Yes ! S30 is commonly known as the chassis designation with various prefix and suffix letters to signify various fitment and export destination. Most of those letters do not appear on the car. 26 and 27 are actually HLS30U for example. There is, however, a specific model designated simply S30. We know it as the Fairlady ZL. The prefix letters are pretty straight forward. If the designation does not have an H for example, then the engine is the L20. If the L is missing the car is right-hand drive. R signifies the L26 engine. The suffix letters get fairly complex. U is the USA federal emission standard. UV is the emission standard for California. UN is the Canada export designation. Then there is F for 5 speed, A for automatic. That's just the North American exports. There is a whole-nother set of letters for domestic variants and other export destinations. Alan is the expert on that stuff.

The VB catalog is where I often look for this stuff. Here's the way they list it:

240Z/260Z/280Z

G H L S30 #####

Blank = Coupe

G = 2+2

H = L24 for 240Z

R = L26 for 260Z

H = L28E for 280Z

L = Left Hand Drive

Blank = Right Hand Drive

S30 = Car model

##### = serial number

Chris - were the U, UV, UN, F, and A designations ever on the VIN plaque itself?

I beileve that the other letters were only on the dealer invoices.

Hi MikeW!

No, I don't think the letters appear on the VIN. At least they don't on mine. There is a '72 automatic up in Tampa. I'll check next time I'm up there.

I am fortunate to have the papers on 26. That's why she is "Her Majesty" - she has papers. The shipping bill is the only HLS30U document. Check out the bill of sale from Campbell Datsun and who can spot the mistake?

  26th-Z said:

Hi MikeW!

who can spot the mistake?

4cyl ?????

Yea. Can you believe that?

  26th-Z said:

Yea. Can you believe that?

As I recall the title on my car said 4 cylinders as well. I'd have to guess that it was back in an era when typical Americans looked down on Japanese cars and just assumed they were all under powered 4 cylinder econo boxes.