The Popular 280ZX

My favorite kind of car is the 280ZX by Nissan (originally Datsun). These are great two-seater sport/touring cars, low to the ground and reasonably fast, not to mention fun to drive.

They made the 280ZX from 1979 to 1983, so they are getting kind of hard to find now, but you can still occasionally find them on used cars lots and via private owners. However, it is easier to find these used cars in Arizona and other arid states. They were quite popular on the East Coast in the 1980s, my dad tells me, but because they are so susceptible to rust they just didn't last in the humidity and with the salt on the roads there.

I think part of my interest in these cars is that I've been around them all my life. My dad had a 240Z until I was about 6, when he gott his 280ZX. That car finally quit running when I was 15, just before I would have been able to learn to drive. I was so disappointed that I actually put off learning to drive until a couple of years later, when my dad had another sporty car with a manual transmission (I was determined to learn to drive a stick shift).

This video below is great because it shows a 280ZX from all angles. Too bad the driver is a reckless moron and his car is evidently not too well cared for (see the hood sticking up? and how many times he nearly clips the curb?). Not to say that I haven't spun my fair share of donuts in my Z cars, but sheesh! I usually spin them somewhere where I have a bit more room!