• Restored by Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars

• ‘Dry state’ import

• Incredible bespoke interior

The Datsun 280Z was built for the American market. It was a valiant attempt by Nissan to keep its hugely popular sports car... sporty. You see, during the ‘70s, America was in the peak of its ‘smog’ era, during which cars were fitted with restrictive systems in a bid to keep the emissions down. On the earlier Z cars, this would have sucked all the performance out of them. So Nissan responded by making the car more powerful, thus when the smog gear was fitted, the perceived drop in power wouldn’t be as great as on, say, a 260Z. 

The 280Z also had to wear clumsy ‘federal’ 5mph impact bumpers, big marker lights and other U.S requirements. Pleasingly though, the car you’re looking at has none of these things. Built as part of the hit TV show, Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars, this once stateside car now has a more European look. It also has no smog gear, making it every bit the sporty car its designers envisaged. 

Originally a ‘dry state’ car, this 280Z was plucked from the USA and brought over to the UK in 2019. Its new UK owner set about bringing the 280Z back to its former glory, including converting the L28 engine to run on a glorious triple Weber carb setup. He also fitted a stainless exhaust system and carried out a great deal of work to the suspension, as all the bushes and the like had succumbed to the Californian heat.

Sadly for that owner, he needed to let the project go. But happily for the car, it was sold to the team behind Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars to be used in an as yet un-aired episode of the show. The car’s role was as a ‘lighter’ restoration, thanks in part to it being incredibly solid and original. 

As you can see from the images, the car is indeed left-hand drive, but this is about all that remains of the car’s ‘Americanness’. The federal bumpers are gone, in favour of more delicate European specification items, the market lights are gone, decluttering the clean lines of the car in the process. The car wears fresh paint atop an original, never welded body. The interior has been completely retrimmed and refurbished. What a car!

There is a current V5 in place for the car, as well as a current MOT certificate valid until the 21st of September 2022. 

There are some sundry invoices for past parts, and there will be some supporting paperwork from the production company.

The interior of the 280Z was complete, but heavily sun-damaged. While the Californian climate has been extremely kind to the metal, the delicate interior was shown less love by the sun. This is where the direction of the show’s hosts, Drew Pritchard and Paul Cowland, was allowed to run free. Now, there is nothing to suggest this car has ever been anything but excellent internally. 

The seats have been recovered in the same style of tan leather, complete with ventilation holes. A specialist was sourced who provided an excellent condition steering wheel, gear knob and door cards. The headlining is new, again in tan. A new carpet set has been fitted as well. Then there are the details like the diamond-stitch tan coverings on the transmission tunnel and the rear suspension strut towers. All with exquisite stitching and detail. 

The dash, which had again suffered under the sun, has been repaired and then flocked. Not only is this wonderfully tactile, it also prevents glare on the windscreen. The dash itself plays host to all the original dials and switches, all of which work perfectly. 

The car was bought on the strength of how solid it was. It has required no welding whatsoever, nor has it been welded in the past from what we can see. The paint was of course past its best, again thanks to the sun. As such, the car has been repainted in a brilliant coat of gloss white. All the panels are original to the car, which is remarkable if you know these vehicles. 

The chrome, the door handles and the badges have all been restored. The car came without bumpers, so Drew and Paul had some European specification thin chrome items fitted. Far more delicate than the thick, rubber American bumpers. 

The rubbers around the car are all brand new, including the doors and all windows. The glass itself is all original and in excellent condition. The lights are all UK specification, and all in excellent order. Finally, the car sits on the original steel wheels, which have been refurbished. Each one wears the correct Datsun hubcaps along with Yokohama tyres with plenty of tread left on them. 

The car was in good mechanical order when it arrived at the show’s workshop. The previous owner, as mentioned earlier, had already removed all the smog gear and converted the car to run on a trio of Weber carbs. Needless to say, the resulting noise is nothing short of magical. According to Paul Cowland, it even has a whiff of DB5 about it once up to 4,500rpm. We’ll let you be the judge!

The engine has been completely serviced with new fluids, filters, leads, plugs, coolant, a new battery and anything it might have needed. It’s only covered a mere 62k, so is in very good health indeed. Mated to the back of the engine is a slick five-speed manual transmission. The gear change is light and direct, and the clutch felt strong with a good biting point. 

The suspension bushes, as you can see in the pictures, are all new. There are new links, new springs, recent discs and pads. The underside has been protected from the elements, there is a new exhaust heat shield, the fuel and brake lines all look healthy and all the suspension and brake components have been newly painted. 

The 280Z has an MOT in place until September of 2022, and it passed with no advisories. The team behind these builds is fastidious in the way it does things, and as such, advisory items simply wouldn't have been tolerated. They are forever pursuant of perfection. 

A rust-free, honest and pretty much immaculate version of one of the most iconic sports cars to ever come from Japan? What’s not to love. This car is rock solid, it has been lovingly restored and it is in exceptional mechanical health. 

It has been relieved of its American smog gear, so it breathes deep and packs plenty of power. The rest of the running gear is in excellent order, too. It’s most definitely one of the better Z cars on the market right now. 

But then we have the aesthetics. The arrow-straight body, the flawless paint, the gleaming chrome. And that interior, new throughout and incredibly welcoming as a result. It’s the perfect coming together, a glorious example of an iconic car, and of how good a classic car restoration can and should be.