CarBrandLogos archive · Datsun · 1969

Datsun240Z

The sports car that made European makers cut their prices and rethink their costs.

Photo: TTTNIS · CC0

The story

A defining chapter in Datsun history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Datsun 240Z, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Nissan had been selling small roadsters in America for a decade, and it knew exactly what the market's complaint was: European sports cars were desirable, expensive, and unreliable. Yutaka Katayama, running Nissan's US operation, pushed relentlessly for a car that would fix the third problem without giving up the first. The S30 was the answer.

Datsun260Z-2+2 · ElHeineken · CC BY 3.0

Design and engineering

Yoshihiko Matsuo's design gave it a long bonnet, a fastback tail and a hatchback — a shape often compared to the Jaguar E-type, though the detail work is its own. Underneath was a 2.4-litre single-overhead-cam straight-six mounted behind the front axle line, driving the rear wheels through a four- or five-speed manual, with MacPherson struts and independent suspension at both ends and disc brakes at the front. None of it was exotic. All of it was well made.

1971 Datsun 240-Z coupe - green - fvl · Paddyspig · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The price is what detonated the market. In the United States the 240Z cost a fraction of a Porsche 911 and undercut smaller, slower British sports cars, while offering more power, a proper heater, a radio and a car that started in winter. Demand outran supply almost immediately, dealers added premiums, and Nissan's American sales were transformed. Jaguar, Triumph and MG had no reply, and several of them were effectively finished by it.

1971 Datsun 240Z Series I · An unusual eye · Public domain

Legacy

Motorsport confirmed the durability. Datsun works cars won the East African Safari Rally outright in 1971 with Edgar Herrmann and again in 1973 with Shekhar Mehta, on an event designed to destroy cars, while in America Bob Sharp and Peter Brock's BRE team turned the Z into an SCCA championship winner.

Chapter 5

Katayama's role deserves its own note. Nissan's head office had wanted the American cars badged Fairlady, after the Japanese-market roadsters; Katayama had the badges removed from cars on the dock and replaced with the internal designation, which is why Americans know it as the 240Z and why he is still called Mr K by owners' clubs half a century later.

Chapter 6

The car grew heavier and softer as US emissions and bumper rules bit, becoming the 260Z and then the fuel-injected 280Z, before the S130 replaced it in 1978 with a more comfortable brief. Rust was its great enemy — the sills and floors of cars used through northern winters dissolved quickly, and survivors are far rarer than production figures suggest. Values of good early cars have since climbed to levels that would have astonished anyone who bought one new, restoration has become a substantial industry, and Nissan itself keeps returning to the shape: every subsequent Z, up to the current car, is measured against this one.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1969–1978

Designer

Yoshihiko Matsuo

Body

3-door hatchback coupé

Technical specification

The 240Z, in detail.

Production: 1969–1978
Class: Sports car
Body style: 3-door hatchback coupé ; 3-door hatchback 2+2 (car body style); 2+2 coupé
Layout: Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Designer: Yoshihiko Matsuo
Assembly: Japan: Hiratsuka, Kanagawa (Nissan Shatai Plant)
Manufacturer: Nissan