1978 280Z Black Pearl

[Patrick]

Hello.

I've been looking at a 1978 280Z "Black Pearl." I confirmed this by the "638" color code on the radiator. The car has under 50,000 miles. It is all original, except it was repainted a different black several years ago. The owner has the original radio (in a box) and the original wheels and tires (yes, original tires). The only issues are a small bubble in the paint by the gas cap and two paint bubbles on the area between the front windshield and the hood. The owner says that it's just surface rust, but it is a real concern for me and one that I would have looked at by someone with more experience than I.

Main questions are what is the car worth and is it a good investment? I wouldn't be buying it for an investment, but I also don't want to spend money on something like this that I couldn't get back if I needed to in the future. Also, what does it cost to get it repainted?

Thanks.

[MikeW]

Welcome to the club. You're correct to be concerned about the rust as that's the biggest enemy of early Z cars. It may "only" be surface rust but that concerns me if the paint is only a few years old. There may be more waiting to be found.

Obviously the black pearl is more desirable than the standard '78. It's really hard to give you a number without seeing the car or knowing your location. I don't know that I'd call it (or any car) a good investment. $3500 invested in 1970 at a conservative 5% would be worth over $21000 today. There aren't that many Z cars in that price range and those that do sell for amounts like that probably had a whole lot more put into them to restore them to that level. Who know what car prices will do in the future? Some go up and some go down.

The cost of a paint job is almost exclusively based on the amount of labor going into the prep and that's what determines the quality of the results. How nice do you want it?

[Patrick]

Thanks for the welcome and the reply.

The current paint job is nearly 20 years old. And as far as the investment aspect, my main concern is not losing money on the deal. For example, I don't want to pay 10 grand for a car and then, if for some reason I had to sell it, find out it was only worth 5 grand. Based on my research the '78 280Z is the "best of breed" for 280Zs and the "black pearl" is the best of those and is gaining interest.

I realize that pricing and value is to a certain extent subjective. I've looked on the 'net and seen prices all over the scale. I checked Manheim and their price is for a "generic" 1978 280Z; I didn't know if the "black pearl" mystique added that much more, plus the fact that other than the paint, this car is absolutely original and except for the bubbles is in great shape.

And, would painting it the original color add much value to the car and is the Nissan dealer the best place to have that done?

[MikeW]

Unless you really overpay I don't think you have to worry about selling it for a loss. On the other hand, adding a $5K paint job to a car that's worth $10K isn't going to leave you with a $15K car. That's really the problem when you start talking about cars as investments and trying to figure out what you need to do to make it worth more.

I do think that the original color is always worth more, especially with a black pearl, but then you get into a different set of questions. Do you really want to reproduce the cheap original paint that Nissan used or do you want a high quality modern base coat/clear coat system. My friend Jesse has a very nice black pearl but it's far from original:

http://www.suncoastzcarclub.homestead.com/carz_jessespage.html

I don't think that having a Nissan dealer do the paint is the right avenue. They likely get their paint from the same place that everyone else gets it so it's not like that would make things more authentic. Dealer body shops as well as most other collision centers specialize in quick accident repairs and not high quality restoration work.

[BD240Z]

I just sold my Black Pearl a few months ago on Ebay for $5,600, (pictures below). I went through the whole car and it was in awfully nice shape. The ONLY reason I sold it was because I bought the 240Z in my avatar. I miss having a Z car to drive and look forward to getting the 240 on the road.

Anyway, this is only one car and one sales price but it might give you some idea what yours might be worth.

[Patrick]

This one is listed on cars.com for $9000(OBO).

BTW, it has chrome around the headlight "wells." Is that stock?

Anyway, I really appreciate the insight you've provided. It helps to come up with a fair price.

[MikeW]

BTW, it has chrome around the headlight "wells." Is that stock?

No. It sounds like you're referring to clear headlight covers which often had chrome trim.

[sblake01]

Since it's 29 years old and has been repainted, it's essentially just a black 1978 280Z. So much ado is made of the 'Special Edition' 280Zs (77 ZZzap, 78 BPE) but there is really nothing special about them other than the paint. Nothing as far as emblems, documentation, etc. to distinguish them from the other 280s except the color. Other than that, they have the same factory options that were available for any other 280Z. They're not like the 10th anniversary 280ZX which are easily distinguishable from the other 280ZX's. Please, no one mention the 84 50th anniversary 300ZX. They built more of those than Sentras:)

[ChrisA]

Sorry to bring this thread back to the front but.....

Saw this in the January 2007 Road and Track.

Direct scan from the magazine, page 138.

Asking price is a shocker.

FWIW,

Chris A.

[sblake01]

A BPE with the original stickers and equipment/alloy wheels would be worth more than the ones that have been repainted w/o the decals. But I agree that the price is too high. I wonder what the 1% is that's not original.

[MikeW]

I wonder what the 1% is that's not original.

Clutch, tires, battery, wipers? Is that 1% by weight, volume, price? To me it's just a made-up statistic. I wonder why the seller has it insured for less than the asking price.

[hls30.com]

Clutch, tires, battery, wipers? Is that 1% by weight, volume, price? To me it's just a made-up statistic. I wonder why the seller has it insured for less than the asking price.

Probably the value of the appraisal for his stated value insurance.

Will