Z Restoration Progam

[zhead240]

the last ebay restored zed that sold for $27,000, the seller said it was #33 of 50.( only 44 were done from what i've learned on this site. correct me if i'm wrong)were all the restored zedz numbered and if so how was the order determined?also did every project zed have a console badge and quarter window sticker? last aug i was at a zed fest near toronto and one car owner claimed his was a restoration zed( only 27,000 original miles) that he bought at an auction in arizona.i only learned of the badge and sticker afterward so i wasn't looking for them. i got some pictures but they're not conclusive for or against.( i wanted to ask how much he paid but some people get offended by such questions ) maybe next year if i go back to the zed fest i'll try to look this zed up again to verify it,get better pics and vin #,just in case 26thZ want to locate and document these zedz.

[26th-Z]

At the moment, I am saying 40-odd because I really don't know how many were made! I hear rumors about uncompleted assembled cars and body shells in primer. I believe that body shells were sold off at the end of the program along with used parts and assembly equipment like these body dollie pictures.

I think the red #33 car is coming to Florida and I hope to photograph it when it arrives. That will make three of them within an hours drive from me.

I have seen Vintage Z decals on one quarter window, both quarter windows, and on the windshield. To the best of my knowledge, they all have a console plaque. It makes perfect sense. These cars were specially promoted and specially sold at special stores. The Z-Store program was ten dealers throughout the Southern United States.

Yes zhead240! Send pictures!

Hi Zrush! You bring up a good point. The guy who did Zrush probably would not have fit in the program. I'll get to discussing the economics of this program and the impact it had in the future. Carl brought up that he had heard eighteen different body shops were involved and I am not surprised. There is a lot of talk about what happened at the body shop level. Nissan envisioned producing 200 cars and focused their purchases in the Southern California area. Imagine the work load generated within a period of two years to Southern California body shops. The Nissan literature indicates that the chassis were completely stripped and the stuff I have from Pierre says bead blasted. This is demonstrating a lot of work in a short time frame. "Taxing the infrastructure" is how Zcar magazine put it in the Spring of 1997. Pierre indicates that he initially discussed doing one car a month with Nissan. Zcar reports Nissan anticipated 10 cars per month.

[Alfadog]

Firstly, excellent info Chris, and presented well too. I really enjoy reading about these cars, even if I'll probably never see one!

Vicky, what makes you say that? To me those cars look like they have been restored perfectly. Is there something specific you saw that was left out you feel should have been done? Any "fine details"? I'm not attacking you, just interested!!

[Carl Beck]

Hi Chris (everyone):

Re: the Representative Sent To Japan To Plead For The Z...

This is what really happened....

Read Mad Mikes Trip Report... it's good reading.

100% certain....?

FWIW,

Carl

Carl Beck

Clearwater,FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[Carl Beck]

Chris Wrote:

>Carl brought up that he had heard eighteen different body shops

>were involved and I am not surprised.

Hi Chris:

Just to be more correct:)... I said I had a letter from the Nissan Manager of the Z Store Program, in which he stated that 18 body shops and 3 restoration business had completed 40 cars as of the date of the letter....

Text copied below FYI - and when you come up I'll gladly provide a copy of the original, along with the US Postal Date Stamp and Pete's finger prints.

Note 1 that contrary to earlier reports... the fourth restoration shop did not pan out. Also note that Nissan clearly states that the parts and cars bought after the close of program... are not Nissan products...

Note 2 -- also that Pete states the last remaining cars that were to be shipped to the Z Stores would be finished and shipped shortly... thus more than 40.. and the real total according to other Nissan sources was 42.

Note 3 -- Pete is no longer with Nissan, and his phone and e-mail address are no longer vaild. (it was 1998 after all)

Keep The Spirit Alive...

Carl

= = =

Nissan Motor Corp., U.S.A.

30 October 1998

TO OUR Z-CLUB MEMBERS:

As you well know, Nissan Motor Corporation USA created the Z-Store as part of a unique program to keep the spirit of the Z car alive after retiring the 300ZX. As of the 3 1'' of October, 1998, the official program will be discontinued.

The restoration of Vintage Zs involved more than 18 different body shops and three restoration businesses, and the quality restoration process was backed by Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. Through the program, some 40 cars have been restored, with one donated for a charity auction organized by Rick Cole. Others have been sold to Z enthusiasts across the U.S., as well as buyers from around the world.

I strongly believe the program satisfied a niche demand, and generated positive publicity for Nissan. Additionally, our efforts to bring new life to these wonderful cars has kept the "Z"spirit alive and just as importantly, helped bridge the "gap" between the discontinuation of the 300ZX and the development of a new generation sports car, now possibly a new Z. I hope the cars we were able to deliver to our participating Z-Stores helped generate floor traffic, customer interest and profits from the cars' sales. I also know that parts sales for Nissan, and obviously from the many Z-related aftermarket companies increased based on the recognition of owners of the value of 2402 ownership, as many people be,oan restoring or improving their personal vehicles.

While Nissan p]ans no official announcement about the discontinuation of the Z-Store, our Public Relations Department has prepared the following statement:

"With the rich heritage the Z car has generated over the years, Nissan wanted to maintain a high level of interest in the Z after the discontinuation of the 300ZX. The Z restoration program heiped us to do that, and it satisfied a special demand for these cars. We're now looking fonvard to what we are hoping will be a new Z. We showed a concept car this summer which was aimed at recapturing the spirit of the original Z, and we'll be unveiling a version of this concept at the January Detroit auto show which we hope will be a further definition of a true, pure sports car."

Nissan will now focus its attention on the development of the Concept Z, which may very well open a new chapter ofthe company's continuing interest in performance cars. In the meantime, all of us at Nissan take pride in what we have accomplished with the Z-Store and in the cars we have restored. I think it is a!so safe to say that those people fortunate enough to have purchased one of our restored Z's have a very rare vehicle indeed. The warranties originally set for those cars remain in place, and owners will continue to be served by Nissan¥s Claims Cenrer.

The remaining cars are being completed by Datsun Alley of Signal Hill, CA, and wiil be delivered to our participating dealers across the country within the next 10 days to two weeks. Datsun Alley will be continuing the restoration process on its own and will be offering completely restored 240Zs to customers. These will not be Nissan-authorized cars nor will they come with a 12,000-mile/l 2-month warranty. Datsun Alley, however, will stand behind its work, and assist any buyers ofthese cars with any warranty-related problems. Marc Jones of Datsun Alley can be reached at 562-988-0009.

Let me just conclude this letter by saying it was a privilege to represent Nissan through the Z-Store, and I have greatly appreciated your interest and support ofthis program. On a personal note, I have been asked by Robert Bentley Publishers, a company noted for its automotive heritage books, to write a book on the Z, including a section on the Z-Store and the Z's legions of fans. If you have anything interesting that you would like to pass on to me for inclusion, please e-mail me at <pete.evanow@nissan-usa.com>, or send it to my attention at P.O. Box 3052, Orange, CA 92857.

I look fonvard to seeing many of you at the next National Z Car Convention, and thank you for helping to keep the Z alive and for sharing in the company's great heritage.

Cordially,

Pete Evanow

Manager, Z-Store

- - -- - - 30 - - -

[gnosez]

Based on the number of views this topic has generated (over 1,600) I'd say there a strong case for a serious presentation of the 240Z restoration effort. I believe a few minutes of thought should go into how this might get to the marketplace and in what form.

Given the number of people who buy Z related objects, books, t-shirts, mugs, etc. there is at the least a limited batch (less than 5,000 copies), niche publishing house book in all this.

If not that, a long article for C&D, R&T, etc. The problem I see with this approach is that the subject calls out for detail and magazines don't do detail. Perhaps an early installment piece could be floated to any number of car magazines.

As a history teacher turned to the dark side (civil/criminal inspector), I know many of the frustrations and dead-ends that a trip like this will take you on.

There will be different understandings of what occured and when, with who and who did what to whom. There will be gaps and selective memory events. More than one person will claim to have done something. Archive articles and materials will point to conflicts and confusion instead of answers. I say this in support of your collective efforts and because I sense that the Z community is beginning to take notice. So while there are but a few people posting there could be well over 2,000 views before the month of January ends.

And if you find getting information from a few years ago hard, imagine trying to get it from people extremely reluctant to do so (can you say, prison time?) or better yet, try getting the facts straight on a event that happened 500 years ago. I look forward to each new added piece of the puzzle. As the Brit's would say, 'it's early days yet"....

[halz]

I've tried to keep up with the dialogue in this thread. It seems to me that the "Factory Restored Zs" should more accurately be termed "Nissan Motor Corporation USA - supported restoration program". I'm not sure if Nissan actually does manufacture vehicles in a factory in the USA - they certainly didn't make the Z-series there - so we can safely say that none of the 40-odd cars so restored ever saw the inside of a Nissan factory after they left Japan in the late '60s/early '70s.

Despite the documented visits to Japan by US Z-car club members, I see no evidence that Nissan in Japan supported the restoration program in any way. Their contribution may have perhaps been a benevolent smile at the efforts of their US distribution partners...

[Carl Beck]

halz wrote:

...snipped..

>Despite the documented visits to Japan by US Z-car club members,

>I see no evidence that Nissan in Japan supported the restoration program

>in any way. Their contribution may have perhaps been a benevolent smile

>at the efforts of their US distribution partners...

Hi halz (everyone):

"....a benevolent smile at the efforts of their US distribution partners"

No offense meant halz, but I have to admit that is one of the funniest things I've read lately. It made me laugh out loud... from all my conversations with Nissan USA employees, the word "benevolent" would never have entered my mind, as it relates to the absolute control of Nissan Motors USA by the home offices. What little independence Nissan USA had, left the country along with Mr. K in 1977.

For "evidence... I think we read somewhere that Nissan Motors Ltd. Japan approved the budget for the project originally and re-tooled for production of some of the parts needed. I believe that the list of "Restoration Parts" issued by Nissan was the result... some of them were however reproduced here in the US AIR.

BTW - Nissan Motors Ltd. Japan hasn't had "a distribution partner" here in the US since they bought out their last distributors around 1965.

kind regards,

Carl

Carl Beck

Clearwater,FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[Zrush]

Firstly, excellent info Chris, and presented well too. I really enjoy reading about these cars, even if I'll probably never see one!

Vicky, what makes you say that? To me those cars look like they have been restored perfectly. Is there something specific you saw that was left out you feel should have been done? Any "fine details"? I'm not attacking you, just interested!!

Hi Alfa

You know why I can say that is because I have one and I can compare it to the 77 that was restored. The Vintage Z is a beautiful car and a fine restoration. We bought the car right off the Z Store showroom floor in 2000. I wanted the car and even a few flaws were not going to keep me from having this unique piece of history.

We had to have the rear bumper rechromed. A section was what my husband calls "burnt". I lost points at an AACA show for this. The rubber seal under the drivers door was missing. The drivers door was also missing a door bumper. Of course, these items could have come off during shipping but still. The diamond pattern vinyl over the strut towers has a tiny spot where they cut the material to short. We had the hubcaps repainted due to some scratches. Now most people wouldn't even see this without really looking directly at it. This is what I meant by "fine details". It's really no big deal. I must be a perfectionist when it comes to the car because we take it to high end shows like AACA throughout Florida.

All these minor flaws were corrected for a few dollars and I even got the Z Store to reduce the price because of the rear bumper.

Of course I'm speaking of my car, not all that were produced for the program. Some could have no flaws and some could have more.

Ol' Yeller is close to perfection now :classic:

FWIW

Vicky

[Carl Beck]

halz wrote:

>I've tried to keep up with the dialogue in this thread. It seems to me that

>the "Factory Restored Zs" should more accurately be termed "Nissan Motor >Corporation USA - supported restoration program".

Hi halz:

That might be more accurate.. and I'd say that if that's what you want to call them that, I'm sure we'll all understand what cars you are talking about. You might shorten that to "Nissan Vintage Z Program Cars", or shorter still "Nissan Vintage Z's"...

Wait a minute... no, on second thought, if we call them "Nissan Vintage Z's" or "Nissan Vintage Z Program Cars"... that might be misleading. Someone would think that Nissan Motors owns them.

"Nissan Motor Corporation USA - supported restoration program" might be misleading too. In most places Nissan seems to have called them "reconditioned".... they weren't really restored (meaning to make as original again).

>I'm not sure if Nissan actually does manufacture vehicles in a factory in the

>USA.

Now you can be sure. Nissan has several factories that produce cars and trucks here. They just built a multi Billion Dollar assembly facility for their full size trucks and SUV's here as well. As I recall the build the Altma's here, and some production was exported to Japan.

>- they certainly didn't make the Z-series there

That's for sure... of course "they" ("they" being your reference to Nissan Motors Ltd.) didn't make them in Japan either.

Nissan Motors Ltd. Japan, didn't actually build the car in the first place. Nissan Motors Ltd. did the design, the engineering, the distribution, sales and marketing... but they did not produce the car. The Z's were produced by a subcontractor.

Shin Nikkoku Kogyo Co., Ltd was started in 1949 to build rail road cars AIR. It formed an alliance with Nissan Motors Ltd. in 1951, it became a publicly traded corporation in 1961. The company name was changed to Nissan Shatai Koki Co., Ltd in 1962. It began production of the Z Car in Oct. 1969. The company name was changed again in 1971 to Nissan Shatai Co., Ltd. It is a publicly held corporation, not a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissan Motors Ltd. (as Nissan Motors USA is).

FWIW,

Carl

[Zrush]

I think the red #33 car is coming to Florida and I hope to photograph it when it arrives. That will make three of them within an hours drive from me.

Hi Chris

Pierre told me that our 1972 240Z was #31 when I verified the vin and color with him prior to my purchase in 2000. I'm going to look at the Vintage Z Registration paperwork I have at home tonite and I'll get back to you.

Vicky

[gnosez]

If not Nissan factory restorations then why not "Nissan sponsored restorations"?

Everything I've seen so far points to the vehicles being done with the complete knowledge and support of Nissan. Are they factory cars? Not in my opinion. Had they be shipped back to Japan for the restoration work then I could see a reason to call them "factory" restorations.

The restoration resulted in vehicles that were better then originally produced with a level of detail and some upgrades not provided in the early '70s.