chrome in wheel wells is for caprice classics and crown victoria's

on the other hand the pinstripe on the hood bulge reminded me of a 70-71 Corvette LT-1. i think they accentuate what is there, similar to a low cut blouse.

here's an example

http://www.americanstreetmachines.com/xCars/PageId/11/Classic-Chevrolet-1971-Corvette-LT1-SOLD-TN-For-Sale/Id/46/1971-Corvette-LT1-SOLD-TN/ProdId/126/LId/0,46/1971-Corvette-LT1-SOLD-TN.html

or here

http://www.cars-on-line.com/19301.html

Thanks for that it's exactly what I was referring to. It's not exactly what I'd like on a Z but it's down the right path. That sort of style has made a bit of come back recently and it would be good to have that sort of thing on a Z.

I think the old BRE cars had a similar thing with 240Z written on each side of the hump. :cheeky:

Hey Gav, my brother went to a huge old booksale on the weekend and picked up some old car stuff for me while he was there. Amongst it was a book from the 70's published in America called "Creative Customizing", which mainly features Z-cars and Corvettes! It also features the complete build up of Evil Knievel's 240Z. I will scan that article later, but for now, check out these pics! This is 100% authentic 70's "style"! ...I had to put the 120Y in too

I like the first one Alfa with the stripe down the side and along the hump(forget correct name) of the bonnet. That's the sort of thing I had in mind. It's not neccessarily what I'll do but it gives me some ideas that's for sure.

Thanks alot for sharing and between you and I that 120Y is possibly the ugliest thing I've seen today.

I'm not sure if anyone has posted pics of this yet, but take a close look at the details of this Black Pearl 280Z. It's overdone IMHO but might spawn some unique ideas for you

If you folks are diggin' the side racing stripes check these out:

http://www.graphic-express.com/import_datsun.htm

3M reflective die-cut decals matching original patterns...I thought the black/reflective white would be pretty trick...

Sorry Chris, I think you're way off base on that comment.

Aside from that, did anyone else note the wheels? They have a special feature that might be completely missed if not pointed out. But I'll just post the pictures and see if anyone notices.

E

Would that feature be painting the surfaces in the holes to match the car color? If not, doing so was another way of customization here in the states.

Rob:

The feature I was pointing out was caught by Ed and Arne, they are "sided" wheels, meaning that they are designed to go on the Right and Left sides of the vehicle.

If you were to get a real close up view of the wheels, you would see that the black void is actually the back part of what could be defined as a "turbine vane", i.e. a fan blade.

The purported theory behind these wheels is that at higher speeds, in conjunction with an air dam on the front of the car, as well as the side and rear skirts, they will pull air out from underneath the car and help generate ground holding pressure (vacuum).

As with all other gimmicks of this sort, no doubt the principle is based on good engineering that gets incredibly watered down in application. Could it work and in fact be an asset to higher speed driving? I ~guess~, but then again there is a turbine shaped air breather tube that is supposed to cause the air to swirl in the intake tube and therefore atomize the gas particles more as it flows into the engine.

Both of those are accepted concepts, Indy race cars all work to evacuate the bottom of the car of as much air as possible in order to "hug" the ground better and not fly off the track. Ever seen one of those cars literally flip up like a feather when air gets underneath?

There have also been studies have shown that a swirling air flow actually can atomize and suspend liquid better than a straight flow (think of a tornado). But, and this is the big BUT, does it actually work in this small a scale? Will having vanes for wheels actually help pull out enough air to affect the down force of the car? Will that turbine air thing actually impart enough spin to the intake air? Well, that's where the differences in racing come in.

But to address your point, yes, painting the inside of the wheel rims the same color as the car or even a complementing or appropriate contrasting color was definitely the rage in the 70's.

But as to the comments on white raised letter tires, granted that they look passé now, but Hip-hugger pants, bell-bottoms, and even stacked high heel shoes for men were all the rage in the 70's. How about Afro haircuts? All outlandish.....NOW, but definitely "cool and groovy man" in the 70's. A "Muscle-Car" just WASN'T without it's white raised letter tires, heck I even remember people buying white grease crayons just to "spiff" them up.

Unfortunately, to my taste, the raised letter tires always DID look kind of dorky on the Z.....even back in the 70's.

But get one of those RED pinstripe tires on a Z and you have another discussion.

FWIW

Enrique