Mr. K’s 1974 Datsun 260Z 2+2. Photos by Chris Brewer.
Editor’s note: Frequent Hemmings contributor (and Datsun 240Z owner) Chris Brewer recently had a chance to drive the 1974 Datsun 260Z 2+2 once owned by the legendary Mr. K, and below are his thoughts on the experience. Chris is also a contributor to the Florida Times Union newspaper, and serves as senior editor of Automotive Addicts.
Automakers continually strive for market relevance. Innovation powers the process, but consumer sales ultimately choose the course. A current trend to relentlessly reinvent even the most popular models illustrates the rapidly moving technological environment and growing expectations of buyers. In many situations what was good enough yesterday falls quite short today.
While this perpetual effort to build sales-leading vehicles may be the bane of executives, it is a boon for shoppers. With little room for error, manufacturers strive to create automobiles that simultaneously meet a need and capture the heart.
While thousands of examples exist, few are as revolutionary and successful as Nissan’s efforts to reinvent itself as a viable vehicle manufacturer in the United States during the 1960s. In an era when the “Made in Japan” label was typically equated with inexpensive and poorly made products, Nissan created a sports car that would almost single-handedly reverse the preconception.
Led by a fearless executive with an uncanny ability to read consumers and understand the market, the company would establish the Nissan Motor Corporation USA in 1960. Yutaka Katayama, affectionately known as “Mr. K,” would enthusiastically guide the Datsun brand in the U.S. with a comprehensive hands-on approach.
Always a pioneer in the area of public relations, Mr. K knew that perception was the real battle for market dominance. His innate ability to translate the Japanese automobile into the idiom of the United States car buying population was unprecedented. When Nissan decided to import the 510, it was Mr. K who demanded the larger displacement engine to satisfy the decidedly performance-driven North American market. Realizing the connotations of the “Fairlady” moniker attached to a performance car, Mr. K renamed his game-changing GT the Datsun 240z.
Designed by Yoshiko Matsuo, an equally unorthodox player in the Japanese automotive industry, the Datsun 240z represented a groundbreaking vehicle for brand and ultimately the world. The “Z” combined stunning looks, GT-level performance and handling, a new degree of comfort, and impressive fuel economy.
Under the marketing genius of Mr. K, the 1970 Datsun 240z was an immediate success. Nissan would export more than 130,000 Z cars to the U.S. from 1970-1973. Further, the 240z became an international success, with another 23,000 Z cars shipped to Canada, Europe and Australia during the same period.
For the 1974 model year, the 240z would evolve into the 260z. An answer to the stranglehold of rising U.S. emissions and safety standards, the Z car’s L-series engine was bumped to 2.6-liters by increasing the stroke by 6 mm. Even with the increased displacement, the 260z would lose 11 horsepower from the original 240z’s 150, although the 139 ponies would be a slight bump from the diminished performance of the 1973 240z.
Produced for less than 18 months, from the fall of 1973 until the end of 1974, the 260z would serve as a transitional model for the Z car. The product of a mid-cycle refresh, the 1974½ 260z with its new 5-mph impact bumpers would morph the Z into a 6.3 inch longer and 130 pound heavier car.
While the power-zapping, weight gain mods may receive the most press, the 260z also featured some performance and driveability gains. Nissan added a rear anti-roll bar to combat understeer. Increased spring rates to overcome the added weight would also improve handling. Add in a crisper manual shifter, a beefier steering rack, and a more compliant throttle feel, and the pros begin to gain traction on the cons.
Under the hood, the breaker-point distributor would be replaced by an electronic ignition system. To help prevent vapor lock issues, fuel lines would be insulated, and Nissan would place a secondary electronic fuel pump in the gas tank.
Nissan would sell nearly 50,000 units of the short-lived 260z in the United States. Of that number 40,172 were two-seaters, and the remaining 9,499 were the Z’s first 2+2 model.
Adding two miniscule rear-seats, almost a foot of wheelbase, and 200 more pounds over the 2-seater, the 260z 2+2 lost a little of the purist sports car appeal to gain a broader audience. Interestingly, the 2+2 model outsold the two-seater in Australia, Germany and Holland by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1.
Considering that the 260z was only built for a year and a half and that only 9,499 2+2 versions were sold in the U.S., an early 260z 2+2 would easily qualify as the rarest of the first-generation Z cars.
By adding the optional 3-speed automatic transmission, a factory sunroof and spraying it with yellow pearl paint with firemist metal flakes, you really narrow the field. If it was special ordered, owned and driven by none other than Mr. K himself, then you have a highly coveted one-of-a-kind vehicle.
Presently owned by Nissan and stored beneath the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. K’s 1974 Datsun 260z 2+2 resides as a significant member of the Nissan Heritage Collection. Preserved just as Mr. K drove it, the 260z is a moment frozen in time. The worn driver’s seat bolster tells the story of a well-loved car, driven regularly and without kid gloves.
Ironically, for many Z collectors a 1974 Datsun 260z 2+2 with an automatic transmission and stock carburetors would be at the low end of the desirability index. Although the smaller 240z-ish bumpers would up the ante a little, the highest auction and sales prices are dominated by the earlier, two-seat, manually equipped 240z.
However, the condition, perfectly documented history, and rising popularity of the 2+2—many praise the longer wheelbase for better road handling characteristics—could easily make Mr. K’s 260z 2+2 one of the most valuable Z cars on the planet.
By most counts, Mr. K’s 260z is immediately familiar to anyone who has spent time with a first-generation Z car. Sitting in the driver’s seat of Mr. K’s personal car is a little overwhelming. His recent passing still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but absorb the gravity of being behind the wheel of a Z car once owned by the man lovingly known as the father of the Z car.
Matthew Cole, one of the curators for the Heritage collection, warned me that the car had been in storage and needed a little attention before he felt comfortable sending a journalist out on an extended solo road trip, but he was happy to give me the opportunity to drive the priceless museum piece. Turning the ignition key and listening to the inline six fire up, I gently applied the choke and sat back to take in the instrumentation.
Sliding the automatic transmission into drive and taking a quick spin around the grounds of the Lane Motor Museum was enough to impart what Mr. K once called “that incredible feeling of jubilation that comes when car and driver are as one.”
Although the 260z moved like a hibernating bear gently awoken from a long winter nap, the car felt impressively stable and balanced over the rough parking area blacktop. The manual steering is heavy at slow speeds, but incredibly precise.
Eventually I would hand the keys back over to Matthew, who would then drive Mr. K’s 260z from the Lane Motor Museum to Nissan North America, the manufacturer’s corporate headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee.
The 18-mile trip in the near 100-degree summer heat proved too much for the car’s cooling system, causing the 260z engine temp to quickly rise and force a few stops along the way. Best guess was that the Z’s radiator needed a good flush, but a sticky thermostat or clogged fuel line could also have created a similar issue.
Of course, Mr. K’s Z is in capable hands and I have no doubt the 260z will be in perfect running order again within days.
This week, Nissan will bring Mr. K’s 260z, along with three other Heritage Collection owned vehicles, to the 28th Annual ZCCA International Z Car Convention in Memphis, Tennessee, from July 14-18, 2015. Nissan will use the yellow pearl Z to bring attention to their similarly painted all-new 2016 Nissan Titan full-size pickup.
I can’t help but think that Mr. K would whole-heartedly approve of the company’s use of his beautiful vehicle to spread the good word of the company’s latest automotive creation. As the founder of the very first Tokyo Motor Show in 1954, Yutaka Katayama understood the power of emotion and wonder when used as the heart of good advertising.
If you are able to attend the 28th Annual ZCCA International Z Car Convention, make sure to thank special guest Yoshiko Matsuo for his inexhaustible efforts in designing the 240z.
Once you have done that, I would implore you to make your way over to the Nissan display and bend an ear towards Mr. K’s 2+2. If you listen closely, you can almost hear it whisper the words of its benevolent father, “Love cars, love people and love life.”
Special thanks to Steve Parrett, Nissan North America Manager of Corporate Communications for the Central and Southeast regions for arranging my trip to Nashville, and to the curators of the Nissan Heritage Collection, Jonathan Buhler, Matthew Cole, Justin Ponzetti and Steve Yaeger for the wonderful hospitality and excellent work preserving Nissan’s history.
More gadget review in www.mamaktalk.com
