New discovery; the story of solid/chrome Z emblem

[kats]

Hello everyone,

Today I want to share this short story about solid/chrome Z emblem.

I recently wrote an article for the CLUB S30(Japanese club) about solid/chrome Z emblem which I have been collecting since 2000.

Mr.Matsuo is an honorary member of this club, he read my article then he told us very interesting story which was previously not unveiled.

Can you guess the reason of making the chrome Z emblem?

Can you guess the reason of making the solid Z/Datsun emblem?

kats

[Mr Camouflage]

Ah yes. I have one of these solid chrome Z emblems. All I know is that they were apparently on very early cars.

Please tell us more Kats.

[26th-Z]

They made the chrome emblems because Her Majesty the 26th does not look good in white.

They made the emblems solid in the very early days because Her Majesty the 26th likes heavy jewelry.

[Mike B]

I would guess they made them solid and with a chrome Z initially because the molds were simpler to make than the indentations required for the white painted Z and the hollow back. They probably stopped making them solid to save on weight and material (expense). Maybe they went to the white Z to make the Z stand out more, so people would see it as a Z car and not specifically a 240Z? HLS30-00032 has solid chrome Zs on the quarter panels and a solid Datsun hatch emblem. The 240Z hatch emblem also has a chrome Z, but it is hollow. Have you ever seen a solid 240z hatch emblem Kats? Also, did they make Fairlady Z emblems that had chrome Zs or that were solid?

-Mike

[hls30.com]

My guess:

The master positive wasn't completely ready when the first emblems were needed, so they finished up the absolutely necessary details(mounting pins), and made a set of temporary molds for use until the master positive could be finished and a master mold made- and put into use.

Will

[geezer]

Kats, I would guess that only a limited number of these early emblems were produced initially because a final design decision had not yet been made. Another thought that comes to mind, would be the transition of production of the emblems, from a design studio to a mass production vendor.

I'm sure that there will be a different explanation for each emblem, complete with a personal flair. I look forward to the answer.

Edited August 11, 2008 by geezer

[kats]

Thank you every one, all of your answer are great, I can say all of you are correct!!(of cource Chris too:))

I do not know how many people in this thread can read Mr.Matsuo's letter but if you can, you will find there are lots of interesting facts.

The point is, Mr.Matsuo said "there was no time to paint white for the letter Z and design back of the emblem."

Sorry,I have to go for work.Will be continued soon.

kats

[Carl Beck]

I do not know how many people in this thread can read Mr.Matsuo's letter but if you can, you will find there are lots of interesting facts.

kats

Hi Kats:

Where would we see Mr. Matsuo's Letter ? Did you mean to include it in your Post?

FWIW,

Carl B.

[HS30-H]

Kats,

Last minute name changes........... ?

The 'Fairlady Z' front side and deck lid emblems ( and '432' front side and deck lid emblems ), the round 'Z' quarter panel emblems, round 'Z' bonnet emblems and 'Nissan' deck lid emblems were all finished on time.

The special emblems for the 'Fairlady Z Export Model' took a little longer...... ?

[26th-Z]

I took a solid chrome Z emblem to Long Beach several years ago and talked with Matsuo san about it. I'm anxious to hear what you have, Kats. BTW, I'm still working on the early advertising questions we had several weeks ago.

[HS30-H]

Today I want to share this short story about solid/chrome Z emblem.

Can you guess the reason of making the chrome Z emblem?

Can you guess the reason of making the solid Z/Datsun emblem?

I took a solid chrome Z emblem to Long Beach several years ago........

Gents,

Just in case anyone is looking 'in' from 'outside' the clique, maybe we should make it clear that what we are discussing here are the details of the '240Z' emblems that were used on the side quarter panels of the early Export cars ( as opposed to something that had just a letter 'Z' ) and also the details of the 'Datsun' scripts seen on the same cars.

The Domestic market cars had different emblems, of course. Two of them were actually a stylised letter 'Z' on a round-shaped background.......

:classic:

[hls30.com]

A picture is worth more than I car to type!

At lunch I'll take a run over to my storage place, and pull, picture, and post an early solid Quarter window 240Z emblem-though I think it would be great to have all of the S30 emblems pictured in one thread-I'll round up all of mine and start a new thread(so as not to hijack this one)-unless a search of the archives shows we already have one...

Will