280Z

Why the 280Z exists

By 1974 the Z had a problem in its largest market. US emissions rules had pushed the carbureted 2.6 liter 260Z down to 139 hp SAE net, well short of the 162 hp gross the same engine was rated at before US tuning, while federal bumper rules were adding weight at both ends. The car that Yutaka Katayama had sold to Americans as an affordable sports car in 1969 was getting slower and heavier every model year. Nissan's answer for North America was to bore the L26 out by 3 mm to make the 2,753 cc L28 and to fit Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection, the same airflow-metering system used by BMW, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia. The 280Z name existed only here; in Japan the car stayed the Fairlady Z, and other export markets kept the 260Z until the 280ZX. Even Datsun's own US range brochure for 1975 still showed the 260-Z with the late-1974 bumper, because the 280Z arrived after it was printed.

1975-76: the first injected Z

ZRegistry dates 1975 model-year production from December 1974, and Hagerty Marketplace has sold a car built in January 1975 that still wore chrome bumpers with rubber overriders before the full impact bumpers took over during the year. Other sources put the introduction as late as mid-1975, and one calls 1976 the first year. The L28 made 149 hp SAE net at 5,600 rpm. Buyers chose a four-speed with a 3.55:1 final drive or a three-speed automatic, in the two-seater or the 2+2, and California cars carried a catalytic converter. Canadian cars were built without the US smog equipment. Conceptcarz gives about 22 mpg on the highway. The 2+2 used the same drivetrain on a wheelbase about a foot longer and ran alongside the two-seater for all four model years. Road & Track put the 280Z into a comparison test in its July 1976 issue, alongside its tests of the Alfetta GT and Corvette that year.

1977-78: five speeds and new bumpers

Late in the 1976 model year Datsun added the FS5W71B five-speed, keeping the four-speed's first four ratios and adding a 0.864 overdrive fifth; the January 1977 US brochure sells it as the "gas-saving 5-speed." For 1977 the bumpers gained recessed channels and accordion rubber ends, the full-size spare gave way to a C78-14 Space Saver so the fuel tank could grow, and that raised the rear deck floor. Alloy-look wheel covers replaced the earlier hubcaps.

Zap Z and Black Pearl

Two appearance specials closed the run. The 1977 Zap Z was yellow with black stripes and chevrons, about 1,000 cars by the usual estimate. The 1978 Black Pearl paired Black Metallic paint, code 638, with dual mirrors, rear louvers and red and silver stripes; it was the first black Z, and the count most often given is 750 to 1,500 with no factory figure behind it.

The end of the S30

The 280ZX replaced the car for 1979. Hagerty notes that the only parts it carried over were the L28 and the five-speed, so the 280Z's drivetrain lived on into the 1980s while its body did not. ZRegistry has logged 384 surviving 280Zs, two-seat and 2+2, as of January 2026. Sports Car Market's 2017 profile observed that original 280Zs had crossed into five figures because so many rusted away, and that originality rather than restoration sets the top of the market.

Rust is the defining problem. The floors, spare-tire well, battery tray area, A/C air inlet, inner fenders and rear of the rockers are the usual places, and Sports Car Market's view is that no original Z is entirely free of it underneath. The 1977-78 rear deck is fiberboard over the raised floor, so its condition is a quick check on whether water has been getting in. The L-Jetronic system is reliable when every part of it works and baffling when one does not. It is a non-feedback system with an airflow meter, thermo-time switch and coolant temperature sensor. A trade diagnostic article on a 1976 car traced a crank-but-no-start to a corroded and misconnected ECU ground and recommends cleaning, re-torquing and sealing every major ground before condemning parts. Owner forums point to the EFI main relay behind the passenger kick panel and its ground, the fuel pump relay and the airflow meter as the usual suspects; those are forum patterns, not measured failure rates. Cars that have sat usually need the full fuel side renewed: the well-documented 1977 car SCM profiled had new fuel hoses, filter, lines, pump, injectors and injector connectors. Many cars have had a five-speed or wheels swapped, and original A/C systems are often converted to R134a.

Start with the chassis number on the firewall and dash. HLS30 is the two-seater and GHLS30 the 2+2, and the sequence number places the car in its model year; ZRegistry's build windows run December 1974 to August 1975 for the 1975 car and September to August after that, ending in July 1978. The registry also tracks known survivors, so a car's history may already be on file. Then rust, which decides more of these cars than mechanical condition. Sports Car Market's list is the floor pans, the spare-tire well, under the battery tray, the external air inlet for the A/C, inside the fenders and the lower rockers toward the rear. A car described as rust-free should come with underside photos or a lift inspection. Period rustproofing, as on the one-owner RM Sotheby's car that was Ziebarted when new, is a plus, not a guarantee. Confirm the transmission. A five-speed is only original on late 1976 and 1977-78 cars, it carries a 5-speed emblem on the hatch, and swaps into earlier cars are common, as on the 1976 car Hagerty Marketplace sold in December 2025. The 1977-78 cars should have channeled bumpers and the Space Saver spare; 1975-76 cars have smooth bumpers and a full-size spare. A sunroof means the roof was cut after the fact, since none was fitted at the factory. Bolt-on rocker trim and similar items are usually dealer accessories rather than Datsun parts. On a Black Pearl or Zap Z, paint code and documentation carry the value; on a Black Pearl, look for code 638 Black Metallic. Original paint, an uncracked dash, original keys and books move these cars further than a fresh restoration does.

As of September 2026 no classic.com benchmark could be retrieved for this page, so the figures here are dated individual results rather than an index. The most recent fetched sales are two no-reserve Hagerty Marketplace results: a January 1975-built automatic coupe in a factory color sold for $16,318 on December 18, 2025, and a 1976 coupe with a swapped-in five-speed, non-original wheels and stereo sold for $10,700 on December 16, 2025. Both are driver-grade cars and set the floor rather than the ceiling. At the top, Sports Car Market reported an original-paint 1977 five-speed with air conditioning at $44,000 including premium at Mecum Kansas City in December 2016, and cited a 1976 2+2 at $50,050 in the same period. A 350-mile 1976 car that had been partly disassembled and stored for four decades was reported at $140,000 in November 2020; that is one exceptional car, not a market level. For context, RM Sotheby's sold low-mile original cars for $11,220 (1977, one owner, 34,900 miles) and $12,100 (1976, 32,000 miles) in 2012, before the S30 market moved. Hagerty's 2020 editorial work put a #2 condition 280Z at $32,100 and recorded a 33 percent jump in a single year. The pattern across these results is consistent: original paint, documented history and a factory five-speed separate the $40,000 cars from the $10,000 to $16,000 ones.