Some questions might seem stupid but I can't find answers, thanks for any help. I'm looking at buying an 81 280zx it has 95k decent exterior somewhat decent interior, non turbo, everything works what is a fair price? How many miles are expected from these? Are these smooth highway cars? Will it work fine as a daily driver? Now for the sad ones. What does the 2+2 mean and what is the deal with it being a nissan but i can only find it as a datsun? Any other info for me will be greatly appreciated i'm sort of lost on some of this stuff. Thanks.

 

I have an 81 2+2 and that means that it is a 4 seater not a 2 seater so the car is approx 11 inches longer. I bought mine with 148k and I drove it everyday 50 miles to and 50 miles home 5-6 days a week usually around 70 - 125 mph. These cars are designed to be driven on the highway. The reason for the Datsun/Nissan thing is because Nissan bought Datsun I believe in 79 or 80 I forget exactly what year it was and they kept the name for a few years the when the 300zx came out they dropped the Datsun name altogether. As far as price goes that is entirely up to you I paid $500 for mine and dropped almost $1000 in brakes motor etc the day I bought it. The 83 coupe I just bought I paid $750 for it and it needs some body and interior work. Hope this helps.

 

2+2 means it has a back seat and probably en extra pound or two compared to a 2 seater.

All 280zx's are Datsuns,('83 being the last production year for the 280zx).
After '83 they went to the 300zx with the (VG30E) V6 instead the "L" series engine found in the previous series.

I've owned 3 280zx's so far,(2 n/a,1 turbo),and haven't paid more than $1000 for any of the 3. (My 81 cost me $100)

Be sure to do a search on common problems with the 280zx,I'm sure that'll help you out as well.(The ones I came across the most often are fuel and electrical)

 

Does anyone ever drive their 280zx in the winter (i.e. in snow)? If so how does it do and what can be done to prepare it for winter. Also does N/A not stand for not applicable anymore, what does it mean. Sorry for all the questions I feel like an idiot, thanks guys.

 

N/A = Naturally Aspirated (no forced induction)

 

Oh yeah,no snow in Florida.

 

none in Savannah either, but if there was I wouldn't. I have a 78 bronco for that stuff.

 

I lived in Wi, for a couple of years, so I would assume it would handle like any rear wheel drive car does. It would be a freakin blast to drive, going down the road sideways, doing glorios dounuts, sliding around corners, and getting stuck in a snowbank waiting for the tow truck to pull you out so you can do it all over again . Damn, I miss the snow

 

First thing, Nissan never bought Datsun. They were always the same company since way back in the 50's. They used the Datsun name on their North American exports. Back then, just after WWII, it was not very popular to purchase anything imported especially Japanese. If their car exports failed, they didn't want the failed name to be so easily assocaited with the Nissan corporation back in Japan.

Things went better than expected and in the late 60's they started leaving the Nissan name on some of the parts, but kept the Datsun emblems on the outside of the cars. In the early 80's they decided to faze out the Datsun name and just used Nissan worldwide.

A 280ZX 2+2 with 95K miles and in good overall condition might be worth $1200-1800. Hopefully it has T-tops. 95K miles is pretty low. The engine/transmission are usually good for 200,000 miles or so. My engine is still going strong at 220, but my transmission just went out so i'm replacing it and will continue to use the engine as-is.

Also, besides just having a back seat, the 2+2 model is longer and the doors are longer, the roof is longer with a different slope in the rear hatch. Basically its not as contoured as the 2-seater and honestly doesn't look quite as good. I have a 280zx 2+2 and it looks ok with good wheels and a nice paint job; oh, and T-tops. I think they help the 2+2 not look so bad. Anyway, I use my back seat for passengers a lot and I used to drive the car daily through the winter.

The 280ZX is good on the highway and the 2+2 is even better due to the extra long wheelbase and weight. They weigh about 180 pounds more than the 2-seater.

The 280zx is ok in slush and ice. No major drawbacks. But, any rear wheel drive car does not do as good in icey conditions compared to a front wheel drive. If the rear starts to slip, it comes around the side; a FWD will pull the car a little better with limited traction. I recently got a full set of studded snow tires on a different set of rims. Hopefully after this year I can garage my Z during the winter.

 

well I am sorry for my mistake bleach that is what I was told on another forum

 

The car isn't a 2+2 i was just wondering what it meant. should the price be more for a coupe or about the same?

 

The 2+2 should be worth less than a coupe. But some owners think the more options the better and charge more for the 2+2!

 

[QUOTE=fryertuck67]not true, they thougth Nissan sounded "too forign" so the went with datsun (yeah that sounds more domestic)and even the early 300zx's were badged Nissan by Datsun, 1982 Nissan stanza was the first car in the US to be badged solely as a Nissan, and the older z's had valve covers with Nissan cast right into them

 

The transition was not instantanious. But 1984 was about the year that they made the change. The 1983 Datsun 280ZX by Nissan was done, and the new Nissan 300ZX in '84 had a Datsun emblem on the left side of the trunk. Same with the Maxima/810 which was made from 1981-84. The emblem on the right said Nissan Maxima in 84, and then there was just a plain DATSUN emblem on the left.
Even the 1979 Datsun 620 truck said by Nissan under the fender emblem. The point is that the changeover was gradual and varied between models; but was mostly changed to Nissan as the primary tag in 1984. It was no longer DATSUN, by Nissan. It was NISSAN, and then maybe a reference to Datsun somewhere else.
The valve covers in the 70's is an example of the engine parts I mentioned with Nissan written on them. The early years of the 510 and Z I believe said Datsun, then in maybe '74 they started saying Nissan.

I think anyone who was close enough to a Nissan bomb to see what brand it was would not be here with us today...

 

Almost all the Datsun/Nissan facts can be found in these posts(the benefits of a large audience/group of expertise), but yet a little more light...

Dat Motor Car Company of Osaka Japan built the Dat motorcar in 1914. Datson was a model they produced in 1931(re-named Datsun in 1932).

Nihon Sangyo gained licence to produce Datsuns in 1934 and changed the company name to Nissan(from his own name).

Nissan produced "Datsuns" in all markets, including Japan, before and after WWII, adopting the Nissan name for home market cars in the mid Sixties to reflect the corporate name.

However, after WWII, Datsun was definately a less Japanese sounding name than Nissan. Also any name change would have resulted in lost market share during the all important push into the lucrative North American market.

By the mid Eighties Nissan was coming off a ten plus year run of successful models, had a healthy ledger and strong name recognition from carrying the Nissan brand on all corporate packaging and literature and decided to remove the confusion and cost of dual branding.

Interestingly, the tradition of manufacturing cars with non-Japanese sounding names has not gone. Home market cars are stilled named and badged in English to this day. With different names than the cars shipped here, explain that one, somebody.

teedium or interesting facts...you decide

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