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The Story of My 240Z

By: Dave Irwin

My love of all things Datsun started after I blew up my '75 Mustang II, for the second time. Two motors, three C-4 tranny's and two rear-ends later, that car had had enough of me and vice-versa. It turns out, you’re not supposed to shift an automatic like a manual tranny, on a daily basis. So off to the local car lot we went. My mother promised to help buy my first car, and since I purchased the Mustang and all it’s extra parts myself, she decided that the next car I buy, she’d help me out with. The only budget minded 5-speed on the lot was a 1978 Datsun 510 Hatch Back for $1500. After my mom pointed out to the salesman the cracked windshield, lack of any clear coat on the paint, ripped seats, faded carpet, bald tires and 200,000 miles on the odometer, she talked him down to $750 out the door, tax, license and all. She’s cool like that and the poor salesman didn’t know what hit him.

Dave Irwin with his Datsun 510, back in the glory days.

Over the next four years I found out what kind of potential these little cars had. Rip out the emissions, throw on a two-barrel Webber carb and you're golden. This thing would light up the tires from first to third gear. I went through tires like a kid going through a box of Otter Pops on a hot day.  I finally painted it using white spray paint and Ford Blue spray paint for stripes. It even had a Mustang hood scoop and a Camaro rear spoiler. Then one day I decided to buy a Nissan Motorsports Catalog from the local Nissan dealer. This thing had more eye candy than I knew what to do with. But what really caught my eye was all the 240Z’s in the book.

Dave's current ride and love of his life.

They were all race prepped and looked a lot more sporty than my 510. I’d barely ever seen any around town till I got that catalog, then I started to spot them here and there. I then decided that I would own one someday and go nuts on it. A few months later, a friend pulled into my driveway with a rusty, primer gray 1972 Datsun 240Z. My heart about stopped at that point. I talked him into letting me test drive it and he agreed half-heartedly. My drive around the block turned out to be a drive around town. I stopped over at the local high school to finish up my analysis of the Z. I looked around for cops and noted that the coast was clear. I revved it up to about 4000RPM and dropped the clutch. BIG mistake!! That little 240Z roared to life, shot sideways and into a couple 360s. After straightening the wheel out I found out how well the brakes worked because that fence in front of me was about to be part of the front end. I thought that now would be a good time to get the car back to my buddy. It took 2 miles and 6 minutes for my heart beat to regain a normal rhythm.  I gave him back the keys and started planning for when I finally got my own Z.

Simply gorgeous...

12 years and three cars later, I divorced my wife of nine months (yes, nine months) and started a collection. She said I never spent enough money on her, but after two months of not having her around, I saved enough money to buy a whole car. After two minutes in an Auto-Trader, I found my next life partner, a 1970 (8/'70) reddish orange 240Z for $2800. The owner was divorcing his wife and said "I'll be damned if she’s getting it." So 2 signatures and a cashiers check later, I drove home the love of my life. I always tell people that I got this car in exchange for my ex-wife, "pretty good trade huh?"

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