To settle an arguement, was this vehicle
available as an 8 cylinder vehicle?
NO. Nissan made famously smooth and powerful straight six engines; at that time, 8 cylinder engines were a rarity in Japan. A friend of mine had a 280Z, which succeeded the 260Z, which succeeded the original 240Z. I believe the designation refrerred more to dispacement and horsepower to differentiate it from previous models. There was not a lot of room under the hood of this narrow, treamlined miniature Jauguar XK-E
I worked for Nissan a while and saw a lot of the Z-cars, I’ve never seen, heard, nor read of anything in them other than the in-line 6.
However, a number of people over the years have performed V-8 conversions on them just like Jaguars. The Chevy 350 is the usual option since they’re reliable and inexpensive.
There’s a guy near here with a 260Z that has a supercharged Chevy 454 in it. The factory never went this far with them, but this particular Z is a hoot to watch. Runs 8s in the quarter even while pulling the front wheels off the ground.
I believe the 240Z was more a copy of a ferrari 365 GT, than a jag:
Not from the factory, but a lot of older Zs have been converted to V8 power by their owners.
Thanks for the information…I used to own a 1976 280Z, but I thought it was an 8 cylinder…but being a woman, I really didn’t pay that much attention to that stuff. I just know it was a great car and I’m sorry I sold it. It finally rusted out, but I should have had it restored…So
it looks like I lost an argument too!!
One inherent problem with the straight 6 Z’s (240,260, & 280) was that long aluminum head with over valve cam. If it was overheated the head would warp. If it was warped bad enough the cam shaft would sieze and break. The head could not be milled much before it was unuseable. Even after the head was milled something would still have to be done about the misalignment of the cam shaft journals and the looser cam chain. Finding a useable head at a salvage yard became difficult and the dealer parts department wanted a lot for a factory original replacement, if one was available. The pity was that the short block would be in great condition with the hone marks still visible and hardly any ring ridge.
Installing a Chevy mouse motor with appropriate hopup equipment was very cost effective; added a sizeable horse power up grade; got rid of the troublesome fuel injection system; and retained the snappy handling characteristics of the ‘Z’. What a great transplant!
I worked for Nissan a while and saw a lot of the Z-cars, I’ve never seen, heard, nor read of anything in them other than the in-line 6.
I thought the 300z was a V6…3.0V6 to be exact???
Only in our generation(Z31, 1984-89). 280Z is called S30 model and V6s are not available in that era(1970-78).