April Fool?

[260DET]

As a footnote, the 2003 East African Safari was won by an ex Australian 240Z driven by Collinge and Levitan. Over Porsche 911's, Ford BDA Cosworth Escorts, etc by 47 minutes and 55 seconds. Go you good things.

[Z-point]

Last night I did send the editor and ED a mail with the two pictures of the Italian no5%.... ROFL

I invited Ed when he is in Holland to come over and have a drive in my 120 decibel powered car.:tapemouth

I’m waiting for an answer.

Carel Beck, your name is involved in this article. Where do you stand, what is your input in this matter????

[kyteler]

Originally posted by Z-point

I invited Ed when he is in Holland to come over and have a drive in my 120 decibel powered car.:tapemouth

I’m waiting for an answer.

If I ever make it to the Netherlands to investigate my ancestry can I get a ride in the car?!?!

[HS30-H]

Hi All,

Gav, I know the Classic Cars magazine article that you are referring to, and the writer got a rocket about it from a few people. The cover photo was a bit of a scandal in itself; the car that they tested was actually yellow ( it belongs to Nissan UK ) but they did not want to put a yellow car on the cover as the previous month's issue had a yellow car on the front. That's the way that magazines have to think these days........ Anyway, they photoshopped it into a red one, but decided to change the registration number ( couldn't have a red car on the cover, and a yellow car inside, both with the same registration number, could they? ). So what do they do? They dip into a book of period road tests from the early Seventies and choose a registration number from one of the tested cars, and then photoshop it onto the cover car. Big mistake. The car actually still exists with the same registration number today, and the owner is most shocked to see 'his' car on the cover of the mag. The mag has to apologise and its red faces all round.

And like you say, they credited Goertz and did seem to imply that the Japanese couldn't have done it all 'on their own'. Very sad, and more than a little insulting to the people that DID design the car.

Have you noticed how few really good, accurate and interesting magazine articles there are about the S30-series Z?

Alan T.

[Ed]

Originally posted by Z-point

I invited Ed when he is in Holland to come over and have a drive in my 120 decibel powered car.:tapemouth

I’m waiting for an answer.

Guus, I'll be over in a few:D .

[HS30-H]

As v12horse has pointed out, the 'test drive' part of the article is a complete charade. He says that the car seems quite civilised and well-mannered, but its a bloody ROAD CAR - so it would do, wouldn't it. The thing has got an almost totally standard engine, with the original carburettors........ In almost all respects, a car like this will feel and drive NOTHING like an original Works rally car.

As kyteler mentioned, articles like this are all the more sad because people will use them in future as reference material. "It must be correct because it says so in this here magazine......"

I still find it hard to believe that the two Italian gentlemen from Nissan Italia would make these claims if they knew that the REAL TKS 33 SA 4150 was still 'alive and well' and living in Japan. I reckon that they just don't know about it. They will soon.

Maybe this is a case of Nissan's Italian staff commissioning a 'replica' ( I use that term very loosely ) for promotional purposes, and then the story gets out of hand. It might well be that the two gentlemen concerned have misunderstood the situation and didn't realise the true origin of the car that they were tooling around in. It sounds like the kind of gaffe a particularly inept boardroom member might make.

I remember being told by one of the 'suits' from Nissan UK that there was 'no such thing as a ZG'. We were standing in front of my car at an indoor classic car show here in the UK, and Mr Suit was telling me that he didn't like my 'bodykit' - he preferred the body '.....as it left the Factory'. When I told him that the car did indeed leave the Factory like that, he merely laughed and told me that there was 'no such thing'. So much for the top brass of Nissan UK then. They don't know their Z history either.

Alan T.

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by 26th-Z

Well, not only did I write the editor, but I wrote the European editor, Mr. McDonough, and this is his reply:

..........I am not an expert on 240Zs and took considerable advice, and thought the car we were depicting was at least a reproduction of the car that did the events I mentioned. I had some 'expert' advice to say that it was...............

Ed McDonough

European Editor

He doesn't say exactly who this "expert" was, but I bet he won't think he's very expert now...........

Alan T.

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by Zedrally

Maybe a e-mail from KATS explaining that the real #5 was just recently seen by him in person, in Japan might be enough for a clarification.

MOM

Second best to something from Kats maybe, but it might help a little - a photo of myself sitting in the real car in Japan:

[Gav240z]

Originally posted by HS30-H

Hi All,

Gav, I know the Classic Cars magazine article that you are referring to, and the writer got a rocket about it from a few people. The cover photo was a bit of a scandal in itself; the car that they tested was actually yellow ( it belongs to Nissan UK ) but they did not want to put a yellow car on the cover as the previous month's issue had a yellow car on the front. That's the way that magazines have to think these days........ Anyway, they photoshopped it into a red one, but decided to change the registration number ( couldn't have a red car on the cover, and a yellow car inside, both with the same registration number, could they? ). So what do they do? They dip into a book of period road tests from the early Seventies and choose a registration number from one of the tested cars, and then photoshop it onto the cover car. Big mistake. The car actually still exists with the same registration number today, and the owner is most shocked to see 'his' car on the cover of the mag. The mag has to apologise and its red faces all round.

And like you say, they credited Goertz and did seem to imply that the Japanese couldn't have done it all 'on their own'. Very sad, and more than a little insulting to the people that DID design the car.

Have you noticed how few really good, accurate and interesting magazine articles there are about the S30-series Z?

Alan T.

Alan thanks for the information, I had a look at the magazine had a laugh i noticed under the bonnet you can still see a strip of yellow very faint but if you look closer behind the grille you can see the yellow paint in the engine bay . Funny indeed and even funnier the story you told me, It didn't match up that the cover was a red car then there was a yellow car inside, i thought that maybe they put the red car on the cover to go with the slogan. "It must be a Ferrari!".

The car is a very nice car just like the rally copy from the one you saw. I do agree though i haven't found an article yet on the S-30 that's been free from flaws. Makes me wanna write my own story on the Z.

Actually come to think of it there is one good article on the Z i have it was Modern motor (Alfa puppy has the same mag). It gave a pretty good description on the 432r brief but good.

1 other mag not S-30 related gave a good write up on the KPGC10. It was a skyline mag in Australia so maybe not all hope is lost just yet .

[HS30-H]

And another one. Sorry to get my ugly mug in the shot, but it had to be done.........

[HS30-H]

I just want to illustrate how much work and attention to detail went into these Works rally cars. It would take a book and a thousand photos to do justice to just one of these cars, but this is a website so I will have to try to get the point across with a few photos of what you CAN see.......

Here's a photo of the interior of the real 4150 as it is now in Japan. It might look relatively 'stock' to some people compared to - say - one of the BRE cars, but make no mistake - this thing was hand-crafted to do a job and do it well. You can't see the doubled wiring loom and double fuse boxes with LED fuse indicators, you can't see the modified heater / demister, the twin Halda drives, the Works rev counter with hand-adjusted tell-tale, the 100 litre fuel tank gauge with hand-applied paint-marks to make it more accurate, the brake bias adjuster, the intercom system, the hand-modified pedals with guards and heel-and-toe tabs, the footrests, the half cage, extra storage, etc etc etc. I could go on forever, and that's just the interior of the car, let alone the mechanicals.

What you can se in the photo are the modified dash, special 'Compe' steering wheel ( larger diameter than the standard 'Option' Compe steering wheel ), Ikeda Bussan bucket seat for the driver and reclining flat seat for the navigator, Takata safety harnesses, Option rosewood gear knob on the kinked shifter, and probably most important and tellingly; the re-located handbrake lever:

[HS30-H]

Here's a black and white shot I took from the navigator's side: