The Datsun 240Z has been called the Japanese E-Type, and whoever said that first wasn't wrong. Both cars are beautiful in a way that's hard to explain until you see one in person. Both are genuinely good to drive — not just for their era, but by any standard. Both have devoted communities that keep them alive decades after production ended.

The Z is the more accessible of the two. Parts are more available, more affordable, and the community knowledge base is deeper and more documented. The E-Type is the rarer thing, the more rarefied experience, the one that makes people stop walking in a parking lot.

I own a Z. I dream about the E-Type. I've made peace with this.