What was it like to meet Mr.K, Mr. Matsuo, and Katayama-san?

[lordbiotree]

For those of you who went to 2004 National Convention I would like to know what it was like to meet Mr.K, Mr. Matsuo, and Katayama-san. From all the pictures I'm very curious about the show and how the show went.

Kats, Victor Laury,26th-Z,V12horse, what was it like. Was this the first time each of you had seen each other? I can only imagine how exciting the event was.

Personally I can only dream about meeting&taking pictures with those great men. Not to mention listing to their great wisdom. Once in a life time do you get a chance like that.

For all of us who were unable to attend please tell your story.

We are Dying to listen!?!

-Brandon

[Fun_in_my_z]

I would like to here that myself...

[Alfadog]

I'm all ears, too!!

[v12horse]

Hi guys, I am still writing and proof reading my write-up of the Z convention 2004. I mainly talk about my conversation with Matsuo and my ride in the LY powered Fairlady Z. I will post it as soon as possible. Lets say, within a couple of days. It is already 6 pages long, doubled spaced in word format. I am very excited to tell all you guys what I have come up with. Please, my intentions are to tell the s30 community everything I know because I wish all of you could have been there. I will just say that it was a great experience, and it is something that I will never forget. Be patient, the information is coming. I am very excited to see what you guys think.

Take care and talk to you soon,

Ben

[Zrush]

Scott and I were lucky enough to meet and speak with Mr K and his "posse" in New Hampshire last year. He confirmed the japanese writing under the hood of the 77 280Z did say "DATSUN". I have a treasured pictue of Mr. K, Scott, me and the 280Z together.

Can't wait for your write-up Ben:classic:

Vicky

[MikeW]

Originally posted by Zrush

I have a treasured pictue of Mr. K, Scott, me and the 280Z together.

So why haven't you posted it?

[26th-Z]

Yea, Ben had a blast. I'm here to tell ya!

Yes, I think it was the first time any of us met each other. Kats and I drove his car up to MSA for the afternoon. That was cool. I met an English friend of Alan T.'s and we took him to Hooters for his birthday. I ended up dancing on a table with balloons stuffed in my shirt covered in "I Hooters stickers. Rick got a ride around Willow Springs with Bob Bondurant. C. David got a ride / drift with Kazama. The picture of me with Mr. K is privately in the lobby. He signed a couple of books for me. I was blown away that he got out of his wheelchair for the picture. I met Matsuo-san and spent 2-1/2 hours with him talking about the design of the Z. I have some of his sketches. We did two junk yards and I have a bag of hose clamps. Saw a really nice Corvair somebody should rescue. I took on to the judging team early in the show, but left to cruise the rest of the show as soon as the forms were turned in. I didn't catch much of the "gold medallion" judging. And, I sat with Brian Long and Mr. Kobayakawa "Koby", chief designer of the Mazda RX-7, at the awards banquette.

I flew out Wednesday morning with three other Tampa Z fanatics and we flew back Sunday afternoon. We had Sunday brunch on the Queen Mary. I worked out in the hotel gym / spa / sauna. I met all kinds of people - in the bar - at the restaurant for breaskfast. AND WE DRANK A LOT OF BEER.

I'm horning in on Ben's thunder. I have more to say, but I know what a blast Ben had and I want to hear his impressions. I'll be back with my impressions. I had a blast.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Well tell us already!

[mdbrandy]

Originally posted by 26th-Z

Yea, Ben had a blast. I'm here to tell ya!

Kats and I drove his car up to MSA for the afternoon. ... Rick got a ride around Willow Springs with Bob Bondurant. C. David got a ride / drift with Kazama. The picture of me with Mr. K is privately in the lobby. He signed a couple of books for me. I was blown away that he got out of his wheelchair for the picture. I met Matsuo-san and spent 2-1/2 hours with him talking about the design of the Z. I have some of his sketches. We did two junk yards and I have a bag of hose clamps. ... AND WE DRANK A LOT OF BEER.

We need an emoticon for "I AM REALLY, REALLY, REALLY JEALOUS"!!!

[mimzey]

My boyfriend and I were able to drive down Saturday morning from Visalia, CA to attend the Z car show. We met up with a friend of mine who works for Nissan of North America in Torrance. We had a terrific time. I met 26th-Z, Kats and Victor Laury. I also was able to get Mr. K's autograph on my latest Sport Z magazine. I also had Mr. Matsuo sign it. I talked briefly with Mr. Matsuo, through an interpreter. Got a few pictures of me shaking hands with Mr. K after he signed my magazine. It was memorable and something I will never forget.

[v12horse]

I would have liked to meet you Mimzey. It sounded like you had a great time.

Chris, I must admit that I was quite jealous when you told me that you were meeting with Matsuo. However, you probably had a lot better questions than I did since I am a newbie, and as Alan put it, you are early early Z royalty. I had a great time meeting Victor, Kats, and Chris. They are all wonderful guys-and not just for their love for the Zcar. They each have great personalities and big hearts.

I just want to tell everyone that I have not proof read this write-up. So the grammer may be bad here and there and the transitions are not too transitional, but the content is what is important. I would really like to hear what Kats and Chris have to say about their conversations with Matsuo.

Just read it and I hope you love it. It was in word format and it is 6 pages long. If I have anything to add that comes to mind that I have not included, I will definately do so. I wish everyone could have gone to the Z convention.

Take care and thank you all for your generosity,

Ben

p.s. Keep the original Zcar alive.

p.p.s It is in the next post. :stupid:

[v12horse]

June 18, 2004 Z convention

By Ben Yount

I want to first say that this trip to the National Z Convention with my father will not be forgotten. I have learned things about the S30 and met people that I have made great friends with through our love for the Zcar.

It was 3 o’clock in the morning when I went to sleep after detailing my 1974 260Z, packing, and getting all of the maps together that my Father and I would need on our trek of 384 miles from Fremont, California to Longbeach, California. I woke up to the sound of my alarm at 4 AM and my Dad and I got ready and began our journey in the fabled S30 motorcar. My Dad drove the first leg since he had a good 6 hours of sleep. I should have been tired, but my adrenaline was pumping because I love road trips and I was really looking forward to the weekend dedicated to the Zcar. About 150 miles into the trip I took over the wheel and I was getting very tired. I hung in there and rolled the window down to let the cool morning breeze beat on my arm in hopes that it would keep me alert. After a venti Java chip Frappacino from a Starbucks and some good toons, I was back in business. I always wished that my car had the original Hitachi radio, but it is times like this that I appreciate the Alpine CD player. Don’t worry; I will change it once it is not my daily driver because the Hitachi is under my bed in an Alpine box. After many tanks of gas and a lot of money (67.5USD), we arrived in Long Beach, California at the Hyatt Regency.

After checking in, my father and I were driving on Ocean blvd when I saw this beautiful 1970 240z. The moment I saw it I knew it belonged to my friend Kats. I was so excited and I honked the horn a few times to get his attention. He waved and I made a quick U-turn to pull off to the side of the road behind him. The beauty of his car and the smoothness of the paint struck me, but I was more excited to meet him. It was a privilege for my father and I to meet Kats. We had a great time chatting and looking at each other’s cars. Kats was telling us how he took a trip the previous day to Bakers field to visit some of his old flight instructors. Bakers Field is about 140 miles from Long Beach, so it was great to see that Kats really enjoys his Z and that is not just a garage queen. These cars are meant to be driven and they are great at it, as most Z enthusiasts know! Driving an old Z is a great experience every time I get behind the wheel. I always think of how it would have been like driving one back in its hay day-I am sure it was as much of a thrill as it is today, but now, these cars are legends. After talking with Kats for a while he started to show me the little details of his car that make it so great. The tires are non-belted Bridgstone Skyway 6.45-14 (165mm wide). They are the tires that were mounted on the red 240z prototype (The one that had no emblems and was set in a colorful background for Nissan photos). The hubcaps also have a great story behind them because they were given to him by Mr. Matsuo, the mother of the Z. I say mother because as Kats has on his sticker, I think of it as Mr. Katayama being the promoter of the Z in the United States, the father to the 240z, and Mr. Matsuo being the mother to the S30 because he gave birth to it. Back to the hubcaps, they are the early type that has less tabs to attach to the steel wheel, so going around a corner at speed could cause them to pop off. I showed Kats the few special pieces that I have on my car (the whole car is special to me), and those are the calendar “rally” clock that was offered in the 74-78’ Fairlady ZL, and the Datsun competition “rally” gear knob, which is a reissue of the original that was offered in the Datsun/Nissan sports option catalog and what was used in many Works rally and road racing first generation Z’s. We had a great time talking and admiring each other’s cars, and then we parted and planned to meet at the entrance to the Hilton at 5PM to wash our cars.

Later that evening we drove to the Hilton, which was about a half mile from our hotel to meet with Kats and others. I parked my car behind Kats 240 and got out to talk with Chris Wenzel (26th-Z), Kats, and members of the Florida Z club. It was great times and when I thought nothing could be better, Mr. Matsuo walked out to see what the commotion was and to admire the Z’s. I was talking with Kats and I was so excited and told him that Mr. Matsuo was here. I was speechless, but full of excitement because here was one of my heroes, the designer of the car that we all love so much-the S30. Kats could see the excitement that I had and he introduced my father and I to Mr. Matsuo. Kats then told me that I could ask him anything I wanted. Kats then pointed at my 260z and told Mr. Matsuo in Japanese that it was my car. Mr. Matsuo walked over to the car and eyed the bumpers and said that at the time that this car was built he was not working with Nissan anymore. The bumpers were bigger than the 240z to meet government regulations and Nissan complied by adding the 3mph bumpers, like the ones installed on my car. I then pointed to my clock and Matsuo san opened the door and sat in the car to analyze the interior. He was looking at the shift knob and he said that he made one for his Fairlady Z, but it was in the shape of a ball. We then went to look at Kats’s car and Mr. Matsuo showed us that the earlier Z’s had all metal emblems and you can just put your hand over them to feel the coldness of the metal. He then went on to tell me about the tires Kats had on his car. He was even awe struck that Kats had them. Kats was doing some translating for Matsuo, but I asked the golden question; a question that I have been pondering for a while. I said, “ Was the S30 designed for the Japanese market with America in mind, or was it made for America?” His answer was very simple and composed. I had a feeling that he was not going to say that it was for Japan only, but I still did not know what he was going to say. Matsuo said, “The S30 was a car not just made for Japan or America, but for the world. It was to be accepted world wide.” Matsuo also continued to say that the seats were not very wide and that was fine for the Japanese people, but for Americans it was not because they were statistically bigger people. Also, the hand brake was designed for a right hand drive car, but he wanted it to be on the left side of the tunnel for the LHD cars and on the right side for the RHD cars. Nissan said that this was too expensive, so, the S30 had the handbrake left in the RHD position. I also asked Mr. Matsuo about the lights and the windshield wiper controls on the column; whether many cars of the time had that feature. He said the Z was the first to have the controls integrated in such a way. Matsuo then got out of Kats car and went around to the open hatch and showed my Dad and I that the hatch hinges were much different than cars of that time being produced. His design of the hatch hinges were not on top of the body, or underneath in the interior of the car, but in between the hatch, concealed in the body sill (I wish I could describe it better.). Then, Matsuo showed us that the type of shock for the hatch was the first of its kind. He wanted a shock to be on each side of the hatch, but due to costs this did not occur until 1973. However, there was an indentation for the second shock on the right side of the hatch where the second shock would have been.