Quick, does the image above make you think of the most ’70s commercial ever to grace television screens across the country? It has for me, even if I was about two decades too young to have seen it when it was relevant. But when I did see it, in an old re-run of A&E’s Automobiles, it was a sensory overload. So much so that it did cause me to have an unnatural desire to own one of the 3000 Black/Gold 10th anniversary 280ZXs built. If you too are overcome by a sudden desire to own one, how about checking this one out.
Yes, the S130 280ZX was the final step in the ruination of the original Z-Car’s image and transformation into a fat cruiser for people who wouldn’t recognize a good driving experience if it bit them in the rear and took them canyon carving. But the simple fact of the matter is that for every sports car buyer Datsun lost, they got one or two others that just wanted a stylish cruiser to pose and be seen in – the 280ZX did that very well indeed. And to get attention there was nothing better than the 10th anniversary edition model. For $14,000 you got leather seats, automatic temperature control, special tires wrapping two-tone alloys, and commemorative decals and badges.
Our featured model is number 960 out of 3000. It’s finished in the original two-tone black and gold, with the matching leather interior in mint condition. It’s no small wonder it has less than 58,000 miles on it…
Which is not even break-in mileage for the L28 engine that lives underneath the hood. Having said that, unless some of those hoses have been replaced recently they could cause trouble later on. The 280ZX wasn’t a particularly fast mover, being slower than a grandpa 240 despite having a larger engine. This particular one will be worse still because it’s mated to the optional three-speed automatic. Expect reaching sixty mph from zero somewhere in the ten second range. But, if you want a piece of history and have a spare nine grand to spend on it, the listing is here. Bell-bottom pants and an afro are not included in the price.
Driving an automatic 280ZX should have been in the dictionary under ‘punishment’. The Nissan 5-speed manual was a huge improvement and made the car pretty enjoyable.
Nothing Nissan about that 5-speed, except the car that wrapped it. Those used a good ol’ (then) Borg-Warner T-5.
I know I should hate the 280ZX. I know, I know, I know. But I can’t help myself–I really like these cars in all their two-tone, late 70’s glory.
I suppose it’s a sickness…
That doesn’t seem like a particularly well-conceived two-tone to me, and I like two-tones.
Having seen one of these in flesh back in the day, the color combo actually works well (on this car anyway) and these are rather striking in an over done eye candy kind of way.
They look better in black and silver.
The same happened to me as a kid! I’d never seen a Z on the flesh, but when I saw that clip on “Automobiles”, I was blown away! It’s AWESOME. I could never forget that “black gold” jingle.
Wow oh wow indeed. That ad gets me every time and everyone whom I show it to is left more surprised than before. So, basically, this is a Japanese Monte Carlo.
I’ve always liked the S130 280ZX. I don’t know why it was ever considered Nissan’s ruination of the Z car theme. Things change, people’s tastes change. As attractive as the earlier Datsun 240Z-280Z were, I’ve always found the ZX an even more attractive evolution in the Datsun/Nissan Z car. Oh well, you can’t please everyone.
I agree, in 82 when they face lifted it with the new body colored bumpers and new tail lights it looked absolutely good! That facelift made it look much better!
I totally agree. I was *way* too young to drive when this thing was on the market, but I remember seeing these alot when they were on the market. And, at the time, I found them more attractive than the previous generation Datsun Z.
The one feature isn’t bad looking but I always found the 280ZX to be gaudy personally, and they took the Z cars from sports cars to Broughhams in a sports car body, and they just kept getting fatter. That’s why people say they ruined the Z cars.
Gaudy? How so?
I knew a girl in high school who had one of these. (yeah her daddy spoiled her and yes it was exactly this model) I got to drive it a couple of times. Imagine driving the middle aged Elvis of sports cars. That pretty much covers it.
Did she have fun until Daddy took it away?☺
The perfect car for voluptuaries; I wonder if this amused those workaholic Nissan salarymen who designed it?
Don’t know, haven’t seen her or the car in 30some years. Started dating the girl with fat fender Javelin. Javelin long gone, still got the girl!
middle aged Elvis of sports cars ! 😉
Good one!
I wonder how much of that “leather” is actually leather. There was a lawsuit filed against Nissan in the late ’80s because they didn’t disclose that the side bolsters were actually vinyl.
What a beautiful car.
The 10th Anniversary 280ZX almost makes the Mustang II King Cobra look discreet.
Black Gooold!
It even has headlight washers! It’s probably the only Nissan/Datsun car to have them in the US at the time.
Beautiful car. It just needs a 5-speed tranny to be perfect.
One of my favorite cars built in the early 1980’s, I’ve always thought this was the last great era of the Z-cars, I agree this car seriously needs the 5 speed manual transmission for it to be a perfect car, there are still a good number of these cars left on the road today.
I would rather have that L28, sans fuel injection, in a 70-71 240Z and a 5 speed…
Just the thing to drive to a shoot if you were a porn actor in 1980. I wonder if Ron Jeremy drove one of these back in the day. The cheesy mustache on the actor further cements my less than favorable feelings for this car.
I’m surprised there is no gold medallion and male décolletage in this ad…
Gaudy, cheesy, slow, federalized – but I love it. There is a lot wrong here, but I was 16 at the time these were out, and realized that for some buyers this was a ticket to a lot of sex. The proverbial sex on wheels.
I was never going to be that guy in the commercial, and at the time I knew it, but it is still nice to look back on this and think about the fantasy behind it.
ticket to a lot of sex? Are you sure ? 😉
I was sure that commercial was going to turn into a porn movie…
with lots and lots of…uhm…body hair!
Knew a girl who owned a 260 the gravel road she lived on pounded it to death in very short order after she moved into town to shrink her commute she got a used 280 but only kept it a few months she didnt like the automatic and manuals were hard to come by.
Very porno!
They should have released the “Black Gold” soundtrack as a single and it sure would have climbed up the Billboard Hot 100 charts as a Disco stomper! 😉
Ah the ___ old days! My first boss had one of these, with the requisite short afro, porn-stashe, gold chain and gym membership. Us pleebs thought he was sooo cool!
The reality of the market is that there were few other reliable “sports” cars…the Supra and RX-7 maybe….and the Corvette. Also, sales exploded when this replaced the 280Z…the market wanted a more toned-down, drivable sporty car.
Similar journey the BMW 2002:3-series has taken over 3 decades, no?
Wow! Seeing that takes me back to the late 1970’s when all of us used to hang out at the local discos trying to get a date. There were the guys who could only afford used cars, like me. Or the guys who had either car payments or from rich families that had the full-boat Trans Am S/Es (Smoky and the Bandit style) or one of these things.
We pretty much derided those guys, but secretly wished we could have the cars or the money to pay for one of the cars. Now, 35+ years later, I have the warm remembrances of the Trans Ams, but not so much the Z cars. Maybe because the generation that followed this one changed quite a bit. These were the last Z cars on my radar, as the ones that followed just seemed a bit anonymous. At least this one (even if it was cribbed from the XKE) had some style.