BINGO’s Tokyo Shin-Kiba auction on January 27th definitely favours quality over quantity, and from the selection of desirable collector cars, we were immediately drawn to this beautifully beige 1971 Nissan Fairlady Z. Only upon closer inspection did we realise this JDM icon is actually a very rare limited edition called the Z432, of which only 420 were ever built.
Of all the Fairlady Z variants from its first generation, known as the S30, the Z432 sat right at the top of the pecking order and was priced accordingly at 1.85 million Japanese Yen: almost double the price of a basic Z. While that was eye-wateringly expensive for its time, you were getting your money’s worth, and the first clue was in its name: “432” stands for 4 valves per cylinder, 3 carburettors, and 2 camshafts, all cutting-edge tech for the early 1970s. In fact, this car’s 158 horsepower S20 straight-six is the same unit found in the first generation Skyline 2000 GT-R.
To further justify the price, Z432s came standard with a limited slip differential, vertically stacked exhaust pipes, and magnesium wheels, which are tragically missing from this Safari Gold example. Considering the rarity and age of the vehicle, we don’t think you’ll find replacements in a hurry, so might we suggest you fit some RS Watanabes or SSR Speed Star MKIIs in the meantime?
Even without the original wheels, we still think this Z432 would make for an excellent addition to any JDM collection, especially when you consider that the Z432s represent less than 0.09 percent of the Fairlady Z’s 520,000 unit production run.
Tokyo, 27 Jan
