Series 1 '71 blue on blue automatic - purist debate

[GeoJoe]

Thats my car that is being shown above! Exactly 1100 cars after yours was produced. Just so you know, mine was repainted once, badly, in a mercedes blue metallic. The car needs a major refresh and repaint,and I will be going back to 903 blue. I love the blue interior.:classic:

Very cool car. Nice work inside!

Here's more of this one with another layer of dirt scrubbed off. I'm very surprised on paint in the engine bay. Check out the E31 head too...

[northernz]

I made a math mistake! Mine is only 900 cars after this one.I wish my engine bay paint looked that good!

Keep updating this thread, I will follow with interest, defintely a good decision keeping the original colours.

[GeoJoe]

Got her running smooth this afterrnoon with help from John Williams here in Atlanta. Amazing to have Z talent like this nearby. Now she's starting easily, revving strong and shifting smooth. Still a long way to go.

It's so bizarre to not have a 3rd pedal. Had to go with a manual shift from 1 to 2 to D once just to feel all the gears working. Once I got some confidence up I even kicked it a bit and felt it (automatically!) downshift to 2nd, RPMs came up and I felt some of that 43 year old torque. Very cool to drive this.

[Carl Beck]

Just FYI

HLS30 14799, 14821, 14906, 14959 & 15189 - are all A/T's.

Keith - lowest VIN I have recorded with an A/T is HLS30- 07969

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Carl Beck

[djwarner]

OK I have HLS30 09310, 12441(later converted to 5 Speed Manual), 12746, 17574(mine), and 17595.

This makes 10.

Carl, do you know if all these are still on the road?

[GeoJoe]

Just FYI

HLS30 14799, 14821, 14906, 14959 & 15189 - are all A/T's.

Keith - lowest VIN I have recorded with an A/T is HLS30- 07969

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl, big thanks for the info! Great to see this blue Z finding a place in line. So interesting to piece together the different runs they made.

[Carl Beck]

OK I have HLS30 09310, 12441(later converted to 5 Speed Manual), 12746, 17574(mine), and 17595.

This makes 10.

Carl, do you know if all these are still on the road?

Hi Dale:

When the VIN's were gathered - all were reported as running. Going back to that 89xx or 93xx - - in that series I have the following A/T's.

8944, 8947,8958, 9033, 9062, 9090, 9097, 9290, 9310, 9582, 9591, 9603 All A/T's - no VIN's reported in that series as 4 spd.'s so far.

First 4 Spd reported past that series of A/T's - 9753.

Then the A/T's start again:

12427, 12441, 12500, - - 12658, - - 12746, 12765 - but mixed into this series there appears to be several 4 spd. cars marked with - - in the series.

In the 17xxx range - only a few

17574, - - 17595, - - 17631, 17636

Carl, big thanks for the info! Great to see this blue Z finding a place in line. So interesting to piece together the different runs they made.

Hi GeoJoe:

Thanks - it has always been interesting to me to see how VIN's and Engines lined up with Dates of Manufacture - then how/when the A/T's started. Didn't mean to hijack the thread.

It "seems" that the first batch of A/T's were in that 89xx - to 96xx range all ran at the same time.

Then smaller batches of A/T's were run in the 12xxx range, followed by some more in the 14xxx range. By then they seemed to be mixing production between the 4spd. and A/T cars. So far no A/T's in the Series I cars past 17636 have been noted..

FWIW,

Carl B.

[240260280z]

From looking at VINS and colours, it looks like they made contiguous blocks of the same colour. Seems logical for large scale production too.

[usafdarkhorse]

I remember taking a look at this car awhile ago and wondered where it went to after leaving craigslist. I was going to buy it for a restomod project and ditch the auto, but it looked pretty bad through the hatch area.

[GeoJoe]

I remember taking a look at this car awhile ago and wondered where it went to after leaving craigslist. I was going to buy it for a restomod project and ditch the auto, but it looked pretty bad through the hatch area.

Yeah it sat on CL for a long time and it took me 3 months + to finally just go get it. The rust is there but manageable.

I'm in conversations with the 2nd owner to get it back to him in CA. That'd be very cool.

[thoseRZZZs]

I love this thread, seeing the factory blue paint in shiny condition is awesome. I have a Series 1 blue/blue also (HLS30-15793) that I am restoring now. I just removed most of the interior in preparation of redoing it and getting the car ready for paint. I plan on keeping it blue/blue but maybe going different shades. How many Series 1 blue/blue cars were made? It's already missing the original numbers matching engine so it isn't completely original. Any thoughts?

[jpark4745]

Talk about timing. Past Saturday picked up 2 Series 1 California cars.

First car is HLS30-09110, 8/70 production date with A/T. It also has A/C which I assume is dealer option. Previous owner painted black over original green paint and has tan/butter scotch interior. I wasn't 100% sure whether this was real deal as I read A/T not being available till much later. Glad to see Carl's compilation.

The other car is HLS30-04296, 5/70 production date with stick. Car's original color is silver with a layers of orange, green, and primer on top. Black interior.

Will post pictures as review each cars this weekend.

BTW GeoJoe, I like your blue on blue

Edited November 1, 2013 by jpark4745