The Red Rocket

[Red Rocket]

Hi to all on this great site.

I came across Classic Z Cars a long time ago when I was looking for somewhere to talk to people about my 240k sedan but thought the K's weren't as welcome. Well it seems I was wrong, there is a lot of love here for the K which I discovered when a fellow OzDat member recommended I take another look.
That member also has a 240k sedan and we both would love to know what our cars are worth in the Australian market.....they very rarely come up for sale on the net and evidence of prices paid is impossible to find.

In the interest of disclosure and being honest, my particular car is one that I sort of inherited but have spent a few thousand dollars on since I took it over. I initially re-registered it and used it as a daily for a couple of years before shedding it and recently putting it back on the road on Club Registration. It is a third car for us but club reg makes it a cheap car to have.

If anyone can help on current valuation I would appreciate your feedback.

The following is cut from an introduction I posted for my car on OzDat one year ago......

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone, here goes with a post about my car.......

The Red Rocket was born in June of 1977 as a 240k GL sedan with a 5 speed manual and C2 options. It has Red (905G) paint and black sports cloth interior. The C2 options pack as I understand, included integrated air-con, a tape player with dual parcel shelf speakers and that sports cloth seat covering.
The car also has a seldom seen rear window louver that has the first owners last name etched into it underneath, so I'm not sure if it was a dealer fit option or not?

The owners manual says the car came out on the "Golden Peak" cargo ship and was distributed by Datsun (Dist.) P/L in Dudley Park S.A. to Nihill's Datsun in Whyalla. It was first registered by Nihill's on 5/12/77 with S.A. plate SSR 848.
The service records show that the first two services were carried out within the first month having travelled 6,096km. by 3/1/78.
My guess is an employee had the car for their Christmas holiday break and she went on a road trip.

It took until 5/4/78 before the car was sold to a Whyalla local, a man (so my Grandmother told me) that was a company rep or salesman that travelled a lot in the car. There are Nihill's of Whyalla service stamps up until 1/6/82 at 77,636km. after which time the car was sold and somehow ended up in my Grandparents hands. They always lived in Red Cliffs, North West Victoria, so I'm not sure how it got to there.
It was my Grandmother that actually bought the car, 57 years old at the time she must have thought she had one hell of a cool car She wasn't impressed with the cost of the insurance at the time however, as 240k's were classed as a sports car by RACV........so much for the GL badge fooling the insurance companies.....
The service history finishes at 90,000km. after having a service at a garage in Irymple on 17/11/82.
After that, my Grandparents had the car serviced at the local RACV garage in Red Cliffs.

Some time in the 90's my Grandmother moved on to an automatic Hyundai Lantra sedan and my Grandfather took to driving the Datsun. It went everywhere and did everything but was always cleaned and lived in a closed garage.
That's my last automotive memory of my Grandfather that I have, tootling around in the Red Rocket, changing gears too soon, never reaching the speed limit. I think he was fond of the car but he was never a car guy......hell, he grew up riding a horse to round up the cattle and took the horse and buggy to town to get the weeks grocery supplies. One of his first jobs as a young man was working with a team of horses pulling a plough, used to gouge out the land to create irrigation channels for the Red Cliffs irrigation district.

So, after driving the Datsun around for 10 years or so he fell sick and the Datsun was given a birthday mechanically, ready for him when he got better, but he never did........the car sat unused under cover at my parents house for a year after he passed away.
At some point my wife got a job and all of a sudden we needed a second car, so we pulled the covers back on the 240k to see what it was like.......the paint on the roof was a little stained looking (sweated?) and went orange in places and the interior was a little unloved looking, trim screws missing, bits hanging off.......that's when I found out two of my young cousins had borrowed it sometimes and gave it a thrashing. Punks....
Dad and I got it going and took her for a spin, I'd never driven it before and had only ridden in it over a decade before. Man, what a revelation!! Apart from needing a tune up she was great fun to drive, corners so flat and fast, revs off its head and feels and looks so sporty inside, love all that wood-grain and the many gauges angled back to the driver.
Soon after I asked my Grandmother if I could have the car, she herself not well she had stopped driving and said I could look after it for her until she got her license back......always an optimist

I did look after the 240k, I cleaned it to within an inch of its life, gave it a cut and polish, fixed anything that was broken or not working and made that original interior look great again. I even pulled the tail lights apart and cleaned them up and resealed them, they were looking a bit dull.
I was surprised this old Datsun had integrated air-con and grateful once it was gassed up and working for our 40 degree + summers, even after the $500 bill.
For the roadworthy, all I had to do was replace the rear wheel cylinders that were leaking and fit new rear shock absorbers.

Back on the road by late 2006, I did a heap of k's in the 240k, used primarily as the school run chariot it shared the school parking lot with a nice original looking 180B with a fully sick bazooka sized exhaust.....
Got a lot of comments on the Red Rocket, she looked pretty awesome after the cut and polish and everybody would say...."you don't see these cars on the road anymore.....".
In fact, the only other 240k I've seen around the Mildura area in the past ten years was a red coupe I saw threading a road full of roundabouts a year ago, but it's vanished again. (Recently found out that the young guy that owned this coupe got sideways in a roundabout and slid sideways into a pole......written off).

As you do, you think about how to upgrade or make your car better and next for me was a better muffler. I took it to an exhaust shop and they said the muffler and tiny tail pipe were meant for a 4 cylinder car.........queue the bigger muffler and VE Commodore billet alloy tip. Much better.
Soon after I was getting the car tuned locally and the guy says he has a set of mags out the back that a customer left behind years ago, reckons they'll fit the Datsun. Not expecting anything too flash I was surprised to see a pretty cool looking set of 15x6.5" machined alloy lip mags with painted centres. They're the mags on the car in the pics. Gotta love free mags.

After 3 years on the road I sadly let the rego lapse as we had bought a sweet black 2004 Subaru Outback Wagon.....3.0l. flat six
Once again covered up, with a proper car cover this time and in a shed. I still enjoyed going out to visit her and firing her up and going for a sneaky spin through the rural roads.
I've recently rediscovered my attraction to the 240k after posting a page and some images of the car on the Shannon's Enthusiast site. I'm presuming there would be a lot of other OZDAT members on the Shannon's site as well?
Some others have shown interest in buying the car and I have found out a bit about the exodus of Australian cars to the Arab states. I would never willingly sell to someone that has the intention of wrecking my car, but would consider selling to an enthusiast here in Australia for the right money. Though my car isn't perfect, there are a few spots of rust to be dealt with and it would need to be painted if it was going to be perfect, but.......how many Grandpa or Grandma spec 240k sedans are left out there? Examples that are roadworthy and still fun to drive?
I love seeing these cars totally fixed up, beautiful paint and cool wheels, but some cars should be left alone I believe.

Anybody interested in buying one of these knows how much they are worth, so if you feel the irresistable need to tempt me out of ownership, make it a good offer.
Otherwise, my 15yo daughter has her eyes firmly on it......drove it last weekend in fact, sh*t scared she was going to crash it, thank god for empty paddocks.

[Mastadd240K]

This is you yeah?

1977 Datsun 240k GL - Rusty54 - Shannons Club

i recall the enthusiasm from the UAE usual suspects in the car as they LOVE sedans.

i know there are a few members here on this site in Melbourne that would love to get their hands on a clean sedan Such as Adam Jones, i will let you guys decide on a price but if you really feel like you have to sell the car.

he would probably be one of the most caring guys for it to go to .

[240k Style]

Mate beautiful car. I'd be surpirsed if you couldn't quite a bit for it...

...but PLEASE don't sell, pass her down in the family, and enjoy it. Becuase these cars are RARE as you say, with alot going overseas. Shes such a clean car, and with the history in your family, it should stay that way IMO, IN THE FAMILY!!

But wow!!!

Just an amazing car

And Adrian, as much as i would love to buy this, and trust me I WOULD, I don't think i could afford it

[Mastadd240K]

Also, it could be a good option for you to think about joining a car club and keeping the car.

get onto the Club Plate scheme, if you are in Victoria, i might know a good little club that was originally formed for these kind of cars.

[240k Style]

HAHA always pushing the CSA arent you mate!!

There is a Facebook Group most of us are in that float around on ClassicZcars forums.

Look up C110 Skyline Owners & Resto Group. Lots of like minded people and a few looking for clean cars if Facebook is your thing.

[Red Rocket]

Hi fellas, I totally agree about keeping the car in the family.
The only reason I alluded to selling the car is because I thought it might fetch a ridiculous price but I would not let it go overseas, not knowingly anyhow, regardless of the price.

I put this car on club plates just before Christmas and have been driving the ass off it over summer, absolutely loving it And my daughter just turned 16, got her L's on the day and was super excited to have her first drive on the road in the Red Rocket, good memory for her.

And yes, I am Rusty54 on the Shannon's site.....that 54 Ford ute is the real reason I considered selling......it's up to about $50k in build costs!!

[240k Style]

sent you a PM sir. Checkt the notifications tab at the top of the page

[Yamahacam]

I had the same valuation dilema last week when insuring. How can you put a replacement price on something so hard to come by.

[Perth 240]

Firstly, amazing car.
Secondly, rear window louvre, is it currently on or off the car? If off, would you consider selling it?
Cheers
Ray

[Red Rocket]

Definitely on the car, I love the look and it hides the fact that the top of the rear seat is deteriorating

[Red Rocket]

I had the same valuation dilema last week when insuring. How can you put a replacement price on something so hard to come by.

The valuation thing for insurance was one of the reasons I'd like to know, Shannon's were great when insuring it, they said whatever I thought it was worth. Obviously there has to be level of reality when saying what you think a car is worth so I suggested $10,500. But that could be a little low now I think. FYI, the premium for club use with Shannon's is $115. Registered and insured for under $300 is unreal

[Yamahacam]

Shannons told me their guide price for 240's was 6 to 10 so I went for 10. Hope I never have to try and replace it.

[240k Style]

The valuation thing for insurance was one of the reasons I'd like to know, Shannon's were great when insuring it, they said whatever I thought it was worth. Obviously there has to be level of reality when saying what you think a car is worth so I suggested $10,500. But that could be a little low now I think.

For the cars both of you own, Red Rocket and YamahaCam, i'd definately say 10k is on the light side in terms of value

[Red Rocket]

I have been asked by a member about the service record and kilometers travelled by the Red Rocket.
I have the original owners handbook and warranty and service booklet for the car in the Nissan pouch however, the service records filled out stopped at the 90,000 service, carried out in Irymple on 17-11-1982.
The car is now showing just over 63,000 on the odo, and although the car was only a town car for my Grandmother driving to work 20km's away 5 days a week, I think it may have gone around the clock twice.

So, the estimated actual odo reading on the unopened original motor is 263,000. Not a huge number for a car that travelled 90k in it's first 5 years on the road.
Remember, the 240k was retired to light duties in the mid 90's and has spent more time off the road than on the road in the past 10 years.

Pictures attached as proof

[Yamahacam]

Got a feeling my Grandad bought his C110 from Nihills, bet they sold a stack.

[Red Rocket]

Got a feeling my Grandad bought his C110 from Nihills, bet they sold a stack.

Hi Cam,

What happened to your Grandad's 240k?
Mine was the dealer demonstrator, suppose it was sold when the 210 lobbed.....

[Red Rocket]

Got a feeling my Grandad bought his C110 from Nihills, bet they sold a stack.

Hi Cam,

What happened to your Grandad's 240k?
Mine was the dealer demonstrator, suppose it was sold when the 210 lobbed.....

[Zed Head]

That's an odd sticker in the window of your avatar. The position of the thumb suggests a left-handed person flipping the bird to the person inside. Weird. Unless the bird is flipped backward in Sunraysia. Coriolis effect, maybe?

[Yamahacam]

Hi Cam,

What happened to your Grandad's 240k?
Mine was the dealer demonstrator, suppose it was sold when the 210 lobbed.....

I gave it away in Brisbane to a school that did mechanical studies. Had engine trouble which was going to cost me more to repair than the car was worth ( nothing at the time). There was a guy trying to sell a running and straight 240k coupe at the time for $150 and it sat there for weeks. If only I had a time machine I would go back and slap my self in the face.

[Red Rocket]

That's an odd sticker in the window of your avatar. The position of the thumb suggests a left-handed person flipping the bird to the person inside. Weird. Unless the bird is flipped backward in Sunraysia. Coriolis effect, maybe?

That would be weird In actual fact I simply saw the stickers being sold on eBay by a seller in the UK, thought they looked cool and ordered two, one for each side......never thought about it that much.
Thought the stylised rising sun was clever