Here's the pic. Sorry about the blur, but on the centre left you can clearly see 1/74..

This is the compliance plate, fitted by Australian authorities when the car was imported/sold in Australia. It is not the manufacture date of the car.

I assume that the car would have been bought into Australia late in 73.

It is not a 74 240z.

Joseph

Its not the VIN plate; the VIN plate wont have a date on it.

Yes, the compliance plate indicates that it is indeed a '73 zed.

Still, it is interesting as it must be one of the last 240's manufactured.

Now for something also interesting, after I looked at the serials, I thought to myself that it must be close to my '73, sure enough mine is 103305, just about a brother...

But complianced May 73... go figure.....

Sorry, got the name of the plate wrong.

What I was trying to say is that it was obviously sold in 74.

I was thinking that this couldn't have happened too often..

On a somewhat similar note, in the US where we only had the 260Z for the 1974 model year, I have come across a few late 260Zs that were built late enough in the 1974 (9/74, 10/74) to be actually titled as 1975. This would suggest that there must have been a lag in the developiment of the 280Z causing them to contunue prodicing the 260Z until the 280Z was ready.

Maybe it missed the boat in Japan for some reason, and didnt arrive in Austrailia till '74.

Compliance plates were fitted when the cars arrived in Australia, and dated as such. not when they were made in Japan.

Compliance plates were fitted when the cars arrived in Australia, and dated as such. not when they were made in Japan.

Well if they where fitted on arrival, how do you explain the 8 month delay in 5 serial numbers. ie 10300 in Jan 74 and 10305 in May 73?

There was a suggestion that some 240's where part of a shipment that nearly made it to the UK, but had to turn around and be unloaded in OZ.

The rumour was largely un-substantiated, however, this sequence of serials is becoming compelling evidence that this did occur.

Well if you read what i said in the first line, it must have not been in the same shipment. Duh.

Serial numbers and compliance plates have nothing to do with each other.

The serial number is copied off the car and stamed on the compliance plate, when the car gets here. (compliacne paltes are manufactured in australia)

It might have been 5 cars behind th other in the factory, but for whatever reason, it wasn't on the same boat.

Maybe it was held back at the factory due to quality controll Maybe they only shipped cars over 8 months at a time. I dont know.

This would explain why the aussie compliance plates are 8 months apart. no one is saying that the cars were built 8 months apart.

If there was a ship that had to turn back form europe and dump the cars in Australia, to would make sense that there would be alot more 240Z's around with 74 compliance plates, but this 1 car is the only eveidence I have seen.