Six months since the last DOTS Datsun Z? What's going on here? Since they don't really rust here, I think the shortage of early Zs on the street has something to do with their hoon-friendly qualities; most of them were wrecked, blown up, or otherwise hooned to death. We know they can take a lot of punishment on the race track, too. I've found a few of the early-80s ZXs I might go ahead and shoot, since now I know we have fans of the Late Malaise Zs here.

I spotted this Middle Malaise Z parked just a few spaces down from the beateriffic Toyota AE86. Naturally, the first thing I thought was "track down the owner and see if he'll sell it for under $500," because this beast has 24 Hours of LeMons written all over it.


Of course, that was before we found the $100 Volvo. This 280Z has been hit, Bondoed, hit, Bondoed, and then hit some more. The owner finally gave up on the whole rear bumper idea, opting for a devil-may-care bumperless treatment. Now the big tailpipe serves as sort of an extra-traumatic parallel-parking proximity indicator.


You never know- maybe this car will continue to soldier on in its present condition for another 20 years before being crushed (or made into a LeMons racer). Or maybe it will be painstakingly restored and auctioned for a trillion yen in the year 2036.

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