The first Z pace car

[HS30-H]

After a discussion arising from a recent thread, I took a closer look into the question of 'The first Z pace car'. That is to say, the first S30-series Z car to be used for 'Pace Car' duties in a race event worldwide. I have been encouraged to post this information here on the site for all to see, so here goes:

The first instance of use that I can back up with solid documentary evidence, data and pictures is at the 'Race De Nippon' event - held on 12th April 1970 at FISCO ( Fuji Speedway ) in Japan.

This 6-hour race included 'TS-II', 'TS-III' and 'GTS' classes, with two SCCN ( Nissan's works team ) Fairlady Z432-R cars entered in the GTS class. Car no.1 was crewed by aces Hasemi and Kitano, and car no.2 was crewed by Teranishi and Yokoyama. The main challenge to the two Z cars for overall victory was to come from a gaggle of Skyline GT-Rs in the TS-III class, a brace of very hot Mazda rotary coupes also in TS-III and a couple of quick Isuzu Bellett GT-Rs running in TS-II. Several Fairlady SRs were running head-to-head with the 432-Rs in the GTS class, and as these were pretty much at the end of their development period they would have been well-sorted and still fairly quick.

The no.1 432-R of Hasemi and Kitano took the overall and GTS class class win - covering 959km over the 6 hours, with Skyline GT-Rs following home in second and third positions. One of the Mazdas came in fourth. This was the worldwide first ever race win for the S30-series Z car.......

A pace car was deployed more than once during the race, and it is this car that is the subject of this thread. It was a Fairlady Z432, and was actually one of the cars that was part of the Nissan Racing School fleet - which was based at FISCO. For this event, JAF ( the Japanese Automobile Federation ) 'borrowed' the car from the Nissan Racing School, and used SCCN race team driver Yasunori Toshimori as the Pace Car driver - accompanied by a JAF official in contact with the Race Controller by radio.

As one of the cars in the Nissan Racing School fleet, the 432 was prepared for fast circuit use - with many of Nissan's own 'Sports Option' list and Works parts fitted to it. It would certainly have been able to keep up a reasonable speed on the circuit, especially with Toshimori driving.

Below are pics of the car in question. First pic is of the car being used in the race after an incident. Second is the same car in its Nissan Racing School livery. Third is a nice illustration of the same car in some Nissan Racing School publicity, and the fourth pic is a portrait photo of SCCN team driver Yasunori Fujimori, who drove the Pace Car illustrated.

I hope this is of interest to some site members.

Alan T.

[Gav240z]

Thanks Alan I really appreciate the time and effort and thought you put into your posts. While reading i was picturing the old Mazda Rotories, GTR's and Z432's racing against each other. That recent video i posted of the GTR gave me some insight as to what these cars racing was like.

I guess the S30's being lighter than the KPGC10's gave them that extra advantage :classic: .

Once again thanks for the interesting post .

[26th-Z]

That was great! Thanks!

[Ed]

Awesome! Thanks Alan

[Red-Eye]

Great post...Robert

[59ghia]

Just another word of thanks!

[Bambikiller240]

Very interesting information & good pictures. Thanks. Do you, or does anyone know if this Pace Car/School car survives today?

[ChrisA]

Thanks for that information Alan. Very nice. Can you tell us about the emblem that is centered in the grille?

Chris

[Alfadog]

Awesome info Alan :classic: I guess this particular car is long-gone now...?

[MikeW]

This is interesting to me for a couple of reasons. In early April, 1970 we have to remember that these cars are at most about six months old. The fact that one is being used as a pace car that early is impressive but not unusual. I'm thinking in terms of races like the Indy 500 where new cars are often used and showcased as pace cars; for instance next month they'll be using a 2005 Corvette which has only been out a few months.

The fact that they were racing a couple of 432-R's is actually more impressive to me. If you think about all of the modifications from stock and the fact that many of these changes had to be fabricated by hand is an indication of just how much work had to be done in a rather short amount of time. I'm sure they knew what a winning design they had but surely a lot of testing was involved to verify the mods. I suspect that all racers can relate to that but I'm still amazed by it.

[1GENZED]

Hi

I would like to add my thanks for sharing this information.

I was wondering if you had more information on the Nissan Racing School.

I am interested in knowing, if it was an actual racing school ie. Bondurant,

or a driver training program, designed to show the limits of the car, and ment to ultimately sell cars, similar to the program BMW is currently running.

Did they use other Nissan cars as well.

Thanks again,

Ahmed.

[v12horse]

Wow, those are some great pictures and some great information. Thank you for that Alan. I too would like to know if this car still exists. The tires on the pace car look huge. Were the wheels on the car the Kobe Seiko wheels(R:14 by 9.5 and F:14 by8.5) that were an option on the 432-R or are they Watanabes? I only ask that because they look so large. I am very curious about the specifications of the car. Thanks again for sharing this information Alan. As far as historical discussions go, this is what makes this forum so interesting.

Regards,

Ben