In high school, Brian Barr drove the car everyone else wanted—a 1972 Datsun 240 Z. It wasn’t just a white or beige 240 Z, typical of sports cars in those disco-days of 1978; no, Barr’s car was lime green.
Growing up in western New York, Barr’s Z-car saw lots of spirited back-road driving and trips to the nearby Watkins Glen racetrack. Unfortunately, the car also saw its share of wintertime snow and salt. So even though he attempted to modify the car—including a front air dam referred to as a “spook”—the salt gremlins were doing damage to the car’s substructure.
Barr loved the Datsun, but college, career, marriage, and other cars—especially Porsches—took priority, so he eventually sold the rusty Z. It was gone, but not forgotten.
Decades later, with the desire to turn back the hands of time, he kept his eyes open for an original 240 Z. Coincidently, Barr, 52, heard of an early Z in his adopted hometown of Huntersville, North Carolina, and eventually tracked it down.
The story was intriguing.
The man selling the car had inherited it from his deceased sister-in-law’s estate. In 1972, his sister-in-law and her husband went to their local Datsun dealership in Connecticut and each bought a new 240 Z; his was orange, and hers was lime green.
Things were going well for the sporty couple until she became ill in the late 1970s. Bedridden, her husband took her beloved Z off the road and parked it in the garage. Everyone had hoped her ailment was temporary and that she would soon be back on Connecticut roads in her brilliant Datsun, but that was not the case. When she passed away, the Datsun was forgotten for the next few decades, languishing in the garage.
This is the 1972 Datsun 240Z that Brian Barr drove to high school when he got his driver’s license at 16 years old. Rust and lifestyle changes forced him to part with the car a few years later. BRIAN BARR
Eventually, her husband decided to clean out the garage and asked his brother-in-law if he wanted the Datsun. He said yes, and that’s how the car made its way to North Carolina, which is where his brother-in-law lived.
The brother-in-law drove the car for a while, but mostly used his pickup truck for business, so the 240 Z languished once more. Eventually, he parked the car in his front yard with a fat for-sale sign on the windshield.
It’s all big hair, leisure suits, and white shoes for Barr again; he found a near replica of the 240Z he sold decades ago. The car is surprisingly solid and complete. BRIAN BARR
Barr almost went through the windshield of his truck when he spotted the car near his home. It was the same as his high school sports car—Lime Green paint, black interior, and stock hubcaps.
He had to have it.
After hearing the story, the previous owner heard Barr’s offer and accepted it right there. Currently, Barr is going through the car, repairing small problems like rebuilding the carburetors and working through some electrical issues. Other than that, he’s enjoying a rust-free replica of a car he enjoyed when life was simpler.
“When I saw this 51,000 mile example, I had to have it,” he says. “It brings back great memories of my dad, mom, and my high school years. My thirty-fifth high school reunion is coming up, and I am driving the Z. Now if I could just find my leisure suit and platform shoes!”
