The enduring appeal of this 1982 Datsun 280-ZX shows from nearly 40 years with the same owner

The special Datsun Z/ZX gathering at the 2019 Hemmings Motor News Concours d'Elegance was the most populous and popular of that year's invitation-only event, with no fewer than 16 240, 260, and 280 Zs and ZXs carefully arranged on the lawn. That strongly contested class would include examples from Nissan's own North America Heritage Collection fleet, as well as the AACA Museum. One of those 16 sports cars—incidentally the newest on display, and one of just two 280-ZXs present—really caught our eye, both for its incredibly preserved original condition, and for its touching history. We visited that car on its home turf last fall, and spent some time with its caretakers, to share it with you.

The shimmering copper-gold ZX with fewer than 18,000 miles on its odometer had drawn throngs of admirers during the Concours, and it was one of the elite three to leave Lake George, New York, with a class trophy. Accepting that was its owner, Connecticut resident Joyce Fitzgerald, and it was driven onto the red carpet by Rick Reale. Longtime Hemmings Classic Car readers may remember Rick for his 1941 Packard Clipper, which starred as a Driveable Dream in the September 2009 issue; it was he who'd proposed Joyce's Z-car for this special class, and who, aided by Joyce's daughter Colleen, arranged to bring the car up to Lake George for the show.

Rick has known our feature car since his lifelong friend, Joyce's late husband Reid, purchased it as a surprise in April 1984. At that time, the "Datsun 280-ZX by Nissan" was virtually new, a low-mileage creampuff that Reid bought off the lot at the former Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership, Merriam Motors, in Wallingford. He paid $11,190.53 for it, a sum roughly equal to $28,045 in today's dollars; this wasn't inexpensive, but represented a savings from the $14,499 the car cost brand new, two years earlier. Joyce remembers her first glimpse: "Reid always loved cars. He thought I was special, and I deserved something special. When I saw it in the driveway, the color was just gorgeous. I said, 'Let's go for a ride!'"

The cockpit presents like new, which is no surprise considering the car had just 17,850 miles on it when these photos were taken. Fewer than 450 of those miles were accumulated over the last decade. The ZX's many interior niceties all work. Triple gauges are a Z-car tradition.

Their two-seater, resplendent in Orange Mist Metallic, represents the penultimate year of 280-ZX production, and displays the myriad small tweaks that the then-confusingly named automaker— in the awkward process of consolidating global marketing under the parent company's brand—gave its flagship model. One of an impressive 57,260 sold here for 1982, this car features the functional NACA-ducted hood that was introduced on the new for-'81 280-ZX Turbo, and subsequently shared with naturally aspirated models. It wears newly color-coded front and rear urethane bumpers, black B-pillar trim, refined taillamps, fresh alloy wheels, and upgraded velour interior upholstery. Also recently introduced was the "Vocalized Warning System," which informs (chides?) occupants and bystanders in a polite, if strident, female voice when the driver's door is open or the car is in motion, with continually repeated phrases like, "Lights are on!" "Parking brake is on!" "Fuel level is low!" This intriguing bit of Eighties technology is surprisingly analog, betrayed by the resetting click each time the trunk-mounted little vinyl phonograph reboots.

Ensuring the additional comfort this second-generation Z car promised was a long list of standard convenience features. Powered are the windows, external mirrors, and radio antenna, while air conditioning, cruise control, multi-adjustable front seats, a central locking system, four-speaker cassette stereo system, and rear window wiper/washer are among other no-cost niceties. Gee-whiz goodies that underlined this model's value include that warning system, a dual-range fuel gauge that includes precise readings for the final quarter-tank, and new audible wear sensors for the brake pads.

Despite its crisp long-hood, scooped-headlamp, fastback styling—obviously derived from the original 240Z—and proper manual transmission, the base two-seat 280-ZX is more comfort-oriented grand tourer than outright sports car, a role its Turbo stablemate can better play. Power assist ensures the new rack-and-pinion steering system (replacing recirculating-ball) is light, yet accurate, and this model retains the independent rear suspension design of its predecessors, rather than adopting the relocated semi-trailing arms and stronger springs, shocks, and CV joints of the contemporary five-speed Turbo. This car's unit body is underpinned by MacPherson struts, coil springs, an anti-roll bar, and boosted, vented discs up front, along with the aforementioned semi-trailing arms, coil springs, anti-roll bar, and solid disc brakes in the rear. And while Turbos got 15 x 6.5-inch alloy wheels mounting 205/60R15 Bridgestone Pontenza radials, base 280-ZXs used 195/70R14 Bridgestone Steel Belted 70s on 14 x 6-inch alloys.

The 280-ZX engine bay was carefully laid out, with reasonable space for routine servicing. This example still wears a perfectly legible factory-applied mylar spark plug instruction sticker on the cam cover, seen above middle left, an item typically lost due to wear.

Sending its thrust to the rear wheels is the traditional Z-car SOHC straight-six. Giving the car its name is that engine's 2.8-liter (168-cu-in) displacement, devised through the 86 x 79-mm (3.39 x 3.31-inch) bore and stroke. This iron block/aluminum head unit runs up to its 6,400-rpm redline very smoothly, thanks to its inherent balance and seven main bearing crankshaft. With an 8.8:1 compression ratio and Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, it makes 145 hp at 5,200 rpm and 156 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm, all of which goes through the desirable five-speed gearbox and allows this 2,900-pound coupe to reach 60 mph in 9.1 seconds, with up to 124 mph available given the space and fuel in its 21.1-gallon tank. The 180-hp 280-ZX Turbo would be faster, naturally, but the unboosted variant performed admirably for its day.

Not that the Fitzgeralds' car has done much high-performance driving, a fact attested to by that ultralow odometer reading. Perhaps thanks to this and the dry, covered storage it's always enjoyed, it's also required precious little repair over the last 37 years. Colleen reports that her father logged all maintenance and, outside of fluid changes, the Datsun needed one set of rear brake pads, two clutch slave cylinders, and three batteries. "Everything else is still the way the car was bought, even the tires!" she tells us, a fact corroborated by family photos taken that long-ago Easter Sunday when Reid surprised Joyce with it. Rick expresses shock that those ancient tires still exhibit no dry rot, yet assures us the car hasn't been driven any distance or speed on them, for safety's sake. He and Colleen both comment on its ground-hugging ride, noting it feels very firm compared to the modern cars they're accustomed to piloting, but that the ZX still shifts and accelerates very nicely.

Reid was a sports car guy to the core, having purchased an Austin-Healey 3000 brand new while stationed in Germany in the Armed Forces, and a Porsche 944 daily driver that was owned concurrently with the Datsun, but this two-seater was saved for special occasions for the couple. Joyce says it spent more time sheltering in the garage than it did on the road, but their outings in the 280-ZX were always memorable: "We drove it around town, but not often. Sometimes, after Mass, we'd go for a ride through the park, or take it to visit family and friends. We were so happy; we laughed a lot in the car. It's filled with wonderful, loving memories."

The prize-winning participation in Hemmings' Concours was very unusual for this modern-classic garage queen, and unforgettable for its caretakers. "When Mom and Rick were in the winner's circle, a man was talking to me about the car," Colleen recalls; "He said, 'It looks timeless.' I love the sleek, clean lines of this car, all these years later—it's really elegant." Joyce concurs, adding, "I keep the trophy on display in the living room. I know Reid would be so proud. It's funny, because we hadn't thought about the car like that before." "I can't imagine my dad's thought process was for it to end up like this," Colleen muses; "But it was really something to go to that show with Rick. For Mom and me, to get an award after being judged against restored cars… it was amazing."