Back in the fall of 2012, Motor Trend published an article looking at the differences between the European, American, and Japanese ideas of what a sports car should be at the beginning of the 70s. They selected a 1971 Volvo 1800E (the last variant and the last year of the successful P1800 series coupe, the 1800ES was to continue another year), a 1969 AMC AMX, and the outstandingly successful Datsun 240Z. tl;dr: the Datsun nailed what it meant to be a sports car in the new era.

(Image ©2012  Motor Trend Magazine)

They’ve just published that article online and it’s worth reading just for the photos alone. I’m not a great fan of the 1800E: the interior is way too plasticky for me, considering what came before, but the car featured in the article looks very clean. The AMX? Meh, just not a fan of American muscle car wannabes, especially with its even more plasticky interior (“Colors and fake wood on the dash will remind you of your parents' or grandparents' kitchen.”). But the Datsun is wonderful. I’d go for that, no problem. The styling is sharp and timeless, just fabulous.

Great article.