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Price opinion from advertisements and recorded sales. Not an inspection or a certified valuation.
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Reference photograph of a Datsun 240Z
Valuation · Datsun · S30 · 1970-74

Datsun 240Z

2.4L inline six · 113 kW / 198 Nm · 5sp manual · RWD
BUYRated within the $30k to $100k band · 16 of 94 at this money
Model value
$56,000
Must gain each year to break even
+7.9%
The projection does not clear it, and nor does most of the library.
CarQuant score
58/100
Scored against the $30k to $100k band, not the whole library
Evidence grade
Measured
Four or more recorded Australian sales
$56,000
$43,062 lowhigh $58,866
Calibrated to recorded sales
Thirteen Australian results and twelve cars: eleven auction lots from 2021 to 2026 between $37,200 and $83,001, one car in the run sold twice at minus 9.6 per cent, plus a 2018 Shannons result and one undated ledger sale

Looking at a 240Z for sale?

Put in the asking price and the odometer reading. You will see what this model should make at that reading.

Should make, typical example
$56,000
At about 130,000 km. Enter an asking price to compare.

Odometer only. Colour, options, history, condition and the photographs move it further, and that is what the report reads.

A person reads the advertisement and its photographs. Usually back within 48 hours. Read a real listing report

Price history

Today $56,000 · modelled median at five years $51,438
Solid line: the value this library has carriedDashed from 2026: modelled · even money $47,032 to $55,345
The green band is the even-money range and the one to plan on: half of outcomes land inside it. The pale band behind it bounds eight in ten ($43,062 to $58,866). The path is this model's own: it starts along the momentum of its recorded history and bends toward its projected median as the horizon lengthens, so no two cars share a future curve.

The verdict

Strong within its price band. Scores 58/100, ranking 16 of 94 in the $30k to $100k band. Demand durability is the strongest input, scarcity the weakest.
Running it costs about $4,450 a year (7.9% of value), which is what the economics score measures. All in, including the projected value change, it is $5,990 a year.
The model's five year median is $51,438, a -8.1% move, with the tenth percentile at $43,062.
Value calibrated to recorded sales.
Evidence
Measured13 recorded sales
Off its peak
-26%
Value band
tight
Multiple recorded transactions plus an aggregate source. Treat the level as reliable.
Scored against every recent Australian sale this library holds, half its values land within 11.2 per cent of the price paid and the rest miss by more, in either direction. Projections are therefore damped toward flat in proportion to how little is known, and the plausible band is never narrower than the error the model is known to make.
Short term (1-5 years)$5,990 a year all in, -8.1% median value move
Long term (10-15 years)Scarcity case already formed
Negotiate from$56,000

Recorded sales

Every recorded observation, and when
13 rows on record
$102k$65k$29k
20182020202220242026
the value this record published, year by yearnow $56kwhat the model expects across 2k–153k kmsold1 row is undated and is not plotted
Every row, with its price and note (13) ↓
Library value against the sold record
13 sales · median $58,000
Value $56,000
$37,200$83,001
recentAustralian Muscle Car Sales$75,000Sold
The one verified 240Z sale on the AMCS ledger since 2003. Date not published; recorded as a completed transaction
Mar 2026Collecting Cars$44,749Sold
SOLD. 24 Mar 2026, Chittaway Point NSW, 90,766 miles - 146,073km - indicated and not warranted. 1973 car, Electric Blue Metallic, upgraded to a 2.8-litre L28 on triple SUs with a five-speed. Resprayed and retrimmed in a 2008 restoration. Rust under the paint on a lower guard, passenger door will not open from outside, driver window inoperative, sagging roof lining. SAME CAR AS THE PERTH RESULT OF JULY 2025 - identical itemised Audiinos service of September 2023 at 89,489 miles - 836 miles later and 9.6 per cent cheaper
Sep 2025Collecting Cars$54,444Sold
SOLD. 30 Sep 2025, Bassendean WA, 7,541 miles indicated and the true distance not known. 1973 car, metallic green over tan, original 2.4 L24 with an E31 high-compression head, Crow cam and BC Racing coilovers. Won the Datsun Register WA People Choice Best Z in 2011 and the Colin Schipp People Choice at Datsuns in the Park in 2024, and the trophies are included
Sep 2025Collecting Cars$37,200Sold
SOLD. 22 Sep 2025, Kilmore VIC, 68,131 miles - 109,646km. 1973 car, metallic blue, reconditioned 2.4 with about 27,600km since, twenty years with the seller. Service history to be confirmed by paperwork; repaired rust on the passenger door, peeling clear coat, surface rust on the bonnet, cracks in the hatch paint. The low of the run
Jul 2025Collecting Cars$49,500Sold
SOLD. 22 Jul 2025, Perth WA, 89,930 miles - 144,725km. 1973 car, Electric Blue Metallic, 2.8-litre L28 on triple SUs, seventeen years with the seller, restored in 2008 with documentation and an itemised parts list. Second gear drops out off load. RESOLD at Chittaway Point in March 2026 for $44,749
Apr 2025Collecting Cars$68,500Sold
SOLD. 7 Apr 2025, Adelaide SA, 7,725 miles indicated and not warranted. 1970 Series 1 on a bare-metal restoration completed inside three years - new floor pans, chassis rails and hatch slam panel - in 2K white with Fairlady Z flares and JDM fender mirrors. L28 on triple 45mm Webers with a 280ZX five-speed, Nismo 3.9 two-way limited-slip differential, R33 booster and four-piston front brakes. Twenty years with the seller
Nov 2024Collecting Cars$58,000Sold
SOLD. 14 Nov 2024, Highett VIC, 33,262km indicated and the true distance not known. 1971 car, white, rebuilt 2.4 L24 on triple 40mm Webers, Wilwood front brakes, Techno Toy coilovers, R200 differential. Respray and rust repairs in 2013, further rust repairs in 2022, and a chassis rail pulled straight on a rig in 2016
Oct 2024Collecting Cars$42,000Sold
SOLD. 31 Oct 2024, Penrith NSW, 95,167 miles - 153,157km. 1973 car repainted from silver to British Racing Green with white roundels and race numbers, campaigned in classic regularity rallies for eleven years. Very worn driver seat and a cracked dashboard top. A used competition car, and priced as one
Jul 2024Collecting Cars$63,500Sold
SOLD. 11 Jul 2024, Waterford West QLD, 78,747 miles - 126,733km. 1971 car in Safari Gold, a one-year-only colour, twenty-seven years with the third owner. Meticulous bare-metal restoration - new rear hatch, sill and chassis rail, engine rebuilt, seats retrimmed in leather - with a comprehensive documentation folder, the factory-optioned fibreglass spoilers and a Vintage Air conversion
Jun 2024Collecting Cars$83,001Sold
SOLD. 12 Jun 2024, Cedar Creek QLD, odometer reading 2,365km with the seller stating the true figure is about 106,336km. 1973 car first registered in Osaka in August 1973 to a buyer at the Australian Consulate and imported here in December 1974; third owner of three, eight years in this ownership. Two folders of paperwork covering 1974 to 2001 and 2017 to date, Japanese owner booklets and the original sales leaflet. THE TOP OF THE AUSTRALIAN RUN, and it is neither the most restored nor the lowest-distance car in it
Dec 2023Collecting Cars$58,250Sold
SOLD. 29 Dec 2023, Deewhy NSW, 50,242 miles - 80,857km - indicated and not warranted. 1971 car in orange, 2.4 on triple Solexes with an E88 high-compression head and an RB30 five-speed, titanium exhaust and coilovers. Underbody damage to a chassis rail, rectified by replacing the entire floor
Dec 2021Collecting Cars$73,000Sold
SOLD. 2 Dec 2021, Sydney NSW, 20,616km indicated and the true distance unknown. 1973 car in red on a 280Z 2.8-litre L28 and a four-speed, with a 260Z bonnet and custom fender vents, from a deceased estate. The high of the pre-2024 market
Feb 2018Shannons Melbourne$45,000Sold
1969 Fairlady 240Z, lot 37, MODIFIED - originality drives this market, and this result shows what a modified car forfeits
13 completed Australian sales of 13 rows. Rows marked asking, no sale, or context are shown for honesty but do not count toward the evidence grade: an ask is not a transaction, a pass-in is a refusal, and a provenance or overseas result does not price the ordinary local car. The badge on every row is computed by the same rule as the grade, so the two cannot drift apart.

Score breakdown

Against the $30k to $100k band median
94 cars in band · ink tick marks the median
Ownership economics30% of total
62/100+7
Scarcity25% of total
40/100-13
Demand durability20% of total
68/100+2
Liquidity15% of total
62/100+10
Risk resilience10% of total
60/100+24
Sub-scores run 0-100 before weighting; the weighted total is 58/100. Medians are computed live from the 94 cars currently in the $30k to $100k band, so this picture moves when the library does.
The working behind each factor: baseline and drivers ↓
Ownership economics30% weight
62/100
Baseline82 pts
− 7.9% of value a year to run-20 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)62 pts
Scarcity25% weight
40/100
Baseline22 pts
+ Roughly 900 estimated survivors, rust took the rest+18 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)40 pts
Demand durability20% weight
68/100
Baseline34 pts
+ The founding Japanese classic, demand proven for decades+26 pts
+ Priced far below its US equivalents, which pulls exports+8 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)68 pts
Liquidity15% weight
62/100
Baseline12 pts
+ 58 days on market+34 pts
+ 25 sales a year+16 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)62 pts
Risk resilience10% weight
60/100
Baseline88 pts
− Rust in structural sections, expensive to make right-18 pts
− Replica and re-shelled cars in circulation-10 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)60 pts
Model output, not advice or a valuation. Verify independently before acting.

What it costs to own · about 2,500 km a year

Annual cost of access, excl. fuel
$4,450a year
Share of value per year
7.9%
Scheduled servicing$90020%
Tyres, annualised$50011%
Registration and CTP$70016%
Insurance$95021%
Sinking fund (failure table)$1,40031%
All-in annualised (a different number)
Purchase (model value plus duty)$58,240
Running costs × 5 years$22,250
Median exit, net of selling cost$50,538
All-in annualised over 5 years$5,990/yr
Share of value per year10.7%
Cost of access is what the car costs to run. All-in annualised adds depreciation, duty and selling costs across a five year hold. They answer different questions and are labelled separately for that reason.
Break-even appreciation, 5 year hold
7.9%a year, only to get the money back
This library projects
-1.7%a year
The projection falls 9.6 points a year short of the hurdle. On these assumptions this car is a cost, not an asset, which can be an entirely rational thing to buy but should be bought knowing it.
Purchase$56,000
Stamp duty$2,240
Running costs x 5 years$22,250
Selling cost at exit, 1.6% of the salescales with price
Sale price needed at +5 years$81,805
Storage
Bought at
No forecast is used to compute the hurdle. It is the purchase, the duty, any premium and 5 years of running cost, grossed up for the cost of selling and spread back over the hold. The projection it is measured against is the weakest number in this product and is drawn that way in the chart above. Transport, finance and any restoration spend sit outside it.

Specification

Engine2.4L inline six
Power / torque113 kW / 198 Nm
0-100 km/h8 s
Transmission5sp manual
DriveRWD
Kerb weight1,045 kg
Built worldwide160,000
Delivered to Australia2,500
Effective AU survivors900
Australian sales / year25
Typical days on market58 days
Launch price$4,850

What moves the price on this model

Colour hierarchy
918 Orange+5%
Racing Green+3%
Silver+1%
White0%
Options
Matching-numbers L24 and gearbox+12%
Original rust-free floors and rails verified+15%
Factory hubcaps, tools and jack+3%
Odometer sensitivity±0.5% per 10,000 km vs 130,000 km
Applied on top of these

Condition, history, originality, ownership, delivery and modification multipliers apply to every car in the library. They are applied automatically when an advertisement is analysed, and the schedule is set out once, on the analyser page.

Projected value in five years

Projected value at five years
$51,438
-8.1% on today
The model's figure. Today it is $56,000.
Even odds it lands between $47,032 and $55,345.
$43,062 lowhigh $58,866
The shaded range is even money and 18% wide; the outer figures bound eight outcomes in ten. Band width follows the evidence - a model with a tight measured record carries a tight band.
A weaker five year outlook than 81% of the library.
-26.6% weakest projected move in the librarystrongest +73.1%
Five-year cost of ownership
Value change alone: -$4,562 across five years.
Running costs over the same period: $22,250.
Duty and expected selling costs: $3,140.
Net cost of five years of ownership: $29,950, or $5,990 a year.
The projected value fall is added to the running cost. Depreciation is the larger number here.

The case for and against

The case for

The entry ticket to blue-chip Japanese classics, with a genuine Australian five-speed specification and a survivor pool small enough that good original cars get chased. The US market values these far higher, which sets a gravitational pull.

The case against

The run is falling: the four results since January 2025 average $51,223 against $62,958 for the six before them, and the one repeat sale in the record came back 9.6 per cent lower. Rust remediation can exceed the value of the car, and the gap between a $45,000 driver and a $145,000 restoration is wide enough to lose money in.

Known faults and risks

Risk 1Structural rust
Risk 2Re-shelled and rebadged Fairladys
Risk 3Restoration costs exceeding value
Rust repair, floors and rails$18,000
Engine rebuild (L24)$9,000
Carburettor rebuild and tune$1,800

Similar cars, and what they cost to run

Evidence behind this valueMeasured · 13 recorded sales
Carried value
$56,000
Historical price
2016 · $42,0002026 · $56,000
Measured
Multiple recorded transactions plus an aggregate source. Treat the level as reliable.
Thirteen Australian results and twelve cars

The placeholder rows this record held for one pass are gone. Eleven of the thirteen are auction lots spanning December 2021 to March 2026 - $37,200, $42,000, $44,749, $49,500, $54,444, $58,000, $58,250, $63,500, $68,500, $73,000 and $83,001 - and behind them sit two older markers: a modified 1969 car at $45,000 at Shannons Melbourne in February 2018, and one completed transaction at $75,000 on the Australian Muscle Car Sales ledger, the only 240Z it has recorded since 2003 and the one row here with no date published. Across all thirteen the median is $58,000 and the mean $57,857. Across the eleven-lot run, with the repeated chassis counted once, the median is $58,125 and the mean $58,264.

Read the rest of the evidence notes (8 more)
The repeat sale is confirmed, not inferred

A 1973 car in Electric Blue Metallic on a 2.8-litre L28 with triple SUs sold at Perth on 22 July 2025 showing 89,930 miles for $49,500, and at Chittaway Point in New South Wales on 24 March 2026 showing 90,766 miles for $44,749. Both listings recite the same itemised Audiinos Performance service of September 2023 at 89,489 miles - the same master cylinders, the same Carter fuel pump, the same carburettor rebuild, the same suspension bushes - and the same 2008 restoration. Eight hundred and thirty-six miles and eight months apart, MINUS 9.6 PER CENT. The new owner changed the wheels; nothing else about the car did.

The market is falling and this sample can see it

Price against date correlates at minus 0.578 across the ten cars and implies about $6,900 a year. The six results before 2025 average $62,958; the four since average $51,223. The repeat sale points the same way at a steeper annualised rate over a shorter window. Three independent readings of the same direction is as much agreement as this library usually gets.

The value moves from $68,000 to $56,000

The four results of 2025 and 2026 are $37,200 for a car whose service history is unconfirmed, $44,749 for the repeat-sale car with a door that will not open and a window that does not work, $54,444 for a twice-awarded show car and $68,500 for a bare-metal restoration. This record prices a good, honest, original car, which belongs above the mean of those four and below the restored one.

The odometer is verbatim useless on this model and the lots say so themselves

Five of the eleven state the true distance is unknown or different from the reading: 2,365 kilometres shown on a car the seller says has covered 106,336, 7,541 miles on a car whose true figure is not known, 20,616 kilometres unknown, 7,725 miles not warranted, 33,262 kilometres not known. Fitted across the six readings that are credible, distance correlates at minus 0.419 and implies 4.7 per cent per 10,000 kilometres - and that fit is built on a subset chosen for believability, which is not a fit at all. The penalty stays at 0.5 per cent. On a fifty-year-old car with a replaceable instrument cluster, the odometer is a decoration.

What the top result was bought for

The $83,001 Cedar Creek car is not the most restored, not the lowest-distance and not the most modified. It is the one with an unbroken paper trail: first registered in Osaka in August 1973 to a buyer at the Australian Consulate, imported in December 1974, two folders of documents running 1974 to 2001 and 2017 to date. On this model provenance outbid restoration by nineteen thousand dollars.

Engine swaps are not penalised, which contradicts what this record used to say

Four of the eleven lots - three cars, because two of the four are the repeat sale - run 2.8-litre L28 or 280Z engines in place of the original 2.4, and they made $44,749, $49,500, $68,500 and $73,000 - the bottom of the run and the second-highest of it. The originality premium this market is famous for attaches to the body, the documentation and the paint, not to the engine number. The 2018 Shannons result for a modified car at $45,000 is now the weakest support in this record rather than its cornerstone.

What does get punished

A rally car. The British Racing Green Penrith car with roundels on its doors made $42,000, second-lowest of the ten, on eleven years of regularity events. SOURCING: auction lot pages read in full, one to one against each result. This is the strongest evidence grade this record has ever carried.

Foreign context, unchanged

An American market averaging about US$35,800 - roughly A$54,000 - that paid US$265,000 for the best car of 2026 and the equivalent of A$463,000 for a 34,000-kilometre time capsule in 2020, and a 9,600-kilometre Australian car asking $115,000. Asks are not sales.

This page prices the model.
The report prices the car in the advertisement.

Send the link. A person reads the advertisement and its photographs and sends back what that Datsun 240Z is worth, what to offer and when to walk away, with five years of costs at the distance you drive.

Read a real listing report

Backed by 13 recorded Australian sales of this model. Read a complete one on a real car first. Seventeen sections, no account, nothing to pay.

This model, today$56,000
Half of sales are further out than$6,260
The report$249
25×
the price of the report: what half of real sales of this model sit further from this page's number than, on this car
Watch this model
Told when the next one is called.

One line of email when this desk publishes a call on a Datsun 240Z, or records a new Australian sale of one. Nothing else, no schedule, and on a quiet model you may hear nothing for months, which is itself worth knowing about a car you are chasing.

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240Z for sale?Priced by a person, $249