Overall, Nissan spent $200 million on its advertising campaign, so a few losses on vintage 240Zs barely counted as a rounding error. (First come, first served.)" The media went ape over the idea of selling classic cars out of dealer showrooms, and Nissan's marketing agency made the most of tucking the restored Zs into a campaign touting the automaker's heritage. Nissan ran three-page ads boasting, "No power mirrors. Nissan lost money on every restored 240Z it sold, and ended up cancelling the program after moving just 37 cars.īut as a boost for the brand? The Vintage Z program was just the shot in the arm Nissan needed. But the option was there, and the first brand-new old Z rolled out of the showroom in April of 1997.įinancially, the program was not a success. The price was steep-$25,000 to $27,500 in mid-1990s money-and you had to wait about 30 days. Now you're 35 and you've got the money to actually buy one-and your Nissan dealership is selling them in as-new condition. Imagine being 10 years old when you saw a 240Z come cruising through your neighborhood. As a final touch, Nissan wrapped the cars with a 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty. Each refurbished 240Z was repainted, sported a a restored interior, and was putting out the factory 150 hp from its 2.4L inline-six. Walk through the doors of any one, and you'd have the option of buying a brand-new, 25-year-old Datsun sports car. Next, Nissan designated ten dealerships across the US as Z Stores. The engines were shipped to Texas, and the transmissions to North Carolina. The cars were sent to one of four specialist Datsun shops in southern California, where they were completely disassembled. Starting in 1996, when the last 300ZXs were being sold in the US, Nissan started buying up Datsun 240Zs from the 1970 to 1972 model years.
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