Nissan Z Buyer's Guide
Fifty years of Z cars pass through this page, from the original Datsun 240Z to the current Nissan Z, and our data already shows the split personality of the market: one sold result, a 1976 Datsun 260Z at £31,667, sits alongside a 300ZX estimated at a third of that. The early S30 cars are classics with classic prices; everything after them is still catching up.
Know your generations
The S30 (1969–1978) is the founding car: 240Z, then 260Z and 280Z, all straight-six, rear-drive and styled well enough to embarrass contemporary European GTs at half the price. The S130 280ZX (1978–1983) softened the recipe into a cruiser. The Z32 300ZX (1989–2000) is the technological high point, a 3.0 V6 with 222hp naturally aspirated and 300hp as a Twin Turbo, plus four-wheel steering on some cars. The Z33 350Z (2002–2009) relaunched the line as a muscular VQ35 coupé and roadster, the Z34 370Z (2008–2020) refined it, and the current Z carries on with a twin-turbo V6. Our sold 260Z and the two live 260Zs make the S30 the centre of gravity in our records.
What to pay
One hammer price so far: £31,667 for a 1976 Datsun 260Z sold in August 2026. The active listings bracket it usefully: a 1974 260Z is guided at £15,000–£16,000, a 1977 260Z with a 3.2-litre engine at £30,000–£50,000, so our sold result sits comfortably in the middle of current S30 expectations. Later cars are far cheaper on today's estimates: a 1993 300ZX is guided at £9,500–£10,000. A 2023 Nissan Z carries a £30,000–£50,000 estimate, essentially early-S30 money for a new car. We have no data yet on 350Z or 370Z values.
What goes wrong
S30s rust with commitment: floorpans, inner sills, frame rails, rear arches, the battery tray and the hatch slam panel all need inspection, and imported cars vary from dry-state solid to filler sculpture. The L-series six is nearly unburstable; UK-market 260Z carburettors respond well to proper setting up. The Z32 is the one that punishes neglect: a packed engine bay cooks injector harnesses, and the timing belt change is a dashboard-out-of-your-weekend job that many cars have had deferred. Z33 350Zs can consume oil (early DE engines especially) and wear synchros; check for crunchy third gear. All of them eat suspension bushes by now.
Our view
The 240Z and 260Z are the Z cars that will be cherished in thirty years, and at our £31,667 result they remain sanely priced for what they are; buy the shell, not the mechanicals. The sleeper in this data is the 300ZX at a £9,500–£10,000 estimate: a genuinely fast, sophisticated nineties coupé at hot-hatch money, provided you budget for the labour its packaging demands. The 350Z is the cheap seat for now and will follow the same curve eventually.
