Hi all. After seeing these views of my ‘73 240Z during Motorman7’s restoration of my ‘73 240Z, I decided to take a couple of years to show the car at Z events and some concours events before returning it to Daily Driver status and getting it dirty. 😄  We (Motorman7 and I) took it to 2019 ZCON Branson (2^nd place to Zup in the stock category) and 2019 JCCS in Long Beach.

After I brought it back home to N. California, I drove it to a Concours event outside Sacramento, where I was the only Japanese car there. There was a lot of interest in my Z from a lot of folks, but also a lot of ignorance about Datsuns from the bulk of the spectators. So I want to develop a poster about the impact of the Datsun 240Z for future concours shows.

So I’m looking for recommendations for bullet points for a poster. My initial thoughts:

 

• Heading: The Legendary (maybe Iconic?) Datsun 240Z

 

• Launched in 1969 (1970 model year in the US)
  •  

• 1970 Base Price $3,526
  • Single Overhead Cam, 6 cylinder, 150 HP engine
  • 4 wheel independent suspension
  • Fastback design similar to Ferrari 275 GTB "Daytona"
  • Superior performance but half the cost of a Porsche 911T (and FAR BETTER LOOKING!)
  • Similar Performance to the $8,000 Porsche 911S (and still FAR BETTER LOOKING!)
  •  
• Instant Sales Success
  • 150,000 sold in the US from 1970 through 1973
  • Months long wait lists to buy throughout production from 1970 to 1973 (I waited 4 months in 1973 to buy mine)
  •  
• Widely Acclaimed by auto magazines:
  • Road and Track, April 1970: “The basic list price of the 240Z is $3526 and at this price it is a super-bargain, with a combination of styling, performance and handling far ahead of anything else under $4000
  • Car and Driver, June 1970: “The difference between the Datsun 240Z and your everyday three-and-a-half thousand dollar sports car is that about twice as much thinking went into the Datsun. It shows. For the money the 240Z is an almost brilliant car.“
  •  

• Impact of of the Datsun 240Z

  • Haggerty, January 2020: “The 240Z was an instant classic when it debuted in 1970. It was loved by the automotive press for being a modern, inexpensive sports car with impressive performance and was largely responsible for changing public perception of Japanese automakers." 

  • Haggerty,: "Dealers couldn’t keep 240Zs in showrooms. Demand was so high that the Kelly Blue Book value for a used 240Z was $500 over MSRP only one year after its release."

  • Forbes 2020: “it was as if Datsun had launched the Sony Walkman of the car world or the Nintendo Gameboy of the gaming field. By 1973, the 240Z had sold around 150,000 units in the U.S., making it the most successful Japanese sports car ever, until the Mazda MX-5 arrived in 1989. 

  • ???? (looking for other referenced impact statements) 

• Racing Success  (looking for more info here as I am not a racing guru)

  • Winner of the SCCA “C” Production Championship 10 consecutive years 1970 to 1979

    (show photo of Paul Newman 1979 race car here?)

  • East Africa Safari Rally winner 1971 and 1973 (photo of the winning 240Z here?)

  • 3^rd place 2019 Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, Vintage / Classic group (may not use this as a 911 came in 2^nd)

 

What would the knowledgeable posters here change or add to show the impact of the Datsun 240Z and its successors? (I am especially interested in facts that would irritate Porsche people…:-)

 

Edited February 24, 20214 yr by jayhawk

That is a beautiful car and you are deservedly proud of it. What you are attempting to communicate is laudable but likely impractical from a car show perspective. I have a 18" X 24" showboard that I cart around to car shows, propped up nicely on a good quality easel. This is my third pass at a workable showboard after learning that 1. less is more; 2. clarity is critical; 3. it must be readable from 3-4' away.

The amount of info you are considering will require multiple boards to contain. Experience has shown me that anything that requires more than a couple of minutes to read will not get read. 99% of car show visitors do not have the patience to cover large amount of detail; you may encounter that one individual prepared to occupy you for an hour or more.

You'll always find people that don't understand or appreciate the marque and probably never will. Focus on presenting YOUR car as effectively and succinctly as possible.

ZCoT Showboard - Jim Arnett 3 PDF.pdf

I made a couple of faux 70's style posters for a friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 20214 yr by 240260280

58 minutes ago, jfa.series1 said:

 2.66 MB · 2 downloads

Jim, thank you for your excellent advice and experience.  I have been experimenting with a more personal storyboard that is heavy on pictures and light on text.  It probably needs a little more simplification.  What I really needs is a Gold Medallion award (for stock) from ZCON like your Gold Cup!   (and maybe a couple of 1st place awards for anything.) I do have a 2nd place trophy from 2019 ZCON Branson is nice, but 2nd place on a storyboard just does not cut it...)  I will exhibit the cool trophy, but hope nobody looks too close to the wording.  😄

 

13 hours ago, jayhawk said:

(I am especially interested in facts that would irritate Porsche people…:-)

A good priority 👍

You can easily pick on the Merc crowd... yes are I6 are circumstantially traceable to the M180 engine:

https://germancarforum.com/threads/datsun-240z-lineage-points-to-m180-engine.58222/

 

https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/59140-guess-what-these-are-and-from-what-engine/#comments

 

Check out the poster on the wall in the background.  Someone needs to do one of these with a series 1 car!

 

 

Edited April 1, 20214 yr by astrohog