ORIGINAL UNTOUCHED 10,000 MILE 1 Owner 1983 DATSUN 280ZX COUPE Please read story

Thirty Years in the car business I have received numerous calls from family and friends about someone selling a car that "you just have to see”. "It's a barn find”, "it's a classic" and on and on. Last month I received a phone call from a family here in Pittsburgh about a Datsun 280ZX with only 10,000 miles. Although my initial expectations about a 37-year-old coupe parked outside with a cover on it for the last 9 years were not high, that was about to change.

I arrived with much skepticism and met 90-year-old Mrs. Nancy.

The cover was partially off the hood as I walked up the driveway. The setting sun reflected off the platinum silver paint as Nancy began to tell me about this car. She said she got a promotion in the fall of 1982 at the post office and went down to Mervis Datsun (no longer at the same location) and bought this "Z”. I walked around the car helping carefully remove the cover off the back and the Pennsylvania personalized plate still on the car revealed "1-NANZ”. Perfect!

She and her sister were enthusiastic about telling me about the car. Never wrecked, never smoked in and when I opened the door apparently no one ever sat in it. The velour seats were showroom new. The entire interior was (and is) exceptional. I noticed a Rusty Jones sticker in the door sill and asked her who he was. "Everybody" took their cars to Rusty back in the day Nancy said. They were a rust-proofing company nearby. Sure enough as I could tell from looking, the underneath appeared to be perfect. For a western PA car this was as good as you would ever see.

She said the car has not run in 4+ years but in fact after we got done looking at the last state inspection stickers on November 2011 it has 10,814 miles on the odometer (I still have those stickers) it was hardly driven for 9 years. The car was sitting now in her driveway with only 10,846 miles. She told me a lot of stories about the Z and apparently, she had done some online research about their values. Even though the car's battery was long dead (and not connected) there was no way to start the car on that day to verify anything mechanical. I had enough years experiencing buying older vehicles to know it would not be started until it was safe to do so. She told me the figure she wanted and although higher than I thought it was worth I wrote the check and told her I would be back (hopefully in the near future) to take her for a ride.

The next morning, I had the car towed to our garage. Our guys carefully washed the car and never opened the doors, the interior was as mentioned surgically clean. We rolled the Z on the lift and the first underneath inspection confirmed not a single rust spot. With a car that's been sitting the fear is always gas. We dropped the tank and removed the sending unit and cleaned both. We then disconnected the fuel filter and blew the fuel lines backwards into a glass jar so we could inspect the fuel clarity. It was good. The fuel pump was inoperative, but the fuel damper was fine. We placed the sending unit into the tank with a new gasket. We reconnected the tank and filled with fresh gas and added a new fuel pump and fuel filter. A new battery, quick oil change and radiator flush and a few turns of the key (without starting) to pressurize the fuel system and the Z roared back to life. The engine ran at idle like a she did on the fall of 1982 and THE A/C WAS BLOWING COLD. Every mechanic in that garage could not believe it.

The Z had her original Bridgestone SF Radial tires, brakes and pads that we still kept but replaced for safety sake. The clutch master cylinder was replaced and the car drove out of the garage with EVERY single button and factory option working like it did the day she arrived at the dealership 37 years ago. Even the voice that 'The door is open" to the power antenna to the Digital "OK" check system all working flawlessly.

We had the hatchback shocks replaced and new wipers installed. Two more oil changes and two additional radiator flushes after driving for 15 mile intervals and added a second fuel filter just to be safe. This is a Z you could take across the country. Every piece of original equipment has been carefully stored (again including the original tires which still hold air).

The Z comes with the original factory sticker, the original manual, front bra and a small Z pillow Nancy bought and a decal for the top of the windshield that was all the rage in the 80's (Nancy elected not to put on). Not one spot has been touched on this car, ABSOLUTELY NO PAINTWORK, no rust, nothing to repair.

A rarer non-T-Top Slick Back look on this 10,000 Mile ORIGINAL 1983 DATSUN 280ZX for your consideration. Thank you.

Car is being offered locally and we reserve the right to end auction early