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[Home] [History - The Z] |
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|Intro| |1960's| |1969| |1970| |1971| |1972| |1973| |1974| |1975| |1976| |1977| |1978| |1979| |
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A SIGN OF THE TIMES For American cars sold in 1973. the HJG46W carburettors were replaced by HMB46W units, and manifolds were changed to include exhaust recirculation equipment to burn off excess hydrocarbons. The new carburettors were supposed to be easier to tune in order to meet regulations, but the new system made car hard to drive smoothly. The carburettors would be modified five times before the end of 1974! Fortunately the old style carburettors were retained in teh Uk as the emission regulations were not quite so stringent. At the same time, cars for the states needed stronger bumpers and mountings to meet the new shock absorbtion regulation. In all, almost 100lbs was added to the weight of the car (almost 10%), whilst at the same time, power was reduced to 129bhp, with torque down to 127lbft. The strengthening exchange rate of teh Yen began to exert pressure on the price of the 240Z, with the oil crisis, the Yen was now at 253 per $, whereas it was over 100 Yen more 2 years before. The Sports & GT Cars magazine highlighted that “The bargain days are gone” this put the 240Z is a different class where it didn’t fare so well in reviews. It was rather like the situation in the UK, where the Z had moved up a division in effect. Its reputation in America had been established, though: the waiting list had gone and the buyer could get exactly what he wanted, but it was still just as popular. During 1972, the 240Z had been listed at $4,106 in America, rising to $4,695 in ‘73, this was almost the same in pounds in the UK. the extra emissions equipment and new crash regulations had blunted performance and, at the same time the cars were heavier, something had to happen. Something did, and the last 240Z had been built in July of 1973. The Tokyo show in the same year saw the debut of the new 260Z, the range had also been extended with the addition of a 2+2 model. SALES
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