Attn: Nissan Race Fans....

[Zvoiture]

Found this great gallery...

It says the 240ZR is a replica, but the HS is original? Ummm, Alan?

steve77

[Zvoiture]

On the 'works' car, what is the bar in front of the cowl for? What are the rods on it attached to? And why would there be a shroud over the trumpets? Would something be attached to that for intake purposes?

steve77

[2ManyZs]

I think the "bar" you are referring to on the red car is actually the hood weatherstripping or gasket. It just looks like a black painted bar. The bars attached to it are the upright chrome ones right? They are hood pins, looks like they are on a L shaped bracket attached to the firewall.

The shroud over the trumpets is a "cold air intake" in a sense, they have the air duct going to the hole in the radiator core support, and that is blowing air in the "direction" of the trumpets. In the series they are running it may not be legal to directly connect the outside air duct to the "air cleaner box" so they have skirted the rules as best they can.

Lot of racers in Improved Touring did the same thing as we weren't allowed to use a cold air intake. So they did the same thing to "bend" the rules a little. Since it is only forcing cool air in the "direction" of the airbox, and not physically connected,it is legal.

Gotta love the red one and the way those Wattanabe's look on the white car.

[zr240]

They look awsome. were did you get the pic's

[Zvoiture]

Nissan Racingcar

If you don't already have it (and what die-hard Z fan doesn't??) it will tell yo you need Japanese language. You really don't. Just close the prompt and the pix will come up. there are some unbelievable cars here. There are a bunch of GT cars here and a bunch of silvias and some dimes.

steve77

[HS30-H]

The photos were taken at the NISMO FESTIVAL events at Fuji Speedway - but they are from two different years; the 2000 and 2001 events.

The red car ( no.31 ) is a replica of a "Works" 240Z racer, and is owned by Mr Abe. My good friend Mr Matsui of NP35 built the engine for it, and the body was put together by Mr Shun Koike - who I am also proud to call a friend. Shun owns the no.9 car in the photos - which is a replica of another "Works" 240ZR, this time with the full "Type B" Works aerodynamic kit and the hen's-teeth-rare Works 4-spoke magnesium wheels. Mr Matsui also built the engine for that car, and I can tell you that they are both real screamers. Both Shun and Mr Abe are part of a small core of Z enthusiasts in Japan who are after my own heart; they are nuts about the early period race cars ( especially the Works cars ) and they collect the appropriate parts of the period. Sadly, they are forced to use some parts and some specs. on their cars that are not "period" correct - mainly due to safety requirements. If they were not subject to these rules than the cars would be even more accurate replicas of the real thing.

The car with the no.23 IS the Real Thing, and the photo was taken at the 2000 event - when Nissan wheeled out the car to show in the pits and not run. It is nothing less than a full Works-spec. 240ZR ( like a lot of these later Works race cars it was based on a later spec. of bodyshell from about 1974, but was still called a "240ZR" ) complete with LY "Crossflow" engine in carburated spec. At the time of the photo, it was in the condition that it had been in for the last 25 years or so; unrestored but with loads of lovely patina and pretty much all of the correct period parts. This car was campaigned in a few races and then became a Test car for the Works "Omori" ( Nissan Competition HQ in Tokyo ) race team, and was also used at the Nissan Racing School, based at FUJI, where they used to coach young Works drivers.

For the 2001 event, NISMO decided to "restore" the car - with what I think was too much of a heavy hand. They completely pulled it apart and went through it - chucking away many of the period parts and replacing them with modern equivalents ( especially the rads, seats and fuel tank ). These look jarringly modern and I think they spoil the feel of the car. They even decided not to use the four-spoke Mags and used modern Watanabes instead ( for safety reasons, I guess ).The new paint is pretty much correct for the car when it was in its first season of Works use, though.

Here's a picture of the engine bay on the genuine car, which I took in the pits at the 2001 event;

[HS30-H]

Here's a picture of Shun Koike's car on track at the 2000 event. The driver is Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who drove these cars for the Works team as one of the so-called "Seven Samurai" core of Works Nissan drivers from the early 1970's.

[HS30-H]

Here's Mr Abe's car from the front three quarter. The sunlight was a bit strong on the day, but the car was part shaded, so it was difficult to get a good shot in the pits.

That black line near the cowl is indeed ( as 2Many said ) the rubber sealing strip, and is not any kind of bar or any other device. The airbox on the carbs is a genuine Works type ( supplied by Mr Matsui of NP35 ) and they were made from a pressed fibre-board kind of material. The Works race cars had a couple of channels made from the same kind of material that funnelled cool air towards the inlet.

This car is roughly in the mid-1970 season spec. - just before the aerodynamic parts debuted, but already with the "Overfenders" and the rad panel sheetmetal ( of which there were many versions ).

[HS30-H]

Oops, photo dropped off.....

[HS30-H]

And here it is with the bonnet on ( they don't call them "hoods" in Japan..........

[HS30-H]

Here's a side-on pic. of the Works 240ZR at the 2001 event, post restoration.

[zr240]

how good does the 240Zr look!!!!!!!!!

I would love to get a body kit for my race Z like that.

Are all these cars located in Japan?

Ash