Knight240Z

This also shows the added appreciation for 240Z in the US now. Even the dust is now preserved for the bid!

Anyone planning to bring this one back home? I think this is the one posted on carsales from some time ago. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Datsun-240Z-/192042158496?hash=item2cb69ac9a0:g:6wsAAOSwM4xXYJOy

I agree totally with Gav as the price of these cars will continue to go up. We may have a slight adjustment due to a major FC or something but my bet is that the price will keep on going up after that adjustment. And the reason being is that early Zeds have such a large number of people that appreciate their value and the number of cars in good condition and left unmolested are very few (Rust, neglect, and the fact that these cars only 15-20 years ago where not considered worthy of repair) just didn’t leave many to satisfy gowning demand nowadays. In the US many cars were just left for junk, sold for 500$ so that they can clear some space in the yard/garage and unfortunately most of these cars had a taught life. And don’t get me started on the V8 converted ones, where that sweet L24 was lost forever…

You need to give me the details of the guy that can import a car for $1,500 Gav, I have a business plan for him! I had an estimate of bout 6k before I started this and I went over that even as you can see. That is the reason I think no one should do this for just any car. For it to make sense 1- the car your thinking of importing should be a good one with some prospect of value increase because getting the costs covered will take some time and 2- it has to be a good deal (which is starting to become hard to find) I was thinking of just brining in a project car, something solid and cheap to work on from ground up. That will save you on many things like with shipping RORO, saving on insurance and small somethings that can make a difference.

Now that I got the plates on the car I imported from the US I just wanted to give an estimate on how much it will cost you in time and money to get a LHD all ready to hit the roads. I hope this will be helpful for you to have an idea for your budget. Firstly, to say, the process itself is fairly easy, especially in my case the car is all original and had no modifications and matching numbers. Therefore, that takes a lot of the hassle away. Costs: Vehicle Importation Approval = 50$ (will take about 2 weeks) Transport (California to Melbourne) = 5,200$ (4 weeks transport time) Insurance (for trasport) = 750$ Cleaning for Quarantine and inspection charges = 350$ (you will need this no matter how clean the car is before shipping) (1 week max in Melbourne port) Trucking the car from port = 75$ (you could get an Unregistered Vehicle Permit for a week which I didn’t know at the time I could do with a freshly imported car) Unregistered Vehicle Permit (for 1 week to do VASS & RWT) = 53$ VASS inspection fees = 500$ (below are things you will always need to change on a US car to pass VASS inspection. If the car is modified it can be more things to changes but thankfully I didn’t need to buy anything other than the below) Seatbelts = 375$ Front headlights = 250$ RWT = 220$ Total = 7,823$ Things to add is 10% GST on the value of the car (including shipping costs), registration & club fees. If you are thinking of getting a car away from the US South West I know it costs about 500$US more. However, my advice do not get a Zed from anywhere outside of the known dry states. I have seen many cars in person and after further inspection, they all had rust issues that in some cases were very hard to find and fix. In Victoria the club plates for LHD will always end with M "Modified" rather than H "Historic" as all LHD cars will need to pass VASS and are "modified" to drive on RH roads (the lights and so on..). I hope that gives an idea of the costs and time for the dreamers out there. In addition, for me personally it was a great experience overall, everything from shipping to registration went very smoothly and driving a Series-1 LHD on Melbourne roads is a dream come true now. I must say I really like it more than I thought I would, maybe because I am used to driving LHD cars overseas but it actually feels special when you do so on our roads.

this is a steal for that price I dont think this guy knows what he has...

35k!? Congrats 600Z! I am surprised it stayed for 5 hours! looks great!

how much do you expect they will charge for shipping? has anyone used them before?

Both look really good, and to be honest I would even pay the reserve price as it looks clean and not much modified. The non-original color does play a big factor because changing that to original will cost. But again the 240Z are gaining a lot of demand and I know there are many leaving the US now to Europe, Asia and even the UK so the prices will only go up. But with the 280Z I don’t know… will be the next thing in a few years but I would still now pay that 6k difference to get a 240z.

I maybe out of touch but isn’t 16kUS a bit high for a 280Z in the US? Especially this had a repaint and as nice as it looks it's not a collectors' car that was not used much so there may be some things hidden that will need some attention. It made me think of a 260Z I found in the US once and didn’t pull the trigger, it was all original including the paint and not a change to any of the parts (it was a late 260Z) so it had the big ugly bumpers which was the reason I was thinking it's too expensive for 17kUS but I think I was wrong… as Jeff just said "should have" never helped anyone.

There are many places that do the full inspection now with hundreds of pictures but it's still that much better when your there to see the car and make the move! And trust me I have seen a lot of "project cars" in the US where things have been done that no one in their right mind will want to inherit. I think the interest in LHD may change in the future for some "low rusted" cars (I try not to say rust free) but you're correct in saying that it's not there now.

Its so funny you would say that Gavin, It’s a small world but after seeing the first picture he took of the car I know it was the same guy! I met this guy when I was in Florida! And I can confirm everything you say mate and it was a very wise decision you made there. He is originally from Norway btw, he has been dealing with Datsun's since a long time in the US. Buying, doing some works "cheap and fast" in his small shop and then selling. I was looking at another car he had which was a 72 blue 240Z and after talking with him on the phone and from all the answers and stories he gave me I decided to drive to his "part time hobby shop and not his full time thing for sure" north of Fort Lauderdale which was not too far for me around an hour and a half on the highway. So I go there with my hopes up and I can tell you he is really good in hiding things and will never tell you the correct story. He will tell you many stories, for hours… and hours to keep you distracted I think but never the truth. (One of the things he told me then that he just sold a Golden Zed to a guy in Singapore, I assume it must be this one if you're interested to know where it ended up) Anyways long story short, the car I went to see was an absolute scam and way overpriced, he painted the car from the bottom up to cover what he can and nothing was what he described, as it was knocked from the front very badly and the interior and electrical wiring were a mess with so many changes you will not imagine, so I walked away from that headache even when he was willing to sell for much less than what he asked for. On this topic, I was looking for a 240Z in Oz for a long time and after much thought and research I finally imported my car from the US. So far I must say it's been rather a good experience, but there are some costs involved to be considered. The majority I would say is the shipping and GST but other than that you have to pay VASS, RW and some other things that popup along the way but it's not too much. (In the end there are some good cars in the US that don’t have as much rust problems and are still undervalued) I will never thing of converting to RHD as, 1- it’s a shame to hake in to it and it will never be to the same value/originality of an original RHD, 2- Driving a LHD on a nice weekend in the city or up the Blue Mountains will never be less of an amazing experience not because it’s a LHD or a RHD but just because it’s a Zed and trust me it's not much of a difference (it will feel a bit strange the first few times you go in a roundabout, but there is an advantage when stopping on a traffic light next to a nice girl driving another car and your just that much closer ). And 3- for me I don’t think I would ever want to sell, not today and hopefully I would not need to anytime soon.

Thanks guys! That is what I feared. I just don’t want to start with this work now, will see if tapping a size larger will do the trick for now. Jeff do you have contact details? And does anyone know of a good mechanic that can do work remotely (change starter motor/electrical fault check)? As I have a wiring problem which I can't find that is darning the power and forcing the car to shutdown at low RPM that cased the Starter Motor to give-up on Saturday. (I assume that is the case as it only happens when the lights are on)

On Saturday (which was one of the toughest days ever) where everything just went wrong "EVERYTHING" and to start with the biggest issue I really need your help in finding the correct way in fixing this. Was at a shop changing all the bushings at the front of the car one of the bolts that connects the Sway bar to the frame broke (not uncommon, I understand), the bolt was taken out but not before the hole in the frame being destroyed (now this I don’t understand how it happened especially by a professional) and now the new bolt will not fix in anymore. Now what is the right way of fixing this? What options do you recommend to really fix it correctly? Do I really need to cut the frame and weld in a nut from the inside? Mind you the frame is very solid. And can you recommend a place in Melbourne to do this repair as at the moment i dont have the space/tools to do any of the work myself?

I hope these pics help.

That is funny the guy at Toyota was sure I needed two! thank you for the tip. if its 110 for both then its not too bad.

I just posted a few pic's of the 3 parts.