Datsun 260Z

It couldn’t last.

Sadly, the 240Z also adhered to a pattern of change for the sake of change with no forward progress, set by such promising early Japanese upstarts like the 1966 Toyota Corolla and Datsun’s own 1968 1600.

Nissan responded to the American market’s demand for more space and more power by installing a 121kW/206Nm 2.6-litre L26 engine in a longer, heavier body featuring two occasional rear seats and adding power-sapping extra creature comforts.

Meanwhile, the shorter two-seater body continued, but with the newer L26 engine.

A fluted bonnet arrived during 1976, just ahead of the performance-strangling ADR27A anti-pollution gear.