Wow? 700 original miles [Merged thread]

[5thhorsemann]

What about the interior looks well used? The door chrome is good, seats are good, no wear on any vinyl, crack-free dash, seat belts are still in bags, etc. From the pictures it looks like it could be 700 miles. I'd like to see better pictures.

Chuck

Theres a "heel hole" under the gas peddal and the peddals themselves aren't as crisp as a 700 miler should have, Dosen't look like there are shoe scuffs on the tranny tunnel though. The seat pleats also look a bit flat, like it's seen some butt time. I don't think it got 100,700, but I dont think 700 either. Mine had less than 40K when I got her and my pedal rubber was in better shape. I think the guy got beat by the estate salesman, but it's hard to be sure in pic's.

[moonpup]

this post is a duplicate...................................

Wrong.... this one's got the other beat by about 8 hrs.

[cbuczesk]

Theres a "heel hole" under the gas peddal and the peddals themselves aren't as crisp as a 700 miler should have, Dosen't look like there are shoe scuffs on the tranny tunnel though. The seat pleats also look a bit flat, like it's seen some butt time. I don't think it got 100,700, but I dont think 700 either. Mine had less than 40K when I got her and my pedal rubber was in better shape. I think the guy got beat by the estate salesman, but it's hard to be sure in pic's.

I can't tell if the pedal rubber is worn or dirty/muddy. I decided to give the seller the benefit of the doubt. There is some heel wear. It looks like that has seen more than 700 miles but not 100700 miles. Maybe the seats have extra wear from people coming into the showroom and sitting in the car? We need somebody to check it out in person!

Chuck

[5thhorsemann]

Well, the bottom line is that $28K will buy you a hell of alot of car in todays economy, A HELL OF A LOT!! 700 original miles or not, that aint a hell of alot of car, I guess the seller doesn't want to clean the "pitina" off of the peddals. I've been helping a friend do a ground up build on a 50 lead sled, and finishing up his 55 Belair in exchange for a repaint of my Z car. This guy knows the market and you can buy full blown custom street rods for around that number. You would have to be a stone cold Z nut to pay that kind of cash for that car.

[k5ride]

It looks pretty clean but definetly not worth that kind of money. You can get a "Nissan" restoration for that.

[EhlersRS]

Sorry for the duplicate post guys. I'm not up to date with my Classic Z reading. Anyway, passing along what the owner posted on the Datsun Parts FB page. Hopefully this will clear things up:

I found and advertised this car. It is real, please feel free to contact me if you would like to see it. It came from the Delridge Datun in West Seattle, I settled the estate for the family of the dealership owner and there were 3 of his pe...rsonal cars in the 8 car garage of which 3 were Datsuns, one 510 with 54 miles on it, plastic still on the seat covers, a 1972 240z with 61k which I will be listing soon and the one I have advertised on CL with only 714 miles on it. The 2nd story of the garage was filled with NOS parts which I already sold but can put anyone interested in them in touch with the buyer. I am not a Datsun expert at all, so I will let the market decide what this car is worth, I have not found another car with comparable miles.

[Healey Z]

Painted, non original parts, 700 miles? Hmmmm. You would think to market a car like that, you would perhaps vacuum it, take it off the trailer and take some meaningful pictures.

[cbuczesk]

Painted, non original parts, 700 miles? Hmmmm. You would think to market a car like that, you would perhaps vacuum it, take it off the trailer and take some meaningful pictures.

The paint and non-original parts can be explained. Cars in showrooms get bumped and sometimes damaged from being moved. Parts are added to appeal to buyers or just to make the car look cool at the time. But that stuff does raise flags. I think it's on the trailer and dirty because the seller is looking for a quick sale. I've seen that done before.

Chuck

[esprist]

I am an expert on original/non original. National Auto Auction Examiner/Proffessional inspector.

As everyone mentioned, this car have far beyond over 700 miles. Take a look at how deeply bottom cushon is sank. If you only have 700 miles sitting outside in sun, it needs full restoration all the way.

Engine should be frozen by now.

[Carl Beck]

Hi Guys:

I ask the seller to send me more pictures showing more of the details of the car - which he was kind enough to do. The pictures he sent were fairly high resolution and after reviewing the pictures - I sent him the following response. Just my honest opinion. {I had to reduce the size of the image to post the picture of the engine here}

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Hi Jon:

Yes Thanks - I received the pictures. Great looking 510 by the way!! It appears you have some experience with the 240Z's as well. So I'm most likely not going to tell you anything you didn't already know.

Just my honest opinion based on pictures only - and not intended to bad mouth the car in any way.

Mileage is a very important thing - but it is only one thing. The value of 240Z's today is based on the condition of hundreds of things - every system, subsystem, component, part, bits and pieces.

From the over-all condition of the engine compartment is very rough. Over-spray and grim, what should be Shinny Yellow Cad plated parts - are now a dull gray or very dull silver. {Carb linkage, Air Injection Tubes, Fuel Rails, Brake Lines and all nuts/bolts etc} Everything would have to be restored.

The Yellow Cad parts after years and lots of thermo cycles, meaning lots of miles of use, turn dull gray. I have seen about six or seven cars that had less than 20K original miles - and the Yellow Cad parts on all of them were still quite presentable. Not bright and shinny as new - but still presenting their original Yellow Cad appearance. I would guess that the car had far more than 714 miles put on it before it was stored. Since all the original hoses are still in very good - although grimy - condition, meaning they aren't all frayed. I would guess that the engine has less than 50K miles - but still more than 20K. All this bases only on pictures of your Z and hundreds of other 240Z's I've looked closely at over the years.

It is a shame they did such a poor job on the re-spray. Nonetheless, it looks like it might be a very restorable 240Z. All the parts are there, the interior is in great shape, and would be a great car to refresh or fully restore. In todays market with the A/T ... it might find a buyer at something closer to $10K. Whoever buys it - will wind up putting at least a year and another $20K into restoring it.

good luck with the sale.

kind regards,

Carl

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FWIW,

Carl B.

[72 OJ]

You are a true diplomat

[Mike B]

I went and looked at this car this weekend and I would say its overall condition was worse than I expected. According to the ad, the paint had just been touched up, but it's had some bad body work done and a horrible entire exterior repaint (over spray, tape mask marks everywhere, paint chips, and some bubbling rust starting to develop in a couple of places). There must have been front end damage; the rad core has been repaired and is still not totally right, replacement hood (no decals on the back), damaged rad fan guard, etc. All the plating in the engine bay is gone, some replacement fasteners (all the cowl screws for example) and there is a ton of over spray on everything in the engine compartment. There is a lot of battery area rust, due to leaking battery acid. Other than braided hoses in pretty good condition, the engine bay doesn't look like a car with 700 miles. It's also missing the engine bay data plate, which has the engine number. Looking at the registration data for other cars with near-by VINs, the engine in this car (067107) seems slightly lower than I would expect for the VIN (HLS30-056209). The seller also mentioned the car may have been damaged during shipping and bought as salvage from Nissan, and the dealer kept it and had it repaired on the cheap, but apparently it doesn't have a salvage title. Now I am wondering if that is the original engine in the car, or if it was replaced. No way to tell for certain now without the data plate.

The rear panel looked like it had body repair also (non-factory welds and overspray on the tie-down hooks). The bumpers are scratched up with rust on the back sides. The car was apparently stored at a waterfront home most of the time and I wouldn't be surprised if it was kept outside at some point. The car has been undercoated, so most of the underside, including gas tank, suspension, wheel wells, etc is covered in black sprayed on undercoating. It did have all five of its original steel wheels and tires, and they looked in very good shape, which I was surprised to see. Not sure I have ever seen a car with all original tires, but who knows if they were actually on the car this whole time, it seems more likely they were just put back on.

The interior does look clean and the only flaws I noticed was a split in the right door panel and the faded rear shock tower vinyl. The rest of the red interior didn't seem to have faded noticeably. The upper seat belts (chest straps) were still in factory plastic with rubber bands, like my 72 was when I got it. The lower seat belts looked to be in very good shape with very nice tags. Only minor wear to the driver's seat side booster. I didn't try to start it or drive it around at all. Supposedly the family of the original owner (Datsun dealer) turned down an offer of 14K for it and there are a couple of higher offers pending.

Even if it does have 700 miles with the correct engine, you would have to do a complete restoration on the car (not much work to do to the interior at least), but then do you still really have an original 700 mile car? I don't think so.

Here are the text and pictures from the latest craigslist ad for posterity:

Price just reduced. Once in a lifetime opportunity to own such a low mile Z car. 1972 Datsun 240z with 714 original miles. White with a red interior, automatic. This car came from a West Seattle car dealer's estate and was stored inside the whole time. The brakes were just gone through and the car runs and drives. This car still has a new car smell. No rust and straight. The worst thing about this car is that the paint was touched up 30 plus years ago and not done very well. Perfect car for a collector. I can not find a comparable anywhere with this few miles. Call Jon @ 206-xxx-xxxx