Orange & Black Checkered 240z Floor Mats

[lonetreesteve]

When my son and I bought our '71 240 last May, we got a large quantity of spare 240Z parts included in the deal (basiclly an entire '72 240Z w/o the unibody, hood & windshield). Among those parts was something that we had never seen before.....a set of orange and black checkered floor mats & rear hatch area mat made by Datsun for the 240Z. They are not in the greatest condition, and we were going to throw them away but decided to hold on to them in case someone would be interested. Frankly, I don't find them very attractive, but they certainly do have a nostalgic early '70s look to them. My son and I put them on ebay yesterday just to see if there would be any interest. It's going to take some work to restore these mats. The black rubber backing on the bottoms of the mats is all dried out and is flaking off. So, the rest of the dried rubber would need to be removed then recoated. The mat material is actually in pretty good shape, with the exception of a hole towards the back of the rear hatch mat, which would need to be repaired. Has anyone ever seen or know what these were all about? I assume that these were a specialty item that Datsun sold through its dealers.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Can we see some pics?

[lonetreesteve]

Here's a couple pics Bill.....definitely loud early '70s style huh? It's hard to see on the picture, but the driver's mat has a "Datsun" in the middle of the black rubber area on the face of the mat. As you can see, the hatch area mat has some deterioration towards the back, including a hole. The old black rubber on the backs of all 3 mats is flaking off. So, they will need the old rubber taken off and recoated with new. This shouldn't be too hard since the old rubber is flaking off so easily now. The front mats are in pretty good shape and just need a little cleaning in addition to the recoating on the bottoms. The rear hatch mat will take more work and will need to be repaired.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Yes they are loud alright i think ill pass .

[lonetreesteve]

Here are 2 more pics of the mats. These show a closer look at the type of material the mats are made of as well as the problem areas described on my previous post. The first one shows the hole at the bottom of the hatch area mat, the second shows what the bottoms look like.

[Zrush]

Groovy Man :knockedou Reminds me of when I put shag carpeting in the hatch area of my Mach 1 around the speakers. Very 70's indeed.

Peace

Vicky

[Bambikiller240]

Steve: Are you SURE these were made by Datsun? These are almost identical to mats that I purchased back in the 1974-75 era for my first 240Z (Persimmon colored body). My set had "Datsun 240Z" embossed on the black area of the floor mats and were definitely not a factory item. Stuff like this was commonly available through aftermarket sources due to the considerable popularity of the vehicles back in the 70's.

[26th-Z]

I wondered about them being made by Datsun / Nissan myself. I don't think so, but you know how it goes. As soon as I stick my foot in my mouth someone comes along and laughs at me.

[lonetreesteve]

I'm not sure where these originated. I only assumed that they were made by Datsun because of the "Datsun" on the black rubber on the driver's mat and that they obviously were designed to fit a 240Z. You can tell that they are very old and were probably designed to cover & protect the original carpets. What you guys are saying make a lot of sense though. I was curious what they were all about and that's why I started the thread. Thank you for your input, I appreciate it!

[Bambikiller240]

FWIW. in spite of the current opinions (which can understand) on the color, they were quite common in the 70's, and they worked great to protect the carpets which were not very durable if you wore boots etc.