1978 280z black pearl?

[sblake01]

Sorry, I don't know very much about the 'ZZZap' or 'Black Pearl' special editions at all. And what little I do know about them has been gleaned from previous posts on this forum. My impression is that there seems to be a lot of difficulty in authenticating genuine examples of both, so judging them in car shows must be a little tricky?

I don't think anyone knows much about them and there's a lot of personal opinion and heresay floating around. I don't think there are any definitive answers about these cars since they really weren't that big a deal back in the day. (my opinion) Carl used to sell them and I worked at a dealer where they were sold at the time. I don't think that makes either of us an 'authority' on the subject since all we knew was what Nissan told us at the time. (I know that's true for myself and I'm assuming it would have been the same for Carl). We may never know the 'truth' about them. I don't reacall ever reading, hearing, or seeing anything that would indicate that they were available anywhere other than in the U.S.

[Mike B]

Whilst teacher is away, can I ask you to have a stab at explaining what this might mean:

.....especially those bits about "...the first....", "...the second..." and "...the third...".

You can tell he used to sell cars for a living, can't you?

Alan,

I believe those phrases that Carl used came from the 280-ZZZap ad that Chris attached in post #18 (the first attachment).

-Mike

[HS30-H]

Alan,

I believe those phrases that Carl used came from the 280-ZZZap ad that Chris attached in post #18 (the first attachment).

-Mike

Yes, thanks Mike - I saw where the text came from. The point I'm trying to make is that it is being repeated as though it actually means something.....

I'm pretty sure it doesn't....!

[26th-Z]

He was emphasizing the three Zs in Zzzap, or ZZZap depending on how you pronounce it, so that I wouldn't mis-speel the term. And I don't want to go overboard on the seriousness of this topic. It seems the cars are peculiar to the North American market - fine. I'm just going to have to buckle down and search through the archives more to see what I can gleem. Here is what the ZCCA judging rules say; "* Special Note: In 1975-1978, Nissan took 280Z cars from the U.S, port of entry, repainted them and added specialty wheels at a factory in Long Beach, California. While being offered to dealers as special, they are considered STOCK. These were also offered by Nissan in nationwide advertising. The most common paint was black with special red striping."

I want to clarify that ruling statement and I want to decide what to write as I am in a position to do so. That's my motivation for all this conversation.

Thanks for the tip on the literature. The place I'm referring to is Lindbergh Co. Ltd. I'll look your suggestion up, Alan.

[sblake01]

"* Special Note: In 1975-1978, Nissan took 280Z cars from the U.S, port of entry, repainted them and added specialty wheels at a factory in Long Beach, California. While being offered to dealers as special, they are considered STOCK. These were also offered by Nissan in nationwide advertising. The most common paint was black with special red striping."

Where did the ZCCA get that from? The wheels were optional and not part of either 'package'. Never heard anything about them being done in Long Beach. Were there more BPE's than Zzzap's?

[26th-Z]

I'm not here to knock the rules but rather tip my hat to the people who put in the hard work to write them in the first place. I first judged a ZCCA natonal convention in Long Beach five or so years ago and have judged or chaired the judging every year since. I have judged three major regional events - chairing one of them - and conducted three judging schools. In my yonger days, I was a nationally licensed SCCA scrutineer. I am now part of the ZCCA car show committee as co-chair with Fred Buoni of the stock classes. Some months ago, our committee chair Paul Hollander asked to review the rules in an effort to clear up the definitions of the various categories - stock, street modified, Nissan modifed, ultra modified, and daily driver. He also asked to add the 370Z model. So, I found the original WORD file and started editing. I hope to make a presentation at the Board meeting in San Antonio and ask for adoption of the revisions. That's the reasoning behind my quieries as well as my direction. All this conversation for that one paragraph!

Here's where I'm at; "The guidelines by which an object is evaluated validate the significance of the award and I would like to see the ZCCA awards ranked amongst the highest of automotive recognition". How's that?

[sblake01]

I believe I get your point but I'm not knocking the rules. It's just that the statement about the wheels is flat wrong and it's not really clear whether or not the rest is accurate. But if that's what they go by, then that's what they go by.

[mgood]

This might help, I started an Original Owner 280Z site and there are two 1978 Black Pearl cars on the site listed. One is with the Black Pearl stripes and one is without and they both have different wheels.

Here is the link -http://michaelgoodweddings.com/datsun/index.html

Both were at the convention is Cleveland last year. Hope this is some help.

[sblake01]

The first one has the factory option alloys and the second one has aftermarket wheels. My point was that neither the Zzzap nor the BPE came with anything other than hubcaps unless they were ordered. Wheels were not part of either appearance package.

[26th-Z]

Yes, the optional wheels do not appear to be part of the appearance / decor package. I wrote to a couple of sources that would know about the respray issue and one has replied that the S211 and SP213 Fairladys were repainted as required because of the color combination of interior / exterior. So far, to the best of my knowledge, only shipment repair painting was made in California for this conversation.

[sblake01]

Not sure if I get that last sentence unless it's just the assumption that since shipment repair painting was available for all Datsuns then it would also have been available for the Zzzap and BPE. But I've never heard of any of them being completely repainted for the purpose of a color change. That wouln't even make sense because that would indicate that every Zzzap and/or BPE would be a repaint?

[26th-Z]

Well that would be my first question; if they were repainted, what color were they when the came off the boat? Then there is the liability issue of selling a new car that has been repainted. Can you imagine what it would take to repaint the engine bay, for instance? The shipment repair I'm talking about would be for minor scratches / damages incurred during shipping.