So, a 240Z ain't all that bad

Last weekend was the Prescott Rally, and for a variety of non-rally-related reasons I wasn't going to go, but at the last minute I got a call asking if I knew anyone who could codrive for Brian Scott in his '71 240Z. Some of you may remember the car from last year's Idaho event. It's a beautifully prepped car, built to Historic specs.

At Idaho, he didn't have it set up right and was having troubles getting it to turn, and ended up stuffing it a bunch of times, including an off that did a fair amount of body damage. He got the bodywork fixed and sorted out the handling, but Prescott would be its first event since then.

I volunteered to codrive for him - I'm mostly a driver, but I started out as a codriver and do it occasionally just for fun. Well, he was nervous - he'd sorted out the handling but hadn't driven it hard since that disastrous Idaho, and I was nervous - the last time I'd codriven was in 2009 with Lars Wolfe, where we became known for our spectacular rolls into the woods. So we came up with a game plan were we were going to take it easy at first and just see how things went.

The first couple of stages, run right at sunset, were moderate. We weren't terribly fast, but not too bad either. We were the second fastest 2WD on both Stage 1 and 2, each time about 20 seconds slower than the Marciniaks. I started feeling a little nauseous right off, but kinda clamped my jaw, breathed deep, and stuck with it. After service, I was really worried about that because the next two stages were after dark, and that's usually when codrivers really lose it.

Well, just the opposite happened. Brian started feeling more comfortable with the car, and we picked up some speed. We still lost to the Marciniaks on Stage 3, but only by a few seconds. My stomach settled down and I was really able to concentrate on getting the notes out to him properly. On stage 4, we finally got into the groove and beat the Marciniaks by about 25 seconds. Not enough to get us the win for the night, but close enough to make the next day look encouraging.

Back to the hotel. No damage to the car. Get a good night's sleep, wake up, and off we went at 8am.

Well, Saturday, it was no contest. Brian found the "Go Fast" button, and I apparently called the notes ok for him. Not sure - he doesn't say much when he's driving. My stomach was fine all day - not even a whisper of the Friday nausea. At any rate, I didn't hear any complaints from him and we got through all the stages without any sketchy moments at all, and won 2WD in every single one. We ended up winning 2WD for the day by almost two minutes, and 2WD for the event by a minute and a half - and ended up third overall.

The car's shorter than you might think. The long long hood makes it look bigger, but it's got a 90" wheelbase. The inside's not too bad - a little cramped but no worse than an RX-7 and a lot better than something like an MR2. You don't really notice how long the hood is when you're in the car - it's certainly not a problem on crests or anything. The main issue for me was that you're sitting almost on top of the rear wheels, and when the car gets pivoting you get flung around quite a bit.

By moving the gas tank (fuel cell) and careful planning of where the spare was, he'd gotten the weight distribution down to about 51:49, so the car was pretty tossable and flew level off yumps.

The big ol' straight six has tons of torque, and put down the power smoothly. I was told it makes an interesting howl, but I couldn't hear it from inside the car.

Quite a fun little car, and it looks like parts are still pretty plentiful for it.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Righteous!

sounds like good times.

Sounds like fun, those are great cars to mess around in!

I spent a decent amount of my childhood riding in a 240z on logging roads. It's quite fun.

I love those cars...If I could find a clean one for a reasonable price, I'd own one. But everything nearby seems to be a rot box or a millions bucks.

My first "to be road car purchase" was a 240Z... (I had bought several field cars previously)

I had worked all summer pruning christmas trees for the professor neighbour across from our farm. He had a '72 240z on blocks in a shed, and I had driven his near perfect '71 several times and loved it (what 16 yr old wouldn't). The "shed one" was pretty rough but I was smitten. In Sept we took it off the blocks and pulled it out of the shed with his tractor. The front subframe folded...

He asked if he should make out a cheque, and I left the car where it was...

I only wish it had have been "more drivable" and I had gotten the chance to get it on the road. Although my subsiquent '80 Celica was pretty damn fun too.

Drool of a car.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2013 09:14PM by Mad Matt F.

That car looks awazing! I was bummed to see it do so bad at last years Idaho Rally. I'm glad he got it figured out!

Yeah, he really gave it a wallop at Idaho. Good to hear it's back and going. It was nice enough to be a show car. My cousin just slid an sr20 with a good sized turbo into his 72 street car. Loads of fun!

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hoche
The car's shorter than you might think. The long long hood makes it look bigger, but it's got a 90" wheelbase.

You're not kidding, I never would have believed it was that short - that's only 4" longer than my CRX. Really would like to find an old 240 in good shape for a DD.

Good write-up, too; glad you didn't puke.

Correction: Wikipedia has it as a 90.7" wheelbase. Still pretty damn short, but I was off a little bit.

Just now, I was amusing myself by comparing it to a Lancia Stratos, which had 85.8" wheelbase and an engine with about the same HP, but weighs about 200lbs less. Of course, the occupant/engine position is reversed, and nothing on earth is as sexy as a Stratos, but it's an interesting comparison.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/09/20/bat-exclusive-1997-hawk-hf3000-lancia-stratos-kit/

Would make a fun 0 car..

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This isn't floor mat anarchy