The Datsun 240Z, the Fairlady Z432, and the Fairly Surprising Future

A few weeks ago, a standard Series 1 Datsun 240Z sold for $315,000 on a much-publicized public internet auction. The results of the sale were staggering enough, but so too were the comments (close to 2,000) and viewers (over 50,000). Further surprising, was the fact that several bidders were in the fray, deep into the six-figure range. The last $80,000 came down to two bidders, duking it out to the end. We could spend a lot of time dissecting the market and future value propositions for a car like this, but I’d rather focus on the importance of the original design, its development, and the hidden performance 240Z variant that few enthusiasts know about.