Well done Frank!
You should seriously think of submitting your post to some of the auto rags, including Hemmings and Hagerty. Second to hooking up with my wife, purchasing my Z back in 1971 was the smartest decision I have ever made!
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| HLS30-00013 turns 50 today! http://forums.ctzcc.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9699 |
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| Author: | Frank T [ Tue Oct 22, 2019 2:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | HLS30-00013 turns 50 today! |
Happy 50th birthday to Rick Morgan's 1969 240Z. On 22Oct69, HLS30-00013 was released from the factory as the first-ever 240Z sent to the American market. It was delivered to fill an order for a Hampton Roads VA Datsun dealer, and first registered on a North Carolina title. Other new LHD (HLS30-) Z cars accompanied it on the first shipload, including HLS30-00016, which technically became the first 240Z *sold* to the American market when the delivery ship docked in Texas. That car now belongs to our member Jimbo Frederick in Florida. (We will have to ask Carl Beck what the actual birthdate of that car is). In any event, "Lucky 13" is the lowest-numbered VIN of any LHD 240Z sold in North America. We have acknowledged each of #13's birthdays ever since it joined us 10 years ago. This year's birthday is more significant than any of the previous because it marks a milestone for *ALL* of our Zs. Today, 22Oct2019, the Z car officially changes from a 'collectable' car or a 'special interest' car and attains actual CLASSIC CAR status. Like all other real classic cars, the 240Z is now eligible for regular Concours d'Elegance judging, and several of our members attended the very first 240Z Concours d'Elegance held in Lake George NY this summer. A woman from Milford CT took top honors in her class with her perfect 280ZX. Top 240Z honors went to a ZCCNE member from Massachusetts. Several members of the CTZCC were selected to enter their cars in the final judging and the Z turnout was excellent (covered in another Post about that event). But there is another edge to this sword. With true collectible status, the prices of 240Zs have begun to raise into something akin to fiction. Street 240Zs which might have brought $12,000 on a lucky day even 3 years ago, are now commanding prices in the $20,000s and even mid-$30,000s. Even some parts cars which will never see the road again are being sold (and bought!) at prices around $8-9-10,000 dollars. It's gone craZy. My own car has risen to $40,000 replacement insurance, and the company offered to cover it to $50k. Several 240Zs have recently been auctioned at over $100,000, and our member Doc Robbins' HLS30-00006 Bob Sharp race car is being offered in closed circles for $1 million dollars. While that might be wonderful news to the handful of owners who are watching their initial investment triple, it bears sad news for the rest of the world. The 240Z is basically no longer attainable by the average gearhead kid with a 9-5 blue collar job. I will always remember hearing our member Mike Englehart bemoan the fact that the prices of Z cars kept climbing out of proportion to standard inflation rates. He predicted that the price of our cars might eventually grow beyond the ability of the common kid to own one. Mike was adamant that one of the most-beautiful factors of these very-beautiful cars was their price. At $3400 new, the hot little 240Z was just the ticket for the performance-minded young car enthusiast who worked at the local garage or mowed lawns for a living or some-such other modest income job. And the kid could work on the simplistic engine himself. The 240Z was the very-best bang-for-the-buck of the entire 1970s decade. And the cars were absolute chick-magnets. (I have actually looked around our annual picnics, wondering how many of them were sired because of a 240Z in their parents' history? Anybody under 50 today is eligible for that possible distinction). Just think; you might not even exist today if your dad hadn't bought a 240 back in the 1970s which caught your mom's eye. You can look at any old Z car today and wonder what secret events it has caused. But as the prices for the early Zs (and parts cars) rise, they have a ripple effect thru the entire series. If you've always wanted a Series-1 240Z but now can't afford the new prices, you will set your sights on later models which are still somewhat affordable. When a few hundred thousand of you get that same idea at once, the prices for the later models will jump, as well. Mike E. never struck me as much of a Prophet, but he sure was 100% correct that time. Maybe we should all start paying more attention to what he says? Accordingly, that pile of spare Z parts in your garage has just taken a huge leap for junk-kind today, increasing in value.....a lot. Today you can take inventory and proudly strut before your wife and boast that your "Investment" has finally paid off and that she should stop throwing your other old stuff out immediately. And you might consider calling your insurance company about the new realistic replacement value of your now-Classic Datsun. Happy 50th Birthday, Datsun 240Z. You have touched each of our lives in wonderful ways, and have always been a classic to us. Frank T |
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| Author: | johnnyZ [ Tue Oct 22, 2019 5:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: HLS30-00013 turns 50 today! |
Well done Frank! You should seriously think of submitting your post to some of the auto rags, including Hemmings and Hagerty. Second to hooking up with my wife, purchasing my Z back in 1971 was the smartest decision I have ever made!
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| Author: | Frank T [ Wed Oct 23, 2019 2:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: HLS30-00013 turns 50 today! |
 
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| Author: | Frank T [ Sat Dec 07, 2019 9:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: HLS30-00013 turns 50 today! |
Congratulations to our member Jimbo Frederick of Lutz Florida, who now owns Rick Morgan's Oct/69 Lucky #13 and Nov/69 HLS30-00171 240Zs! Both cars were professionally transported down to Jimbo's Z Mecca this month. |
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