The Z Car's Nemesis?

[hawaiiankine]

Aloha,

Just wondering what you guys feel is the biggest challenger to your Z's on the track or on the street. BritCars? BMW's? Ever chastise a 911?

Honestly, my heart is torn between Z's and 911's. I asked a similar question in a Porsche forum and the Z never came up. So far.

:classic:

mahalos,

Joel

[v12horse]

They were shaking in their pants.... No no don't over take me again Mr. Zcar.*earth to Ben*

Rivals of the Z...hmm... Back in the day a ton of sports cars were the Z's rival. Nowadays, I don't see other cars as rivals, but as other classic cars. I am thinking of the tr6's, early 911's... I can't think of anymore, but there are a ton more. Classic cars are great:love: .

Ben

[datto_240z]

Compediter to the Z? That'll be the day... lolROF

Looking at my trusty Z history book (ESSENTIAL DATSUN Z) it says in UK racing Porche 935 were the main compediter. It doesnt say anything about US race compediters.

Anything could be a compediter to the Z. Take Australia for exsample. Most citizens are one-eyed Falcon or Commodore(Australian built V8 sedans) supporters that think a Datsun means "granny driven old rust heap. Thats one of the reasons why I want a Z so badly so i can proove em all wrong!

From its day, sale(pricing) compediters were(according to the same book) MGB GT, Opel GT, Triumph TR6, Triumph GT6 and Fiat 124 Spider.

But Performace compediters were Porche 911's and Jaguar E-Type's. Good bang for your buck eh? Its 0-60mph time was even better than the 911 turbo. 7.8 for the Z, 8.1 for the 911T.

Cheer'z'

Chris

[hls30.com]

Joel,

I looked through the Road Atlanta achives, and the Z ran competitvely against most cars-what is lacked in power, it more than made up for in cutting edge '70s handling, so even the monster Fords, Chevys. Dodges and a Ferrari or two frequenlty saw what Z taillights look like with a checkered flag in front of them! Looks like Porsches were the Zs meal of choise though.

Paul Newman chose a Z to race, for a reason, and it wasn't to keep his racing budget low!

Will

[ChrisA]

My Z car's nemesis..........SNOW!!

I'd have to agree with Will. Looking through my old racing history on Z's it appears they took on all comers!!

I watched Paul Newman wheel the Z with the President V8 engine in it. WOW what a sound!!

Chris

[hls30.com]

"Honestly, my heart is torn between Z's and 911's. I asked a similar question in a Porsche forum and the Z never came up. So far."

Is that really a suprise? With their pedigree would you WILLINGLY bring up being beaten repeatedly by a builder of econobox grocery getters?-much less tell anyone else about being trounced on what they considered to be their own turf!

Get a Z, Put a LITTLE money in it-relative to what parts for a 911 cost, and show them Porsche owners what they have chosen to so conveniently forget...They were dominated repeatedly by a mass production grocery getter!

Zs got beat, and we as enthusiasts readily acknowledge that, but it didn't happen often, and usually a Z didn't loose to the same car twice.

Will

[Victor Laury]

No one (here certainly) can deny the Z's racing sucesses. Here in the States, the consecutive years of SCCA Championships speak for themselves. Ad to that, the rest of the racing world and there's no doubt, the Z was a world class GT racer. Even back in the 240Z heyday, successfull racecars were not a new thing to Nissan. Other Nissan cars were racing to glory. Some had celebrated rivalries with other manufacturers cars that were followed closely as the seasons unfolded.

The SRL (2 liter) Roadster had the Triumph GT-6

Triumph tried again and again to win the national Dprod championship but a silly looking 4 clyinder Japanese car kept beating it.

The 510 had the BMW 2002. The Ultimate Driving machine lost time and time again to the Jap-brick-on-wheels. Much to the crowds amusment (unless you drove a bimmer)

Did the Z have a season long shoot out with another manufacturer, that the crowd followed? Or did the other guys just settle for second?

[hawaiiankine]

Aloha,

Hmmm...so the Z seems to have been the tough new kid on the block and just had to earn its place, eh?

I know the Porsche guys will never admit it publicly, but I have had a couple of them tell me that they have a lot of respect for the 240Z. They have stated as well that the Z is the best bang for your buck out there. But, I don't know if they'd ever mention it in casual conversation amongst their own group. Most of them over there like to consider Ferrari or BMW as their main competitors. I suppose that could be true for newer makes, but I'm mostly interested in classics.

Good point about Newman choosing to race Z's. I wonder why, if it wasn't to keep costs down? Maybe he just knew that he could spend the same amount but make the car that much better than his competitors?

As for the 911T, that's actually the bargain version of the early 911's (911T then E then S increasing in cost and performance). The turbo didn't come out until '76 or '77.

Well, thanks for all the input. I like the sound of the flat 6 engine, but I don't know if I'd like the sound of the money it could cause to jump out of my wallet and into the cash register. Plus, the Z just looks really cool. (and I can afford to OWN one, not have a lienholder against one).

Joel

[Alfadog]

What about the Alfa GTV or the Ford Capri?

I think in some respects the Z carved itself a niche in the market, that being the Economy Sports Car. Perhaps that's why it's a little difficult to put a finger on the Z's direct competitors.

[gema]

The Z Car's Nemesis?

Good thing I read the post, I almost typed "Rust!"

I love the grocery-getter turned Porsche-killer transformation...love my Z!

[hawaiiankine]

Alfa GTV...definitely a cool little car. Wouldn't that compete more with the 510? B Sedan racing? Another car I've thought about getting into (both of them actually).

Gema - I was waiting for someone to say rust!

When I first posted this question I said that I had posted a similar question in a Porsche forum. Well, a couple of those guys have stated that they used to have Z cars and that they miss their Z cars. Probably miss the price as well.

aloha,

Joel

[Alfadog]

Originally posted by hawaiiankine

Alfa GTV...definitely a cool little car. Wouldn't that compete more with the 510? B Sedan racing? Another car I've thought about getting into (both of them actually).

I dont pretend to know squat about the 70s (only being born in the 80s)!... But I would have imagined with a 2 litre 150HP engine (compared to the 1600's 1.6 litre 96HP and the 2.4 litre 151HP unit for the 240z) the GTV would have competed more with the Z than the 1600/510/Bluebird.

Also, the 510 wasn't exactly promoted as a sports car I thought. The Z and the GTV were... the GTV's pricetag made it more of a competitor with the 240Z too. Just looking back at an old magazine for prices...

Alfa 2000 GTV $6790 (this is in Australia mind you)

Datsun 240Z $5000

That's why I mentioned the Alfa. Maybe not in racing were they competitors, but in the real world I think that they would have been.