Respect the classics man!

[outlaw]

hey guys it's outlaw again and in the seach for my Z i've been catching static from the guys in the shop saying i'm looking for a fairy tale that they are hard to find and harder to find parts for... most guys in the shop are either into high octane muscle cars pushing 600hp or rednecks with lifted deisels and finally the "tuners" or honda guys (don't have the money for what the want) which i hang with and the guys who dig muscle and trucks support my choice but my question for you is why is it that most in the japanese trend must have the latest and newest thing if it is so much as 5 years old they think it's not road worthy and should be scraped... i've seen many old japanese cars that not only are fast but also demand respect our Z's are proof as it is or things like FC rx7 or the ae86 or s13 many are coming into the "classic realm" the greatest is not always the latest in my mind i'm asking your thoughts how do we teach my generation to respect those that came before us

[adamr]

Educate the youth;). The Z deserves respect for many reasons. Here are a few:

1. For the money, there was nothing that could touch it; it outperformed many cars that cost much more.

2. It was the first really good looking, performance oriented Japanese sports car. It started it all. Without the Z, there would be no RX-7, Celica, Supra, Civic Si, Prelude, Mitsubishi Eclipse, WRX, etc.

3. The 240Z basically put an end to the European sports car market in the 70s. Better looks, performance, reliability, and more technology for less money.

3. Its design is timeless.

4. The Z will capture the heart of its owner in little to no time. It is a driver's car.

There are many cars to fall in love with. A case can be made for each.

For now, all I can say is that I love Zs:love:, and always will.

The rest of the members can add to this incomplete "respect" list.

[=Enigma=]

Don't let the haters spook you out of doing what you want. There are still plenty of Zs and plenty of replacement parts or alternatives to keep the Z alive for some time to come. In fact, I believe there are more Zs out there than popular american muscle cars and their popularity is only increasing. Based on that I expect that more vendors will enter the space as time goes on and start making parts to replace those that are that are NLA. Perhaps that just wishful thinking on my part, but not being a complete purist, I don't see that as much of a roadblock anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that chopping up the Z to the point of changing is character is sacrilege, and my opinion is that if you preserve the original character and styling, enhancing it only enough to make it more road worthy, add some performance and increase its longevity then you've done nothing wrong. Again, that is my opinion, Keep in mind that I bought a 73 rather than a 70 because I intended to make some changes and thought I'd leave the early cars for the true purists, even if that meant I didn't get the 240Z C pillar emblem that has always piqued my interest.

Edited December 20, 2009 by =Enigma=

[EScanlon]

WHERE you search for the car is probably the most significant factor in your search.

Minnesota, 10k lake country with it's extensive winter season and (I presume) also extensive use of road salt... is probably not going to be the best place to search. Kind of like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois etc... also known as the RUST belt. (And I've omitted some states.)

The steel in these cars wasn't:

a) rust-proofed sufficiently from the factory;

properly rust-proofed at the dealer upon delivery (My wife owned an 84 Sunbird that was Ziebarted the day it was bought showing rust 5 years later. Other examples abound.)

c) thick enough to withstand a lot of salt exposure and the subsequent rust.

So start searching elsewhere, be prepared to drive or have it shipped to you.

Your best bet is to search in the SouthWest (Arizona, New Mexico, Western Texas, Eastern California, Southern Nevada) and expect to have to buy a new interior. Where their climate helps keep the STEEL rust-free, the heat and sun literally turns plastic and vinyl to dust.

The NorthWest is also good, in that it is quite possible to find a vehicle with little to no rust and with a good interior, but it's going to be a word of mouth type sale as opposed to a publicly announced one. Not that it doesn't happen, but rather that the vehicles you find on Craig's list, e-Bay or Auto Trader will have their share of issues.

SouthEast? I'll let those members chime in. AFAIK, there are some excellent examples out there, but further I couldn't say. I think between Carl Beck and Jim Frederick they've probably stashed / found all the plums and Will is working his way up to their level.

NorthEast... that's the suburbs of the RUST belt. What rust they don't generate, moves there from the Midwest portion of the Rust Belt. I think a "classic" in that part of the country is both "Low-Mileage" and under 5 years old.

There ARE exceptions, but as a broad generalization, it's a brief synopsis of what you'll find.

The most important piece of advice is that you should buy the BEST CONDITION and MOST COMPLETE vehicle you can afford. Leave your emotions at home, they'll only cause you to buy a project because you can't stand the thought of seeing it go to the crusher.

FWIW

E