31K Miles Series I 240Z Up for Auction on BaT - Over $100k on First Day!

[lonetreesteve]

This award winning car is registered as a 1971 240Z; however, it's VIN is HLS30-08540, built in 8/70, making it a 1970 model year car. 

Here's the link: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-datsun-240z-160/

[ZCarFever]

I’m guessing It will go over 300,000$

[lonetreesteve]

1 hour ago, ZCarFever said:

I’m guessing It will go over 300,000$

You never know. It will be interesting to see what this beauty sells for! 

[7tooZ]

I wonder if there are cars trading outside of BAT in these price ranges ($100K +) or is it a small group of high end collectors bidding up each other’s cars. Do anyone of you know of recent sales outside of BAT close to these prices?

[grannyknot]

Oh how I wish I had never sold my March/70 240Z now. 

The car has only been up for one day and already the BaT egos are in full swing.  Beautiful car, love the original paint.

[Captain Obvious]

Are we sure that is original paint?

[SteveJ]

56 minutes ago, 7tooZ said:

I wonder if there are cars trading outside of BAT in these price ranges ($100K +) or is it a small group of high end collectors bidding up each other’s cars. Do anyone of you know of recent sales outside of BAT close to these prices?

Both, but I think they are different groups. I'm not sure how high the private trades are going, though.

[26th-Z]

Boy, it sure is in rough shape for only 31,000 miles.

[DC871F]

I'm in my 40's, and had my first Z Car when I was 16, and then many other Z's followed including about 4-5 240z's. With that said, I'm not really pleased with whats happening to these cars. I also have had many Oval window Beetles and still have one, and the same thing is happening with those cars as well. Zero reason for a 1957 Beetle to sell for $50,000.

I cant see why these cars are becoming unhinged with value. I still drive these cars everyday, go to the store, take trips, leave them in hotel parking lots, etc. I not sure you will be able to do this if this kind of thing continues. Can you insure one of these for 6 figures? You would probably get laughed at by the insurance agent.

Other than the early VIN cars, these cars are not rare by any stretch of the imagination. So why the hubub?

Edited October 11, 2020 by DC871F

[Captain Obvious]

9 hours ago, 26th-Z said:

Boy, it sure is in rough shape for only 31,000 miles.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm wondering if everyone is in agreement that it's original paint. It's certainly a beautiful car and I'm no expert on what should/could be painted, but I see stuff that makes me wonder.

[motorman7]

13 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Are we sure that is original paint?

I'm a bit skeptical on original paint due to the texture of the orange peel.  Seems to be too many lumps /divots per square foot.  The paint texture appears to be much different that the $300K car or my original paint '70.  Also wonder why the heater is bypassed...leaky core?  This car is no where near the $300K car which in my opinion is the best looking Z I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of Z shows.

I actually saw this car several years ago at the San Marino motor show.  My thoughts were that it would just take a few fixes to make it a really awesome car.  Just wonder why it was never done, still not done.

[Captain Obvious]

Well I got no dog in this fight, but I really don't think that's original paint. There's just too many flags all over the place. In the auction, they never say it has original paint. They do, however, say the following:

"The seller reports that a scratch on the right fender and paint chips on the right door were blended in. More than 45 paint-meter readings provided in the photo gallery below show thicker measurements in the aforementioned areas."

So what does that mean exactly? To me, that means "We took paint thickness measurements from all over the car and everything looks about the same thickness with the exception of the right side door and fender. Seller reports that those areas were sprayed to fix some issues."

I don't think that means the rest of the car is original... All that means is that the rest of the car is CONSISTENT.  Like maybe the whole car was sprayed at least once some time in the past, but then the right side was done again? Makes me wonder what the paint thickness would be on a confirmed original paint survivor. Would it be half the thickness they got all over that car?

I saw the heater core looped too and I'm guessing the heater core is leaky.