Check out this "71 240Z"

[DougN]

Came upon the below auction, and since it is not too far away, looked a little closer. Something seemed a bit odd about the car, what do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300275847579&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:MOTORS:1123

Listed as a '71 240Z with HLS30 29519, yet something seems a bit odd. I emailed the seller and asked about the discrepancies and was basically told to F-off:

(photos provided for posterity):

[IBZINYA]

Not sure I see the "discrepencies" that you are seeing. It looks as though the car is complete and the production tag does not appear to have been tampered with. The current price is in my opinion not a bad purchase as well... $2100.00 will not buy you much more car than that these days. I think he's probably being honest with what he has and could make for a good Z to a new home.

[Jeff G 78]

The pics are fuzzy, but doesn't it have a whole lot of 280Z parts on it? The dash, console, door panels, hood, hatch, tail light panel, etc. are from a 280. I can't see the front turn signals in any of the pics, but they might be from a 280 as well. Also, unless the camera is playing tricks, there is something going on with the stripes. They look very crooked from the back.

The engine bay VIN and inspection lamps are located in 240Z position, but it looks like there are 280 parts there as well. Did the '71 have a vacuum canister there? What about the radiator support to fender ducts? Are they on the '71s?

[Arne]

Looks like a 260Z with the door tag from a '71 240Z to me. I'd want to see the other VIN locations prior to bidding. Could be a nightmare to title or register outside of Georgia. In Oregon, for example, to title a car from out of state, the car must be inspected by the DMV in person and all known VIN locations must match. I suspect other states may be similar.

[Jeff G 78]

Ahh yes, I didn't think about the 260. That makes sense Arne.

[mgood]

Look where the door closure is, the type, It look like mine and I have a 280. Also the dash looks like a 280. Looks like 2 pictures are not from the same time period, the car in the garage from 11/01/2007 and the Vin tag from 11/24/08 all the others are from 11/22/08. Why the different picture times.

[DougN]

Looks like someone bought this '71 280Z I thought the same thing, and either a) someone took the VIN tags from a '71 240Z and stuck them on this 280Z, or someone stuck a whole bunch of 280Z parts on this '71 240Z shell. Most likely (a) in my opinion. I did ask the seller for a photo of the etched serial number on the firewall (I believe 280Z's have this as well?) to see if it matched the VIN tags. He ignored the request.

I'm not an attorney, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but it would seem that selling the car if it is (a) is illegal?

[mars23z]

I agree that car looks like a 260z, but im not an expert. Those bumpers and the tail lights just look more like those from a 260z. Could it be a later year 240 like a 73?

[Jeff G 78]

After doing a little surfing on Cardomain, I agree with Arne. The '71 240Z is actually an early '74 260Z. Everything I originally thought looked like 280Z parts are really 260Z parts. The inspection lamp, VIN tag, vacuum reservoir, radiator, dash, door panels, tail lights, etc. all fit 260Z designs. I would say that there was some VIN swapping going on. I wonder what he did about the stamped firewall VIN?

Here is a random 260Z I found on cardomain. Look at the picks and compare them to the "240Z on Ebay" http://www.cardomain.com/ride/1932829

[MikeW]

Those bumpers and the tail lights just look more like those from a 260z. Could it be a later year 240 like a 73?

Only if the tail lights were swapped from a later car. All 240z's have the integrated white backup lights. All US 260 and 280z's have the separate white backup light closer to the license plate. Swapping out the rear panel is a whole lot more work than swapping the VIN tag which is what I suspect happened here.

[blue 72]

Problem is that someone will buy it not knowing much about Z's only to later find out that the previous owner was creative and happened to own a rivet gun.

[BRE-240Z]

I emailed the seller, last week, right after the auction was first posted -- and told him that I thought that the car was a 260Z. I asked him if the VIN that's stamped on the firewall matched the door plate, and was told that the seller was 'not an expert' and that he apparently wasn't interested in identifying it further.

My guess....it's an early 260Z with VIN plates from a 240Z.