Used Car of the Day: 1975 Datsun 280Z

by Tim Healey

Published: August 1st, 2023

Today's UCOTD takes us back to the 1970s, as this 52,000-mile 1975 Datsun 280Z, which comes to us from Pennsylvania, is on sale for $25,000.

The seller says this car is in good condition and has been covered and garaged its entire life. It apparently has all the original parts except for the shift knob and boot -- and the seller still has those parts.

All the fluids except for the coolant were changed and the car has never been driven in the winter.

There's no rust, although the fuel tank had some corrosion -- that has apparently been fixed. All the gauges work, except for the fuel gauge. The low-fuel light does work, however.

The seller is getting rid of this Z since he or she can no longer drive a stick. Oh, and the tires are new.

Check it out here.

[Images: Seller]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#Datsun #Datsun280Z #UsedCars #UCOTD #UsedCaroftheDay

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 17 comments

Marty S on Aug 02, 2023

Nice exterior and interior colors. I owned a 77 Z two seater purchased new. The lines of the 2 seater were certainly nicer but I remember the 2 + 2 being a nice car. Could not keep my car because of rust and eventual electrical problems, but loved it for sure. I always thought the styling was fantastic and looked like a Maserati Ghibli of the period.

1 Reply
Marty S on Aug 02, 2023

By the way, I think the 77 and 78 280 Z's were the best of the first generation as they had electronic fuel injection and cool looking louvers on the hood.

1 Reply

Recent Comments

Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.
Wjtinfwb Not proud of what Stellantis is rolling out?
Wjtinfwb Absolutely. But not incredibly high-tech, AWD, mega performance sedans with amazing styling and outrageous price tags. GM needs a new Impala and LeSabre. 6 passenger, comfortable, conservative, dead nuts reliable and inexpensive enough for a family guy making 70k a year or less to be able to afford. Ford should bring back the Fusion, modernized, maybe a bit bigger and give us that Hybrid option again. An updated Taurus, harkening back to the Gen 1 and updated version that easily hold 6, offer a huge trunk, elevated handling and ride and modest power that offers great fuel economy. Like the GM have a version that a working mom can afford. The last decade car makers have focused on building cars that American's want, but eliminated what they need. When a Ford Escape of Chevy Blazer can be optioned up to 50k, you've lost the plot.
Willie If both nations were actually free market economies I would be totally opposed. The US is closer to being one, but China does a lot to prop up the sectors they want to dominate allowing them to sell WAY below cost, functionally dumping their goods in our market to destroy competition. I have seen this in my area recently with shrimp farmed by Chinese comglomerates being sold super cheap to push local producers (who have to live at US prices and obey US laws) out of business.China also has VERY lax safety and environmental laws which reduce costs greatly. It isn't an equal playing field, they don't play fair.
Willie ~300,000 Camrys and ~200,000 Accords say there is still a market. My wife has a Camry and we have no desire for a payment on something that has worse fuel economy.