A good read on some "abandoned" early Z's in the U

[Toecutter]

Cool thread, good read!

 

quoted from original thread, link below for pics etc

 

Without pictures I wouldn't believe this story myself. I bought 2 280Z 5 speed transmissions from a guy in a small central GA town for a song. When I went to pick them up he told me about a 71Z sitting in the yard of an abandoned house.I asked him about looking at it he hesitated and said it was behind a fence and we couldn't see it. After I assured him all I needed to know was where it was we WOULD be able to see it he took me to the house. On the way he told me the man that owned the house use to sell old surplus army jeeps still in the crates and still had some there.I remember the ads in the back of old magazines that said they had surplus jeeps for 500 dollars since I could read and knew this was a myth,but I didn't say anything. When we got to this house it was pitch dark so we had to use a flashlight to see anything. As we got out of the truck I couldn't believe what I saw. Sitting in the front yard of this old house was 5 old jeeps sitting there with parts for several more plus 3 military trailers laying there. I was shocked. We started around the side of the house with the flashlight when I could barely see the back of a 240Z. It was in the middle of a big patch of weeds,vines and small trees. It took a few minutes to make our way to reach it but there it was a 1971 240Z. It was in pretty rough shape but when I opened the door most of the interier was still there. I popped the hood and saw everything was still under the hood including a set of hedders and other high performace parts. I looked at the head and it was an E-33. Ater a few minutes we turned to look around and about 20 ft away was another 71 240Z. I new then we had hit paydirt. It to was in the middle of a patch of thickets and underbrush. We made our way to it and found it to be in the same shape. It was pretty rusty but most of the interier was there. Under the hood was the same story, headers and twin webers. There was a few other mods and it had an E-88 head on it.I was ecstatic. After we got over the shock we looked around and damn there was anouther 71 240Z about 15ft away. Same story,built motor except it had a 4 bbl holly on it. same E-88 head. What can I say. We were blown away. I could not stop grinning. I had thought this only happens to other people. I couldn,t wait to find the man that let this sit here according to the plates for 16 years. We started back to the truck around the other way to avoid the brush when we found a small carport.there was a tarp covering another car. I thought I can't believe this s#*t another Z car? Nope it was a 1958 fuel injected corvette.I thought I was dreaming. This don't happen. We looked inside and out. It was all there. it was dirty but fiberglass doesnt rust. I couldn't stand it. I had to figure out where the man was that owned these cars.We made it back out to the truck and I sped home about an hour from there. When I got home I called a few friends and told them about my find. As I expected they said yeh right. I didn't sleep good that night and got up early and went back down there to take pictures. When I got there I was still in disbelief myself until I got the first picture. I took pictures of the jeeps then each z car then the vette. I was still grinning in amazement thinking it can't possibly get any better than this when I looked over next to me and there it was a 1968 SS327 camaro. It was in all original condition except for the traction bars on it. What can I say. I was shocked. I stood there laughing. This had to be a dream. Nobody drives off and leaves this kind of cars just sitting there. I was in to much shock to think straight so I took my pictures and headed back home to figure out what I was going next.I had to find whoever owned these cars.I have posted a few of the pictures here to show this is not a fish story. If anybody is interested I will post more pictures and tell how my quest is coming.

 

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20217

[mikedoeslife]

Is there a version with paragraph spaces? Struggling to read that! :lol:

[Bruce]

is this one of those urban myths,

there has been no follow up on it since it was posted a while back,

makes for a good read though

cheers

Bruce

[Toecutter]

Yer sounds toogood to be true! The original post has larger font but strange how the thread died off!? It reminds me of the thread somewhere on this forum about the farm in country Victoria full of scattered Z's of all types!

[mikedoeslife]

Yeah, I've always imagined that one day I'll stumble across a Z somewhere out there in someone's paddock and he'll give it to me for a hundred bucks haha. Wishful thinking!

[Toecutter]

I was living in St.Kilda when I found my car. I walked past it one day and found it parked on Fitzroy St with a smashed drivers side window and a jumoer used to keep the rain out. I left the owner a note on the window and he called me about a week later. I bought the car for 1000 or 1500, can't remember which but a good buy at the time. There are some pretty good deals out there but you gotta have a bit of luck on your side too!

[djc2004]

Sulio, thats pretty impressive, I assume that was your 260? I got my 1st one in a straight trade (no cash) with a dealer in Car City. I traded a KA Laser Sport which had a front end clip fitted. He rang me afterwards and said he didn't get the 'cherry' Laser S he thought he'd got. I was happy, I got a 1 owner S30....

[Toecutter]

hehe...not often that you see an S30 at a dealership these days. I bet you would'nt be able to swap that lazer for a zed these days!

[Mr Camouflage]

is this one of those urban myths' date='

there has been no follow up on it since it was posted a while back,

makes for a good read though

cheers

Bruce[/quote']

 

You would think so, but he had pictures of the cars.

 

There was a similar story about a Guy in the US that had a heap of Chevy stuff, vette's, etc. He locked them all up in shipping containers and sealed them shut, for 20 years till he died. Story was he was really into his Chevy's, and used to buy and sell parts, until some thieves broke into one of the containers and stole a bunch of stuff. So he welded them all up, and stopped dealing with people, and kept to himself.

 

Theres a guy I know here in WA with a shed full of Z's. Around 19 of them, ranging from 240z to a 280zx 2 seater.

 

Heres the article about all the zed cars on the farm you might have been thinking of.

 

It was originally on www.rallysportnews.com.au, Issue 19, but I cant find it there anymore, so I searched the internet archive and found it.

 

Here is the text from it (edited out some history paragraphs, but the rest is verbatim):

 

Hidden Zeds

An Aladdin's Cave in the country.

By Jeff Whitten

 

If you drove very slowly you could just make out two of them sitting forlornly under a tree in the paddock. One was a faded red, the other faded bronze, yet the sight of the pair of them made the pulse race a little faster. To the casual onlooker driving past, they were probably no more than a couple of beat-up and derelict old cars that had been put out to permanent retirement, and wouldn't have raised more than a passing glance from those not in the know. Little would the average person know what else lay behind that farmer's fence way out in the country.

 

Many of us dream of finding a cache of cars tucked away in some remote property out of sight of the public. Not just any cars but something really special - you know, the sort of car that you really admire or would like to own and perhaps one day restore. It might be an Evo Lancer, a Porsche 911, perhaps an early Monaro, a genuine Falcon GT HO, a Datsun 1600 or any one of a thousand different makes of car that just seem to tickle your fancy. Some day, one day, you hope that you'll stumble over a shed containing something interesting that a previous owner has tucked away for restoration "one day".

 

Of course, most of us know it never happens. We're never lucky enough to come across such a car - somebody has beaten us to it just days previously or if we do discover something interesting, the owner doesn't want to sell. It's an all too-familiar story.

 

But back to our story. Having recently 'discovered' that Datsun's "Z" car makes a very good classic rally car or even a competent road car, the sight of a couple of rusted Zeds under the tree mentioned previously made for further investigation. Any serious car fanatic spends half his time, when driving in the country, looking to see what cars lurk in back yards and paddocks. And this time was no exception. Reckoning that it was too good an opportunity to turn down, the next port of call was the owner's house, where a knock on the door summonsed the owner from inside. "I see you've got a couple of Zeds in the paddock," the conversation went. "Any chance of having a look at them?" What followed was one of the most incredible discoveries I'd ever witnessed - 20 Datsun Zeds stored away for "future restoration."

 

...[edited out some history of the z, we all should know that by now - Mr C]....

 

Initially reluctant, the farmer finally agreed to talk about how the two cars had come to be on his property. As a much younger person in 1974, he had gone out and bought a brand-new Datsun 240Z, a purchase that was considered pretty good value in those days. Over the years his interest in the car increased and he started buying up old, run-down Zeds as they came up for sale. One thing led to another and his collection increased. It was at this time that I started to realise that the two cars under the tree were just the tips of an iceberg. Maybe there were more there? Did he still have the original? My inquisitiveness was starting to get the better of me. His wife appeared at the door and was introduced to me. She soon took up the Zed conversation and it became obvious that she, too, was an authority on the car. It's easy to pick a casual enthusiast from an expert when it comes down to the nitty gritty. She was fluent in shock absorber turrets, single overhead cams and independent rear suspension - an area to which the conversation soon turned.

 

Many car collectors are a little eccentric - some want to tell you everything about their cars, others want to keep their collection a secret. Finding the mid point is not always easy but it soon became obvious that the farmer was starting to open up, finally agreeing to allow me access to his shed where he claimed 'a couple of cars were stored'. A short walk out into the yard revealed a motly collection of sheds scattered around the yard, some little more than lean-to's, others more secure.

 

In the first were no less than six cars, all covered in tarps, dusty and torn. Lifting the covers, it was hard to believe this Pandora's box of motorcars. Six Datsun '2+2's appeared - various year models, various colours and in a variety of conditions. Most looked to be in good condition but the most outstanding one was a red 280ZX, a real "hairdresser's" car if ever there was one, in bright red with matching bright red seats, dash and interior trim, bought for a song from a deceased estate, we were told.

 

The conversation revolved around where the cars had come from, the negligible amounts that had been paid to acquire them and how the bottom had fallen out of the Datsun Z car market. In the 1970s, the Japanese were more intent on turning out recyclable cars that would last for four or five years than producing them with adequate rust protection. As a result, Zeds are renowned for being particularly rust prone. As I have since learned, there are very few really rust-free Zeds about, at least 90% of them suffering from advanced cases of 'tin worm' at some stage in their life. Their rusty reputation greatly devalues them and a mechanically-good but structurally-poor example can be picked up for very little money. But even good examples seem not to command good trade-in prices when owners want to get rid of them, many reverting to private sales rather than accept a dealer's valuation.

 

"He's got more cars than this," the wife volunteered, pointing to another, larger shed close by. Sliding the door open revealed another treasure trove of cars, this time all uncovered, dusty and a little more run down than their brothers in the first shed. There was the original 1974 car bought new by the farmer, a rusty brown one, a gold one, a green one - all 240Zs - and a swag of 2 plus 2's - a further six in total! The brown one, it was revealed, had come from Sydney and was trailered all the way home to Victoria by the farmer's wife after she had man-handled it up a steep drive in suburban Sydney and onto the trailer.

 

All the cars had a story to tell - the brown one belonged to an ex-Policeman who had wanted to keep it for his retirement. Except his wife saw it as a playboy's car and insisted he get rid of it. He cried when the car was driven away from his house.

 

Another was a little worse for wear as far as rust in the body was concerned, but certainly fixable. "I'm really embarrased about asking this price for the car, but do you think $150 is too much for it?" the owner had asked. It changed hands very quickly for $150 and was soon on its way to the new home.

 

The best looking car in the shed full of Zeds was a green 240Z. It wasn't its original colour but it had been restored at some stage in its life and was in top condition - new carpets, new trim, complete dash and seats - in fact a really nice car. The farmer paid $1500 for it! Another one was a gift. "The owner begged me to take it away," the farmer's wife explained.

 

Many cars were full of spare parts - door trims, consoles, tailshafts, seats, radiators - you name it - enough parts, you would think, to build a few more cars. This farming couple were serious collectors. "Do you ever sell any cars or parts?" we enquired. "No, nothing's for sale yet," came the reply. "We hope to build a big shed and put all the cars under one roof one day so that when we've had enough of farming we can concentrate on doing something with the cars."

 

We wondered just what that meant.

 

The appetite completely whetted by now, we asked, half jokingly, if that was all the cars. "No, there's a couple more in a shed up on the hill paddock, and several in another couple of sheds which I'll show you now," the farmer volunteered. A short walk to a huddle of run-down sheds revealed another four, the majority the less-rare 260Z '2+2's, again complete but rusty. With the two cars that we first noticed under the tree, that little horde of cars amounted to a grand total of 20 Datsun Zeds. "Are you still collecting?" came our question. "No, we've stopped for the time being until the shed's built, but that could be some time down the track. But if a bargain comes up, we'd still be tempted," was the reply.

 

Completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the collection tucked away in those run-down sheds, we were left to wonder just how many other such collections there are around the country, just waiting to be restored, rebuilt and re-loved. One can only hope that the owners realise that it's unthinkable but entirely possible, that a bushfire will raze the sheds, a cyclone will send the roof smashing down on the cars or a flood will go through the property, washing away everything, including the cars, in its path.

 

Surely the remaining examples of the world's best-selling sports car deserve better than this.

 

Footnote: This is a true story, the identity of the owners and the location of the property remaining a secret as a condition of being allowed to view the collection. And, yes, my offer to buy a few much-needed items from the cars to finish my own Zed was refused. When the shed is built, perhaps?

 

So, was it a waste of time looking at the collection? Not exactly. There was one more call to make on the way home and it revealed another little gem - a genuine 1965 low-windscreen Datsun Fairlady Sports under a tarp in yet another country property. Ripe for restoration, its ownership quickly changed hands (but not into mine) and its removal to the new owner's location arranged. Yet again the Datsun sports car legend lives on.

[Toecutter]

Yer thats the artical but I think it's a farm in Vic as there is a paragraph in there;

 

The brown one, it was revealed, had come from Sydney and was trailered all the way home to Victoria by the farmer's wife after she had man-handled it up a steep drive in suburban Sydney and onto the trailer.

 

Hmmm...great read! Good find, I looked for about 10 min for that one!

 

OK so next question is how do we find this guy! :wink:

 

Got a link of the URL the complete artical is at?

[Mr Camouflage]

No link for the article, as it doesn't appear to be on their website anymore. though there is a pdf version of the article here:

http://www.viczcar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=596

 

A farm in Vic you say. I guess that makes 2 sheds full of zeds. One at each end of the country.