1978 280z black pearl?

Carl Beck · May 6, 2009

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.

Humm..... Very Interesting... the S211's must have been repainted in Japan, did Nissan actually export any of them? According to Long only 20 of them were built.

Would the "SP213" also be Right Hand Dive Models? Again according to Long the SPL212's and SPL213's were sold in America. The SP310 being the first Fairlady sold in Japan.. Long seems to indicate that the SP310 was the first Right Hand Drive Fairlady...

But speaking of Nissan repainting Fairladys...

According to Brian Long:

"Bruce Morikubo bought the first of 123 SPL212's destined for America, eventually taking delivery from Speedway Motors in Tucson, AZ, in the middle of Aug. 1960. Being the first car, Datsun offered to paint it free of charge, any color Morikubo wished, so it was finished in Cherry Blossom Pink. Katayama also give the owner honorary life membership in the Sports Car Club of Japan."

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl Beck · May 6, 2009

Well that would be my first question; if they were repainted, what color were they when the came off the boat?

The first time I heard that story - the 280Z's had been painted Black at the factory, but it was a non-Metallic paint. The Metallic Black Pearl paint to the exterior surfaces was said to have been applied after they arrived in America. DAS was the facility that was supposed to have done it..

Given that DAS at L.A. handled some 83,000 Datsuns in 78 -I guess believing that they painted the exterior of one or two out of a hundred cars - wouldn't be too far fetched. They installed 12,000 AC units in the 79 280ZX's.. On 22 acres it was a huge opperation..

But who knowns...

Then there is the liability issue of selling a new car that has been repainted.

As far as I know, any manufacturer could repaint a car before they sold it to the Dealers. There was no liability associated with paint - no Lemon Laws on the books in 78. None of the transport damage that was repaired had to be disclosed to the end customer...

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.

It is interesting that the Black Pearl's had non-metallic paint in the engine bay, as well as inside the car. That is usually one way you can tell if the car has been restored rather than original - the engine compartments in the restored cars are usually sprayed with the metallic paint..

Unless we find one of the Painters, that worked at DAS in 78.. we may never know for sure..

FWIW,

Carl B.

26th-Z · May 8, 2009

Many thanks for you reflective comments, Carl. The non-metallic paint location comment is a typical automotive manufacturing technique. You probably noticed that the 901 silver cars are that way.

Part of the problem I have here is that I have achieved a college education and "we may never know" is not necessarily in my vocabulary. As I have previously indicated, through research, they were NOT repainted in California. I still have a couple of other sources to confirm and I'll let you know if that conclusion changes.

Edited May 8, 2009 by 26th-Z

KiraK · June 12, 2016

On May 8, 2009 at 11:28 AM, 26th-Z said:

Many thanks for you reflective comments, Carl. The non-metallic paint location comment is a typical automotive manufacturing technique. You probably noticed that the 901 silver cars are that way.

Part of the problem I have here is that I have achieved a college education and "we may never know" is not necessarily in my vocabulary. As I have previously indicated, through research, they were NOT repainted in California. I still have a couple of other sources to confirm and I'll let you know if that conclusion changes.

Hi 26th z

i am researching the Black Pearl, were you able to confirm any of the above?

It seems to me that the further away we get from 1978, the more difficult it will be to authenticate a BP. As one could repaint an original Black 78 with the BP color, put striping on the car, perhaps the upgraded wheels and say "I have an original Black Pearl?

You can even now purchase the paint code sticker and make it look more authentic?

Just seems to me there has got to be a better way to clearly ID these cars?

I have viewed the original dealer stickers etc and reviewed many BP sites and find no clear way to ID these cars.

It seems by the above post that much of it is left to conjecture.

Can you furth assist me in my research? I may want to buy one of these cars on as my next project, but don't want to do so until I can clearly ID one. Otherwise I could be just purchasing a well done, repainted 280z, but paying a higher price because it is supposed to be a black pearl?

Please help if you can... Anyone else who wishes to weigh in, I'd appreciate it much!

K

The lil z lady

Patcon · June 12, 2016

The flip side of that is if you can't verify it's a black pearl and it has all the features it should then the person you sell it too can't verify it either...so if it looks like a black pearl then it's a black pearl....

KiraK · June 15, 2016