archives here and also from asking questions as you go along. My approach with my car was to get it into into good running condition, and then go through the suspension, brakes and steering. If you think that you'll want to go with more horsepower, plan for that from the start by going with some bigger brakes, maybe even four-wheel discs. After the car is safe and you know it inside and out, start disassembling and fixing any rust that you find. At that point you can make horsepower upgrades, and you'll know that the car is safe enough to handle it. And then you can paint it and make it pretty! Just be aware that the cost is likely to be more than you think, and it will inevitably take longer than you are planning right now. In the end it will be worth it. Be patient and stick with the plan...the important part is to have a plan!

Do you know this car? You are pretty hot to imply that it's exactly as described. Because if you don't know the car, I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what your argument is about. The only thing I was pointing out was that the carpet didn't seem to match the description that is being trotted out there by the seller. End of story. If that's a common flaw in these cars and the carpet can fade even if it's stored in a heated garage, then I stand corrected. If not, then it's seen prolonged exposure to the sun, and that's a possible red flag (and something that I would want to have pointed out to me by a friend, if I were considering buying this car). If you want to believe the hype around these cars that turn up on eBay, you can be my guest. That's your prerogative, and you're entitled to think as you'd like. As for me, I'm not saying anything about the seller other than -- if this is your average eBay car -- things might not be quite as advertised.

I'm not interested in 'picking this car apart', whatever that means. Or in denigratring the seller, or in spending my valuable time analyzing his story....although even the most trusting among us would have to admit that his feedback does not inspire confidence. On the contrary, I'm very happy to see a Z bringing top dollar. That's good for those of us who have Z's sitting in our garages. However, eBay would be a more useful site for those of us who are actually collectors and enthusiasts if the items available for sale were represented in a more straightforward manner. Everything on eBay is ultra rare; never before seen; kept in a dark, heated time capsule until RIGHT NOW, where it's being revealed to you in return for the entire contents of your wallet....even when something as obvious as faded carpet would seem to indicate the contrary.

The seller should have dyed that carpet. That way, it would fit his 'hibernated in a heated garage' story a bit closer.

Hello, and welcome to the club. I love the wheels on your Z. What are they?

Personally I've never seen a set of 17's that didn't look too big. 16-inch Panasports look really nice, though.....

That's where you're wrong. The two-seater 240Z was a highly desirable car, and there was great demand for a four-seat version. You may think that the addition of a rear seat ruins the classic lines of the 240Z, but people at the time didn't seem to mind. Roughly 20% of the 260Z production run for 1974 were 2+2 models. That percentage only went up for the 280Z's. A lot of people wanted a Z, but couldn't own one because they had a family. The 2+2 solved that problem. Stephen is right about the 810 in a way, because that car was the Maxima of its' day. But the reason that it doesn't have the following and the mystique of the Z is because it's a boxy sedan, and it doesn't stand out from the crowd the way that the Z does.

Ah, the anticipation.....I dropped my car off at the body shop last month, and luckily got it back from them already. Being without your Z is absolute torture. My wife thought I was insane, by the way. I wasn't as smart or thinking as far in advance as you were, so I more or less duct taped my brake lamps onto the car and drove it down to the body shop. Came right through a speed trap on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way down there (I took that route, ironically, thinking that it would keep me out of trouble), but they just waved at me as I went by.... Be sure to post before and after photos!

The 2+2 models were very desirable when they launched, and a lot of people like them today as drivers. You're talking about a different market entirely....it's a sport coupe with four seats. In terms of styling, my own feeling is that the S30 2+2's looked all right, while the S130 2+2's looked sort of hunchbacked, like the front and rear of two different cars were welded together.

They'll have plenty of useful advice for you over at zcar.com. That site is full of 15-year olds like you who just want to do burnouts and drift classic cars into mailboxes and whatnot....

I agree, the car seems to be presented in a completely straightforward manner. It does need a total restoration, but at least (as a buyer) you would know what it needs going in. No surprises, unlike what I found with my car....ha.

My advice would be to keep checking Craigslist. Actually, you should try this site... http://www.crazedlist.org/ ...since it will query multiple Craigslists across the country. Keeps you from having to search the Craigslist database for each city in your area, because you can do it all at once.

David, that looks great!

Sounds like a good call to me.

Is that the original paint or a repaint?

What are your intentions for the car? Are you going to restore, or use the car that you buy for a daily driver, or what? Honestly, both cars sound pretty good, but I'd lean towards the 240 in terms of it eventually being more valuable. Not to mention, AT cars are generally treated very gently and the fact that it has all of the service records is a very good sign. Whichever car you buy, be sure to look under the seats. You never know what you'll find.