(ambient music)
- [Voiceover] In Japan, it's known as the Fairlady.
The rest of the world knows it as the Samurai.
But one thing's for certain, whatever you call it,
the 240 Z is a fantastic package.
150 brake horsepower, naught to 60 in eight seconds,
the 2393CC Straight Six is one
of the sweetest you'll ever find, and here's the thing.
This is a reliable super car.
It's a car you can use every single day.
And that's why the 240Z is absolutely brilliant.
So obviously you want to buy one, and who wouldn't?
In the last ten years, values have gone through the roof.
And that's why we're here today,
at Bicester Heritage in England.
There's good news and there's bad news.
The good news is, because Datsun
made 150,000 of them and more,
there's plenty of spare parts around, plenty of specialists,
there's second hand parts as well.
All the mechanical bits are sorted,
there are even panels as well.
Unfortunately, the bad news is like
any Japanese car of this era, the 240Z rusts.
So let's start with the bodywork.
So like any car built in Japan at this time,
rust is the big enemy.
You need to do some specific checks on the 240Z.
Along the front lip of the bonnet,
that's a water trap, rust collects there.
Check inside the bumper, because
they rust from the inside out.
Follow yourself around the wheel arches,
do all the normal checks that you would normally do
on any car of this age.
The sills, get down and low and feel.
If you've got a magnet with you, that could be quite useful.
Slip it in a sock, put it against the body work
and run it along, you might be able
to find some filler there, be wary of that.
All the way along to the dog leg of the back,
the dog leg is a notorious rust spot.
Check carefully for patch repairs here
and also carefully for any patch repairs,
it's extremely difficult to replace anything here.
With any great skill, it's very expensive
and these cars, 15 years ago they were worth nothing,
so you've got to check for budges
because back in the day, that's what would've happened;
they'd have been patched up and thrown together.
So look carefully for patches, look carefully for
thick under seal or new under seal that
might be hiding some kind of horror.
Because if there is something wrong here,
you'll have to redo it, it'll be a restoration project
and that will cost you money.
Okay, now's the time to go inside.
If you can, lift the carpets and what's underneath them
because that's where you should find some more rust
if it hasn't been looked after properly.
If there's anything that leaks in this vehicle,
the water will go down, it won't escape, it'll
just sit there until it starts rusting through.
Check out where the floorpans meet the seals,
check out where the floorpan meets the bulkhead
and also behind the driver and passenger seats as well.
Gonna go under the bonnet now.
Opens in the middle, a bit like a Jag.
Now, you might notice this is a bit of a modified engine.
But we'll come on to that later.
Very, very important.
When you're inside the engine bay to check the inner wings,
strut tops is really, really, a notorious rust point.
Check them from underneath if you can,
but you might need to take the wheels off for that.
The biggest killer of 240Z's is
where the chassis rails meet the bulkhead.
Check very carefully there for rust obviously,
and also for botched patch repairs.
If there is under seal, maybe even
dig into it to have a look.
But with the seller's permission, obviously.
When you're buying, it's worth having
a really good scout around the engine bay.
Like you would with any car, check for obvious signs
of leakages, check for frayed electrics and wiring,
check for all sorts, those all sorts of things
that you normally would.
So let's have a look underneath the oil cap.
What you're looking for here is mayonnaise,
where oil and water has mixed to congeal,
that's a sign of a head gasket failure.
Do the same with the radiator cap,
check inside there to see if there's
any oil in the water, similar things,
all of these things could be negotiating points.
Remember, if there is some mayonnaise
underneath the oil cap, it doesn't necessarily mean
there's been a head gasket failure,
it might just be that the car's been left for a while
and there's condensation underneath rocker cover.
The 240Z has got some fantastic little tricks up its sleeve.
These lovely inspection hatchets, they're just gorgeous.
There's one on the other side there so you can
inspect underneath the battery tray as well.
In all though, it's a great looking engine bay.
Everything you can get at as well,
so it's really easy to service at home.
And servicing at home is made even easier by
the nifty little torch, this one works.
If the one that you're buying works,
it's obviously the sign of a car
that's been well looked after.
It's a great little toy.
Okay, the interior of a 240Z is
a vision in black, vinyl and plastic.
It's like the definition of the 1970's.
Deep dials, you've got these fantastic vents in the seats,
beautiful sculpted steering wheel.
But, it's not particularly strong as well.
You've got to be careful to look for
splits in the dashboard, that's a classic sign
of a car that's been keep in a hot, dry state.
You've got to look as well to see
if the dashboard has been replaced.
A good way of doing that is to
check in the speedo here.
If it starts at 20 miles per hour,
then that's an original speedometer.
If the oil pressure gauge goes up
to 140 pounds per square inch, then
you know you've got an original pressure gauge.
It's not necessarily a problem but it could be
something you want to negotiate on.
Everywhere look for wear and tear,
and if there is wear and tear, don't worry
because it can all be remade and there are
plenty of second hand parts around.
But they're good negotiating points.
There's always another thing to look at as well.
If you check round the back of the seats here,
lift up the carpets just here, both sides,
and on one side you should find
an original jack in this hatch.
On the other side, the original toolkit.
Now if they're both there, that's really nice
because it means the car's been looked after
and you won't have to go and find them yourself.
Also, check things like the original
luggage straps are there, again, lovely touch.
Means it's a well-presented car.
Now, (whispers) let's start the engine.
The first thing you notice when you sit in the 240
is how brilliantly spacious it is.
You will be fine if you're a six-footer.
You'll also be fine in terms of the
amount of space that you have for
your luggage, for yourself, everything falls to hand nicely.
It's been well thought out, it's a great car for that.
But once you're in of course, you gotta do the duty
and that is to turn the engine on.
Now before I start this engine, I'm gonna tell you,
this is a hot engine, okay?
It's gonna sound really cammy and really loud.
A normal 240Z will be a lot quieter than this,
but I'm gonna do it anyway.
(engine revving loudly)
That's a fantastic noise, now
while the engine is spooling up and warming up,
you can do a lot of instrument checks.
You can make sure that you go through all the lights,
go through the indicators, make sure that everything works,
all the dials work, the clock works, the radio works.
Do all your checks as the engine begins to warm up.
And of course, when you start the engine,
check for blue smoke at the back.
It might even be worth opening the rear hatch, okay?
Every time you blip the throttle
just keep an eye out for the smoke.
There could be a little bit of
smoke on start up, it's not a problem.
If it continues or if it's any other colour,
investigate a bit further.
Now the thing about the 240Z is that
it should feel modern enough to be effortless,
and classic enough to be really interesting.
One of the problems with doing test drives with
a car like the 240Z is that they are such competent
vehicles in their own right that
actually even a bad one drives well.
So it's worth taking it for a reasonably lengthy test drive.
Remember it's got a five speed box.
On the road, anything that feels vague in the steering,
anything that feels vague in the suspension,
check it out when you get back,
because like any other classic car a 240Z might well
suffer from worn bushes, worn dampers and springs.
It's all replaceable, that's the good news.
One of the most important things to check on a 240Z
when you're out on the road if
you've got some space is the brakes.
It should put up in a straight line.
If it doesn't, you might have
a bit of seized caliper problem.
But in general, the biggest problem about taking
a 240Z for a test drive, and this
is the real crux of the thing,
is that actually, you won't want to give it back.
(ambient music)