US$69,500.00 In the late 1960s, the Japanese auto industry had a new sense of confidence as they finally found their stride with uniquely designed and meticulously engineered cars. Earlier in the decade, American buyers saw Japanese cars as novelties or oddballs, cars to be avoided especially for those who still had WWII fresh in their mind. The earliest Japanese sports cars borrowed heavily from their two-wheeled counterparts, particularly Honda with its bike-engined S600 coupe and roadsters. Nissan-Datsun took a slightly different approach in the middle of the 1960s, with their take on the traditional British sports car. The Datsun 1600 and 2000 Fairlady roadsters were aimed squarely at the MGB, Triumph TR4 and Sunbeam Alpine. Datsun held the upper hand thanks to its 5-speed gearbox and beautiful 135hp overhead-cam engine. The British cars felt positively agricultural in comparison. Combined with the mechanically similar 510 sedan, Datusn enjoyed moderate success in the US market, demonstrating the Japanese could build a very capable competitor to the best of the British roadsters. Enthusiasts and club racers knew the Datsun was the superior car, though Japanese cars still struggled against the attitudes in the US. When the Fairlady 2000 was due for replacement, Datsun decided to go all out and design a sports car specifically for the critical North American market.The basic formula for the new 240Z sports car drew inspiration from Jaguar’s E-Type. The elegant 2-seat coupe body was designed in-house by Yoshihiko Matsuo at the Nissan sports car studio. A 2.4 liter, overhead-cam inline-six was chosen along with four wheel independent suspension and front disc brakes. The 240Z was very pretty, could punch above its weight in terms of performance, and had a build quality unseen in its British rivals. Yutaka Katayama (known to loyal Z-car fans as “Mr. K”) was the...