72 OMS Pace Car F/S in NY

[gundee]

Saw this. Claims to be 1 of 2 built and the last to survive. 

https://www.motorcarclassics.com/1972-datsun-240z-c-67.htm

 

 

[siteunseen]

Cool car until the pop up wanted my email address to enter some stupid $^!#.

$50K you'd think this would look as good as the rest???

Edited November 20, 2017 by siteunseen

[Patcon]

2 hours ago, Lumens said:

Saw this. Claims to be 1 of 2 built and the last to survive. 

https://www.motorcarclassics.com/1972-datsun-240z-c-67.htm

 

 

I would hope there is some documentation for this somewhere. Not the previous owner told me...

[Captain Obvious]

That was my first thought as well. Last one of fifty produced, huh? Prove it.

Unless you can produce definitive documentation to prove it IS in fact what they say it is, then it's just a 72 with a history of crappy paint jobs.

The thing that really bothers me about a car and claim like that is... OK, so they think it's something really special. If it's really THAT special, wouldn't you take the time and put forth the effort and cost to put paint and other finishing touches on it that's commensurate to the uniqueness of the specimen?

They say in the description:
"only one of the 50 duplicate O.M.S. Pace Cars has been found, and the sole survivor is the car we have to offer you.

The original owner tired of the graphics and painted it with a Jaguar Burgundy. The car was pulled out of storage and sold to a friend of the owner in 2007, who began its restoration. Photos show layers of paint being peeled away revealing the original O.M.S. Blue and White colors from 1972."

If they peeled the paint away, then why is there still burgundy overspray in the engine compartment? You see it? Over near the blue overspray?

There are several members of this forum who put their cars on a rotisserie and stripped to bare metal and did a real nice paint job. And that's just for their "driver" car. Not one of fifty of something supposedly this unique!

[Diseazd]

Couldn't agree with you more Capt.  .........This looks like a $15,000.00 car to me.....dream on Motorcarclassics.

[grannyknot]

9 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Unless you can produce definitive documentation to prove it IS in fact what they say it is, then it's just a 72 with a history of crappy paint jobs.

I would argue that even if they could prove it, it's STILL just a 72 with a history of crappy paint jobs. So it paced a few races, well that's an interesting tidbit of it's past life but I wouldn't give them an extra dollar for that.

I would however give them an extra dollar if they took a rag with some thinners on it and wiped off the burgundy over spray.

[gundee]

10 hours ago, Diseazd said:

Couldn't agree with you more Capt.  .........This looks like a $15,000.00 car to me.....dream on Motorcarclassics.

Agreed. Same here. One reason I posted it was to get opinions. Even my red interior is way better than that one.

Owner began restoration. Ha. Then finish it. I would not even list it until it was finished. Even then no $50K for sure.

[Captain Obvious]

I took a closer look at the cited web pages where the claims of the selling entity are supposedly supported, and it just gets fishier.

First of all, none of these replica cars ever paced a lap. They are "replicas" of the pace car. The REAL pace car had performance and suspension mods that made it track worthy, but not legal to drive on the street. The story supposedly goes like this...

They make one fast, but not street worthy. This is used as the pace car.
They make a second one that LOOKS like the pace car, but it is street worthy to drive around town for photo-ops.

From what I can tell, those two cars (even though they are very different) are both called "Official Pace Cars"

Then there is some unexplained jump and picture to support the existence of fifty "replica" pace cars. These were probably normal 240Z's with a pace car looking paint job and maybe a plaque or tag somewhere indicating the status.

So then there are the pics of the car in question on the website, and a couple pics of the "restoration". They show the car mostly maroon with some paint sanded off exposing what looks like some blue patches.

Then they show it freshly painted the way it is currently in that for sale ad. Two things get me about this... First, adding to the concept of a poorly done "restoration", it isn't even painted correctly for a replica pace car. It's missing the blue downward stripes on the front fenders!!! Who "restores" a specialty car like that and forgets a huge paint detail like that??? And it's also missing the "OFFICIAL PACE CAR" wording on the rear hips.

Then second, and even more troubling to me, is that the next pictures on that that same web page, they show what is propertied to be the same car and it DOES have the fender stripes and a big racing number "0" on the roof and the door. So which paint came first? The current one, or the one with the 0?

What? They painted it AGAIN, and then a third time for the for sale ad?

It's all just so fishy...

[Captain Obvious]

Continued confusion... This car turned up in May 2105 on both japanesenostalgoc and BAT for $25K:
http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/kidney-anyone-1972-datsun-240z-pace-car/
https://bringatrailer.com/2015/05/01/1-of-50-1972-datsun-240z-commemorative-pace-cars/

They cited the same link about the restoration with the implication that these are all the same car:
http://zhome.com/Racing/OMSDuplicates.htm

I've completely lost how many times this thing has supposedly been painted.

I've got no dog in this fight, and it's a good thing... I can't tell which one I should be rooting for!

Captain Out. 

[Zed Head]

Where's Carl Beck? @Carl Beck

http://zhome.com/Racing/OMSDuplicates.htm

He can't be 18,000 years in to the future.

[Carl Beck]

On 11/19/2017 at 7:23 PM, Lumens said:

Saw this. Claims to be 1 of 2 built and the last to survive. 

https://www.motorcarclassics.com/1972-datsun-240z-c-67.htm

I don't see that Claim made in the Ad.  Perhaps because I understand that 50 OMS Pace Car Duplicates were sold to the Public - they are saying that this is one of the original 50.

[Carl Beck]

On 11/19/2017 at 9:51 PM, Patcon said:

I would hope there is some documentation for this somewhere. Not the previous owner told me...

There is no documentation for that - since it is incorrect to begin with.  On the other hand, if we are taking about a claim that this was one of the original 50 Duplicates - its known and reported owner history over time - helps to support the claim. Sanding down careful to see if the original OMS livery is there helps as well, common practice when trying to authenticate a cars history.    There is no huge premium involved - asking price aide - it's a Dealer.  Granted it is no where close to a $50K example..