History Channel

[Gav240z]

Know what you mean there's a few Panda's in my street I'd like to sort out. Pretty sure one of them vandalised my car too .

[Bambikiller240]

Maybe we could ask Bush and Blair to go after the rogue Panda's after he finishes with Iraq, & Syria, &....................

[HS30-H]

I'd rather have Bush and Blair go after 'Count' A. Goertz ( "We don't need anybody's permission..........." - Bush ).

This has got me thinking. Maybe I'll help 'em by putting together one of those decks of playing cards with all the bad guys in it like they issued to the troops in eye-rack. Old Goertz has got to be the Ace of Spades - or maybe one of the Jokers?

Has anybody got any opinions that they would care to air with regard to the History Channel's Z car show? Did most people think it was good? Anybody less than satisfied? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Personally I thought it was rather a lot less than fulfilling. They seemed to have researched the voiceover just by copying stuff from one of the many books on the subject. It seems to me that shows like this just reinforce stories that are not completely true. People tend to put a lot of trust in what shows like this say, and it just adds to the bad balance between truth and fiction in the story of the S30-series Z car.

Ironically, I have a tape of the Japanese TV version of this show. They just translated the voiceover directly into Japanese. One of my Japanese Z enthusiast friends sent it to me, and he was very dismissive of it. He was most upset that Goertz got the mention and not Matsuo and his team.

NHK made a programme on the S30-series Z in their "Project X" history series for Japanese satellite TV. This never mentioned Goertz ( hooray ) but got quite a few details wrong too. Can nobody do a decent job on this kind of thing?

I'd like to hear opinions one way or the other with regard to the History Channel show. Anyone care to comment?

Alan T.

[Bambikiller240]

Hi Alan:

I haven't seen the show yet, but if the VCR gods are with me and I get the recording programmed correctly, I'll post my opinion on Sunday.

Cheers,

Carl

[Gav240z]

Alan I understand your frustration regarding A Goertz the Nazi :classic: . Maybe I shouldn't say that no offence intended. You have to understand the makers of the programme are probably not true enthusiasts and have a set time of which they spend doing research. Because the history of this car deals alot with Japan it can make finding out the "Truth" very hard.

If it were not for people like you I myself would still believe the Goertz myth.

Yes it's misinforming and people like Matsuo are unfortunately not credited for a good job done.

If the books out there say Goertz designed the car then most likely these journalists are gonna believe it and repeat that information.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents from my research on the Z myself.

Is there anywhere or any books I could get a hold of that would tell a more accurate history of the Z. Ive been to the technical bookshop in my city central and found a good book on the Z shame I didn't buy it. Forgot what it was called but remember it was a blue book.

Gav

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by Gav240z

Alan I understand your frustration regarding A Goertz the Nazi :classic: . Maybe I shouldn't say that no offence intended.

Gav, I think writing something like that is dangerous. Nobody is implying that Albrecht Goertz was anything to do with the Nazis, and in fact I believe he left Germany precisely because he was not.

Even though it might be a throwaway line, its still a sensitive subject and there's no Smilie strong enough to offset it.

No, my gripe with Goertz is that he at best exaggerated his input into the designs that predated the S30-series Z, and at worst that he downright lied about being responsible for it. Sadly, Nissan's pathetic efforts to dispel the myth ( with their out of court settlement ) give him what appears to be the moral high ground.

Anyway, let's not make this too much into an anti-Goertz diatribe. There's plenty of room for that on a new thread ( Kats I need your help on that one ).

What I meant really was that it was all a bit lacklustre and featured the same white Z ( a nice car admittedly ) driving around and around with a voiceover on top. There were signs that they visited some Z-related events, but not many other cars were featured. Those that were seemed to be somewhat customised and not very representative of the breed. See what I mean? I thought it was a chance missed.............. Was I looking at a different show to everyone else?

Books on the subject are not much better to be honest. Brian Long's books are in my opinion just about the best in English, but even then he gave Goertz too much space in the story ( which he mentioned to me he kind of regrets now..... ). At least he featured Matsuo and the rest of the team, and got something more of the Japanese point of view. Sadly, publishers put quite strong restrictions on authors like Brian. I think if he had FULL editorial and graphic control the books would look quite different.

Anybody else got any views on it?

Alan T.

[peterpit]

I bought the video tape from the history channel a while back and it is a "Must-See". Be sure to not to miss the part of the show about the "Black-Gold" 280zx commercial. It's very "Burt Reynolds/Smokey and the Bandit late 70s" looking.

[Alfadog]

The guy who sold my Z to me insisted on the fact that it was really a "German Design" by Goertz... I tried to set it straight but it was obvious he wasn't going to listen to a 17 year old.

Oh well, his loss...

I liked the video (probably because it was the first Z documentary I ever saw) but yeah it definitely left me a bit disappointed. Too much American Z fans saying "It's nawwt jast a carrr, it's a larrfstarrl"................

I wanted to see Fairlady Z's racing around with bolt on flares and watanabes What I got was 4-speed hick-Zee's with big air dams and a mind-numbing voice in the background telling me what I was looking at.

I enjoyed the bit about early Datsun's and the troubles they had getting a market share in America though. Great footage of the tiny Datto driving down a highway in the US among all those huge tanks.

[HS30-H]

Originally posted by Alfadog

Too much American Z fans saying "It's nawwt jast a carrr, it's a larrfstarrl"................

Careful Alfa, they'll send Rumsfeld after you if you aren't careful

Better make sure they understand you are just giving them an affectionate punch..........

Glad somebody else thought it wasn't quite up to scratch. I was starting to think my expectations were too high.

Alan T.

( must get some of those "Z" earrings......... )

[Alfadog]

If anyone takes offence I can just blame it on my Australian-ness. That usually works ROFL

Funny you mention the "earring" thing, as when I went to the 350Z launch the guy at the front door was wearing a Z pin. I asked where can I get one, so he gave it to me! Now that I think about it, it *could* double as an earring. Mmmm now I just need to get my ear pierced. Which ear is the straight ear again???

[HS30-H]

I recommend the "Prince Albert" piercing for that particular piece of hardware.

Please don't ask me to explain further:cross-eye

Alan T.

( ps - where I come from, only both ears will do for a bloke. One is definitely a no-no. Goes back to Pirate days and all that. )

[v12horse]

I am looking forward to seeing it. Once I see it I will comment. I think many of the books and the shows are not accurate about many things because it is pretty hard to come by accurate information. Information on production models and the numbers of where cars were shipped to across the world are in so many books and sites, but all of the numbers and specs seem to differ. That is from my experience. I just ordered a book called "Fairlady Z to 280z." Hopefully it is a interesting and accurate book. Seems like it will be. Cheers,

Ben