My Fairlady Z

Here is the reason for the existance of this web site. My '74 2 seater Fairlady Z. Known as a 260Z in most markets, this car started out as a Japanese domestic market vehicle powered by a L20, 2 litre, six cylinder engine with two flat top Hitatchi carburettors producing an indicated 125ps. In 1986 this car found it's way to New Zealand where it had several owners before I bought it from a used car dealer in '94. Upon seeing it I just had to have it and from that moment on I had become a diehard Z convert! This black and white picture was taken about four years ago.

Unfortunately the internet was completely foreign to me at that stage and being my first car it was to be a very steep learning curve and the fact that it died the day I bought it was to prove a bad omen! I often look back and think...if I had access to some of those technical forums on the internet back then, then I would have saved an absolute shitload of money!

Bring on the twisties!

While I used to think that the old Fairlady handled pretty well when I bought it(and it did), the suspension was getting pretty tired. This fact really bore home when I took it to a couple of track days. I found myself constantly battling excessive understeer particularly in the tight stuff and trying to steer it on the throttle made little impact as the soft saggy rear end had too much grip relative to the front.

So a trip to the suspension shop and a large wod of cash later, she came out lowered about an inch or two with new springs and shocks. What a huge difference this made to the whole feel and balance of the car! Unfortunately I haven't been to a track day since the work was done but there is little doubt that I would be knocking seconds of my lap times. Attacking say a tightish corner at about 100km/h and backing off mid way through results in a beautiful little slid as the weight transfer causes the rear to loose grip while the front tyres bite relentlesly, something that is easily controlled with a little steering and throttle input. Out of everything it is probably the handling aspect that I enjoy most about this car.

To read about the motor in the old Z, go to the Engine section under Technical Info.

For a read about my car's four piston brake setup, go to Brakes under the Technical Info section.