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

[Patcon]

I predicted six figure Z's a few years ago when we started to see $50-60k cars. I was told I was crazy. It actually happened faster than I predicted it would. Now $310k is hard for me to fathom but evidently I'm out of touch...

I've always wanted a low number car (sub 1000) and almost pulled the trigger a couple of times. I don't really want that anymore and am starting to lean towards 260's and 280's because I don't want to run errands in my $60k 240z. I would rather leave my $15k 260 in the parking lot unattended...

This all assumes I ever own a running Z again...

[siteunseen]

My 240's battery is dead. I drove the 280 to work a couple of times this month.

Like Lamont told Fred, you are porcelian, I am China.

 

[Captain Obvious]

There was a comment after the auction ended by soquelz, who says "I guess when you get to this level of bidding you want no questions about authenticity." And that about sums it up for me too. If I'm going to pay a lot of money for a car who's "value" lies in it's low mileage and it's originality, I don't want it to come with piles of questions about either of those two things.

It's a beautiful car. I'd love to own it. But it's priced way out of my range. And it's important to understand the REASON for such a high price. The REASON for the high price isn't simply because it's beautiful. It's because it's supposed to be a 31K mile car that is all original. If it wasn't being sold as a 31K mile car, or being held up as that beacon of originality, it would most likely not command such a price. Much of the VALUE is in the low mileage and the originality.

It seems to me that when there are credible questions about the mileage and the originality, the value cannot be supported.

I expect this car will be back sometime in the not too distant future. With the "period correct" carbs and plated hardware and "period correct" wheel covers and no overspray and the seats on the correct sides and, and, and, and........ And, a better, more conclusive story.

And if we see it again, I hope it's presented as "Stock", but not "Original". For example... In order for it to be "ORIGINAL", they would have to find the ORIGINAL carbs. And the ORIGINAL wheel covers, etc. I hope they don't try to convince anyone that they magically and mysteriously found the original carbs and wheel covers and put them back on the car.

After all the claims of complete originality of the car as it stands today, I would be skeptical of the legitimacy that story.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Captain Obvious
Added some detail about seeing the car again in the future

[Zed Head]

Six minutes!  A different 1970 240Z!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-datsun-240z-63/?utm_source=dm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-10-21

[Zed Head]

This one ended like they thought the other one would.  But the end result is the same.  People have high opinions on the value of their 240Z's.  

[DC871F]

9 minutes ago, Zed Head said:

This one ended like they thought the other one would.  But the end result is the same.  People have high opinions on the value of their 240Z's.  

Comes with original rust bubbles as well. 

[Captain Obvious]

Hmmmmmm.... So how accurate are paint thickness meters?

Here's a couple spots from red one that is supposedly original paint:

And here's a couple spots from the white one that was repainted:

What do the paint experts make of this?

[CanTechZ]

Not a paint expert but when you convert the white paint readings from metric to imperial you get 9.8 mil, 7.9 mil, 5.9 mil respectively. If the repaint had a heavy primer plus top coat over the original paint you might get those kind of readings. 

[Zed Head]

What's funny is that in the 70's I think that they still had a guy with a spray gun painting parts as they came down the assembly line.  I think they even masked off and repainted parts if there was a ding from a clumsy assembler.  Probably tons of variation in these old cars.  Today it's all robotics and dip tanks.  Paint thickness readings seem like a strange new criterion for originality.  What if they measure a rust spot before it bubbles?

[Captain Obvious]

Wait... The red car has an average reading around 22 mil which is .022 inches, right?  This works out to about 0.56 mm.

While the white car has an average reading of around 0.20 mm.

That means the red car has almost three times as thick a coating as the white one?

I must be doing a math error in there somewhere... Am I missing a decimal point or something?

[Zed Head]

Quality and/or calibration?  Method?  Training?

https://www.measurementshop.co.uk/blog/guides/all-you-need-to-know-about-thickness-gauges

Or the red car has a second coat of paint?

We need microscopy on a paint chip cross section.

 

[CanTechZ]

30 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Wait... The red car has an average reading around 22 mil which is .022 inches, right?  This works out to about 0.56 mm.

While the white car has an average reading of around 0.20 mm.

That means the red car has almost three times as thick a coating as the white one?

I must be doing a math error in there somewhere... Am I missing a decimal point or something?

Nothing wrong with your math. I thought the red car readings were 2.2 Mil average. I didn't zoom in, 22 Mil sounds to heavy.