BUYERS GUIDE
INFO YOU SHOULD KNOW
The 280ZX was a very different car from the lithe and compact 240 and 260Zs that founded Nissan’s Z Car dynasty.
This model was definitely pitched at North American buyers who liked a car to look and feel substantial. Especially one with a glitzy dash, four seats and (from 1981) roof panels that could be removed for sunny day cruising.
280ZXs sat on a 2520mm wheelbase and measured 4.54 metres in length which wasn’t massive. However, with tiny side windows, a steeply raked windscreen and low-set seats, the ZX seemed from behind the wheel to be a bigger car than it was.
Ergonomics were excellent for a car of its era, with important controls easily identifiable and accessible. The leather-bound steering wheel was chunky, with 3.1 turns lock to lock. Effective power assistance ensured minimal input at low speeds while maintaining decent levels of feel when travelling quickly.
New to Australia in 1979, the 280ZX manual cost $19,700.
A year later when a Targa roof version arrived, the basic price dropped by $200. That still pitched the two-door Nissan around $6000 above 5.0-litre versions of Holden’s new SL/E Commodore and level-pegged the Statesman Caprice.
Features that helped justify hefty pricing included airconditioning, four-wheel disc brakes and alloy wheels. There was even a buzzer to warn if someone hadn’t properly closed their door
Although marketed as a `2+2’, the 280ZX couldn’t seriously fulfil the role of `family’ car. The rear seat was habitable, but over any distance only by younger children who would be too busy grinning out the side windows to care about minimal legroom.
And the reason they were looking sideways? The front seats were so tall and broad no one of limited stature could see a thing when looking forward.
Boot capacity when the back seats are being used is minimal, so again this is not the kind of car to buy if you’re keen on family holidays.
The engines in ZXs are simple, durable and lazy. Just 127kW came from the 2.8-litre fitted to Australian cars and in the USA prior to 1981 it had only 98kW. However, the same motor when turbocharged and fitted to actor Paul Newman’s SCCA Championship-winning 280ZX was able to develop almost three times that amount of power.
The Newman car, incidentally, has been completely restored and was offered for sale in 2018 by a North American specialist dealer for US$7 million.
Automatic transmission seemed suited to the car’s languid character, but you should only buy a ZX auto if you aren’t interested in getting anywhere quickly. No matter how hard the drivers who conducted magazine tests managed to launch these cars, the best 0-100km/h time recorded by a ZX five-speed was 11.4 seconds and autos couldn’t better 14 seconds.
Values remain significantly lower than for earlier two-seat Zs, although the sub-$10,000 price bracket is no longer a sensible place to start searching for a 280ZX.
Cars in tidy but unexceptional condition begin at $20,000 and can reach the high side of $30K if in excellent condition. Two-tone paint was popular back when these cars were new and add value to a genuine car.