That photo is an official Nissan publicity shot, taken just before the "All Japan Suzuka 300km" race ( at Suzuka Circuit ) on 18th January 1970. This was the race debut of the PZR - and therefore the world debut race for the S30-series Z. I wrote a little about this event in a previous reply on this thread.

The Works cars only raced in the guise shown in the photo once. By their second race, they were already wearing the Sports Option type Overfenders and Sports Option 8j Kobe Seiko 8-spoke magnesium wheels. The Works cars changed spec and appearance for almost every race they entered.

Hi Alan, I found a magazine this weekend and there are some great pictures in it. I am really curious about the red #16 car. Is this the first PZR, but with the modifications that you specified or is it a completely different car? I cannot read Japanese, but I believe this is from a race in 1970 due to the little "70" in the corner. Any information on these pictures would be great. I find it very interesting to say the least. I hope I am not the only one that feels this way.

Thank you for the information that you gave about my other questions.

-Ben

Wow, nice pictures!!

Unfortunately that's as much as I can tell you, sorry :nervous:

Hi Ben,

Both the photos you show are from the same race; its the 1970 Suzuka 1000km ( held on May 24th ).

The top photo is of the Works PZR given the race number 16 - shared by Moto Kitano and Masahiro Hasemi. As you can see, it has evolved to a different spec from the cars that debuted in January. The Overfenders are easy to spot, and so are the wider ( Kobe Seiko ) 8 spoke mags. Note also the quick-jack lift points under the radiator support panel. I can't say for sure if this is the exact same car as the no.68 car from the Nissan press publicity shot before the January Suzuka 300km event, but it could be. If it is not, then there is a good chance that it was the no.17 car in this race.

The lower picture shows the no.19 car of Nishino and Fujita, which went on to win the GT2 class and the race overall.

Hope that helps?

Cheers,

Alan T.

This thread has thrown up some incredibly invaluable information [ahh anal alliteration]! Thanks to all who have participated, ive found it always fascianating to read new posts.

-Tom

Here is where I got the info on the PZR and indeed credit is due. Page 23

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/club/s30/nl16/NL16.htm

Sorry to dredge up an old topic (though it's probably worth a revisit as it has a lot of great info in it), but I just found this photograph and thought others would like to see! I can't tell you anything about it unfortunately, but I was hoping perhaps someone could shed some light on it?

. . . . . Skyline owner about to commit sacrilege . . . . .

I'd go with the Z.

Lachlan,

Your photo was taken at the start of the main race at the 'Zen Nihon Suzuka Jidosha Race Taikai' ( All Japan Suzuka Automobile Race Event ) - in March 1971.

Pole position went to Works SCCN driver Kunimitsu Takahashi in car no.64, an SCCN-entered Works 'Fairlady 240Z'.

Second on the grid was Works SCCN driver Moto Kitano in car no.63, another SCCN-entered Works 'Fairlady 240Z'.

Third on the grid was Motoharu Kurosawa in car no.65, a Works 'Skyline Hardtop', with Masahiro Hasemi in car no.66 - a similar car - right behind him. Fifth and sixth grid positions were filled by Hiromi Nishino and Masami Kuwashima in Fairlady Z432-Rs.

It was a 25 lap race, won by Moto Kitano in a time of 2 hours, 20 minutes and nine seconds. Team mate Kunimitsu Takahashi was given the exact same time in seciond place, and the cars crossed the finish line almost side by side ( no doubt for a nice team photo opportunity ).

Manzo Masuda crossed the line third in his Fairlady Z432, with Yoshimasa Kawaguchi coming home fourth in his Porsche 910. Motoharu Kurosawa in the Skyline placed fifth.

A photo from Autosport magazine:

Thank you very much Alan! Very interesting information, especially that the Fairlady 240Z's were raced alongside of - and won against - the Z432-Rs in this race. Better drivers, or a better suited track perhaps? Whatever the case, that is one awesome photograph.

Kitano and Takahashi were arguably the best drivers in the race, but I don't necessarily think they had the best machinery in the race. You'd have to wonder what the race result would have been had either of them been pedalling the Porsches ( a 910 and a 906 ) that were also taking part. Purpose-designed and built sports racing cars really ought to be no match for cars built up from a standard road car design, but talent has not always matched up with the power of the gentleman racer's bank balance.........

And those two Works 'Fairlady 240Zs' were actually PZRs with engine transplants, so we could still say that a PZR won the race. The truth was that by early '71 the Works circuit race team had already given up on running the PZR in this type of race; internal company politics ensured that the race development of the PZR engines was dead in the water by late '70 - with the S20 engine being 'saved' for the ex-Prince faction at Murayama and their precious GT-R. It was expedient for SCCN to be using the L-series engine by that time.

Alan T.

Thanks Alan, it's all so interesting... fanastic information as always. It's nevertheless romantic to think of the "S20 warriors" as Porsche-beaters, regardless of how much of it was due to the drivers