I must have remembered it wrong. I know the automatic and the manual have different differentials, and the 2+2 may or may not have been different from the 2-seater. What I remember is that 5-speed would run like a scalded cat if you held your foot down. The 3-speed auto? Not even close. That thing was more like being punished than actually driving a car.
I need more garage space.
IIRC, you could have anything from a 3:36 to 3:90 hanging out the back, depending on transmission and body type. There were at least three different types of five speed transmissions to boot, with different gearing in each one (although two of them I believe only differed in the final gear, whilst the odd duck of the bunch had the same ratios as the older four speed transmissions with an additional gear tacked on).
I'm not sure what rear is under the 76 2+2 I have as a parts car, but I know that my old 79 2+2 parts car has the 3:36 and odd duck 5 speed in it. The 79 also came with the 140MPH speedo.
I can only recall driving one auto 280ZX, and its acceleration would be best described as "stately". It wasn't TERRIBLE to the point of being dangerous, but it was certainly not fast.
The way I see it, we share an almost uncanny similarity in our taste in cars, to the point where we've both owned some of the exact same odd or unusual vehicles.
Maybe we should collectively decide on a few models, buy them, and then swap them out between each other every three months or so. That way, we could both double our garage space.