1st time poster with a questions

[Vintagecarman]

Hello, fellow Z lovers

My 1st car was a 1981 280zx and I feel in love. My next car was a real find; i a 1976 280z with 60k original miles and a one owner. BtW: that was in 1991 and I paid $600.00.

Since then I have owned a 1984 a 1990 TT and most recently a picked up a one Owner 1981 with 128K for $750.00. No rust or accidents and it had always well maintained. I was planning on restoring it back to new however; I prefer the early 240's and the early 280 body style so I just sold it in hopes of finding a 71.

Here is my question. I live in Sacramento and buy and sell later model imports for a living. I am constantly finding clean rust free Z's dirt cheap. Are Z's readily available else where in the country and is there a demand that I can fill on the east coast.

I'm looking forward to discussing this topic and meeting fellow enthusiasts.

Cheers

Aurelius

Bottom of Form

[SteveJ]

"Rust free" certainly has a different meaning on the East Coast. California, Arizona, Nevada, and some parts of Texas tend to be where the best S30 bodies can be found.

There could possibly be demand on the East Coast. Your challenges will be to

1. Describe the cars in such a way that they will be attractive to those buyers, yet accurate in such a way that the buyers don't accuse you of misrepresenting the car. (Good luck!)

2. Transportation.

3. Reputation. We don't know you from Adam. You might try partnering with someone with a Z car reputation.

4. IMHO There are a lot of cheap bastards in the Z car world. Not many of us are looking for that car with only 12,000 true miles on the clock. The Z car lacks the collectability of German/British/Italian sports cars or American muscle cars.

So, how much time and money are you willing to invest, and how much money do you hope to make off of it?

[Vintagecarman]

"Rust free" certainly has a different meaning on the East Coast. California, Arizona, Nevada, and some parts of Texas tend to be where the best S30 bodies can be found.

There could possibly be demand on the East Coast. Your challenges will be to

1. Describe the cars in such a way that they will be attractive to those buyers, yet accurate in such a way that the buyers don't accuse you of misrepresenting the car. (Good luck!)

2. Transportation.

3. Reputation. We don't know you from Adam. You might try partnering with someone with a Z car reputation.

4. IMHO There are a lot of cheap bastards in the Z car world. Not many of us are looking for that car with only 12,000 true miles on the clock. The Z car lacks the collectability of German/British/Italian sports cars or American muscle cars.

So, how much time and money are you willing to invest, and how much money do you hope to make off of it?

Hi Steve,

Thank you for you input, much appreciated. I agree with your views and have not yet decided how much time, money or effort I am willing to invest. Being a Z fan I could not help but to wonder if prices are this cheap across the country. I did not realize that Craigslist is as popular in other states as it is here in California. I'm going to start exploring other states listing to compare prices and condition.

I also agree the collect ability of German, British, Italian sports cars and especially American muscle are in greater demand but I just can not understand why there is not a high demand for the rarest of the Z's?

I sold Muscle cars from 1999 until 2004. I shipped clean rust free #2, #3, #4, cars to the East, Mid West and South. Unfortunately it has become a rich man's sport and the all the decent West coast cars have been plundered, except for the Z cars.

[SteveJ]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for you input, much appreciated. I agree with your views and have not yet decided how much time, money or effort I am willing to invest. Being a Z fan I could not help but to wonder if prices are this cheap across the country. I did not realize that Craigslist is as popular in other states as it is here in California. I'm going to start exploring other states listing to compare prices and condition.

I also agree the collect ability of German, British, Italian sports cars and especially American muscle are in greater demand but I just can not understand why there is not a high demand for the rarest of the Z's?

I sold Muscle cars from 1999 until 2004. I shipped clean rust free #2, #3, #4, cars to the East, Mid West and South. Unfortunately it has become a rich man's sport and the all the decent West coast cars have been plundered, except for the Z cars.

Prices certainly go up as you go in a diagonal from the Southwest to the Northeast.

I believe that you won't find a definitive reason for the lack of demand. The reasons include:

1. A lack of general public knowledge of the Z cars.

2. A lack of respect for Japanese cars. (Let's face it, there wasn't much market inertia for Japanese cars until the 80s.)

3. There is a lack of knowledge/agreement on what constitutes a "rare" Z car. (Look through the posts here on the person who found an ad touting a Z car for sale with the "rare" twin carburetor.) There are some people who feel that Series 1 and Series 2 aren't accurate descriptions of early Z cars, while

others swear by it. IMHO "rare" is a rather subjective term when applied to Z cars.

Are you aware of Nissan's 240Z refurbishment program from 10 years ago? They bought a bunch of 70-72 cars and had a couple of the best Z shops on the West Coast refurbish them with NOS parts and good reproduction parts. Nissan sold these cars through the dealership with a 12/12,000 warranty. Sales were a fraction of the plan, despite the dealerships selling the cars at a loss for Nissan.

People may tell you the market is there, but I am skeptical until you see them start to plunk down some cash to back up their words. However, I would love to have someone prove me wrong.

[Vintagecarman]

Prices certainly go up as you go in a diagonal from the Southwest to the Northeast.

I believe that you won't find a definitive reason for the lack of demand. The reasons include:

1. A lack of general public knowledge of the Z cars.

2. A lack of respect for Japanese cars. (Let's face it, there wasn't much market inertia for Japanese cars until the 80s.)

3. There is a lack of knowledge/agreement on what constitutes a "rare" Z car. (Look through the posts here on the person who found an ad touting a Z car for sale with the "rare" twin carburetor.) There are some people who feel that Series 1 and Series 2 aren't accurate descriptions of early Z cars, while

others swear by it. IMHO "rare" is a rather subjective term when applied to Z cars.

Are you aware of Nissan's 240Z refurbishment program from 10 years ago? They bought a bunch of 70-72 cars and had a couple of the best Z shops on the West Coast refurbish them with NOS parts and good reproduction parts. Nissan sold these cars through the dealership with a 12/12,000 warranty. Sales were a fraction of the plan, despite the dealerships selling the cars at a loss for Nissan.

People may tell you the market is there, but I am skeptical until you see them start to plunk down some cash to back up their words. However, I would love to have someone prove me wrong.

What I would consider rare would be any early 70's Z that are in close or original condition that have not been molested has not been wrecked and are rust free for

A few thousand dollars.

I m aware of the refurbishment program and I had my doubts in regards to the validity due to the fact that only a small amount of the U.S. population are aware of what gem’s the Z cars are.

Before I enter into this project and invest any time effort or money I wanted to explore the idea with people who would have the best input and recommendations.

Once again, there is an abundance of Z’s cars that are rust free and dirt cheap. All the mainstream collectible cars are gone due to the demand of the east coast and mid west. About the only line of cars that I can see are the Z’s. There are also a multitude of 50’s and 60’s that need restoration.