GAME CHANGER

Stuart also owns this pristine 240Z, originally purchased brand new off the lot in Tokyo by his father, back in 1971.

Like the 350Z, this car holds a special title: it was the first 240Z ever sold in Japan. Until that point, only the smaller engined two-litre examples were sold, using the ‘Fairlady’ badge on the domestic market. With pressure from the jealous Japanese public, Nissan relented a couple of years into production and began to offer the bigger engined version of the S30 that the rest of the world received, with local buyers apparently happy to pay the exorbitantly higher road taxes the increase in displacement demanded. Although Stuart’s family sold the 240Z a long time ago after bringing it into New Zealand, Stuart managed to keep tabs on it through the years, eventually finding it again and buying it back in 1997. Since then, he has spent his time returning the Z to stock original condition and even has the original steel wheels and hubcaps ready to go on.

This car showed the world that not only could Japan produce beautiful, interesting, and fun vehicles at a time when the country was known for cheap and cheerful econoboxes, but the Z showed manufacturers of the era that sports cars didn’t have to be exorbitantly expensive, hard to live with, or even harder to keep in running condition. This is a car that truly did change the game, and sent a clear message to the European and US carmakers that the days of cruising down easy street with poorly built, overpriced sports cars were over.