History of the Z-Car

As anyone who has seen "The Fast and Furious" movies knows, Japanese cars are now in the front lines of the performance wars. Super Supras, hellacious Hondas and massaged Mazdas are routinely running sub-11-second quarter miles and giving big-inch Detroit iron a run for its money. This turn of affairs dates back to the early 1960s when the Japanese were best known for their small sedans and traditional convertible sports cars. All that changed in 1969 when Datsun introduced the revolutionary 240Z.

Austin Power
Datsun was not new to the sports car game. The company built its first sports model, the DC-3, in 1951. Going back even further, when parent company Nissan was launched in 1911, it assembled English Austin 7s under license. Nissan created its own designs after WWII, eventually building fiberglass-bodied sports models from 1959 to 1963. These SPL-211 and 212 models were homely and slow, but the Fairlady, 1600 and 2000 model sports roadsters that followed were good, solid performers that made their mark in amateur-level racing.


Even though the British continued building traditional convertible sports cars, Datsun had the foresight to see changes in the target market, realizing that future buyers would demand a higher level of reliability, comfort and sophistication than most sports cars were providing.

American Made?
Datsun engineers developed a coupe of generous internal dimensions to fit American drivers up to 6'-5" (previous models were designed around a 5'-8" driver). The body was developed from show cars styled by Albrecht Goertz, a German-born American freelance designer who had previously penned the stunning BMW 507. Although Datsun later denied him credit for the design, Goertz is generally believed to have originated the basic shape. It was a great success, with crisp, modern lines that did not mimic any other car.


To keep costs down, Datsun laid out a simple pressed-steel chassis with McPherson strut suspension and a 2.4-liter six-cylinder SOHC mill based on the layout of the four-cylinder Datsun 510 sedan engine. As many parts as possible were interchangeable with other Datsuns to keep the price down and to benefit from the development and reliability of the sedans. A four-speed transmission and independent suspension all around were standard, with an automatic and a 5-speed optional.