'75 S30 featured on Speedhunters

[NVZEE]

Another nice Z gets the spotlight from Speedhunters.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2018/02/period-correct-z-perfection-from-ta-auto/

[Zed Head]

Interesting car but the writer started with a theme that didn't fit and just kept writing to the theme instead of the car, didn't he?  I don't know what a Japanese Fairlady Z looked like but a lot of those parts are new and don't look "70's", even for Japan, I'd guess.  The Subaru fart can exhaust tip, the newer wheels, the low profile tires, the racing seats (which he totally ignored when writing about the interior).  Nice car, poor write-up.  Did they use fender mirrors on 1975 280Z's?  

Sorry.  Just back to my negative form...  "Period Correct Z Perfection" is just too much though.  It's not correct and it's certainly not perfect.

[Zed Head]

Sorry, that was pretty negative.  What do those SpeedHunter guys do anyway?  There are several cars owned by members of this forum that would be ten times better to write about. 

The period correct thing got me...

 

[rturbo 930]

Yeah, it's not period at all, really. And those have to be the ugliest Watanabe 8 spokes you can buy, nevermind the massive fender gap. Upholstery on the seats looks amateurish. It's a nice car though, and the issues with it could be fixed easily.

As for the journalist, I doubt he has any clue about vintage cars. Seems like anyone can become a journalist these days, and this is no exception.

[heyitsrama]

I thought the paint looks nice on the car, it seems to change colour when the shots are presented from AUS, I wonder if its the camera settings. There appears to be hodge-podged parts from earlier cars, like the grill/240z turn signals, and some of the interior as well with the accordion shift boot (ZX?). 

One thing that was confusing was the author saying that the front bumper/lip was stock in Japan, is this true? 

"It’s nice to see a nice stock front on an S30, don’t you think? The ZG nose is a great addition, and one that people love to do outside of Japan, but there’s something so simple and authentic about the original front end that the car came with."

Maybe the owner built the car with the intention of selling it anyway. 

[v12horse]

I have a lot of the same sentiments many of you have about this car/article.  I enjoy checking the SpeedHunters website regularly and the photos are great.  As far as this 75' Fairlady Z goes it is a beautiful car, but not 'perfectly period correct.' They should have advertised it that way and we wouldn't be having this conversation.   However, SpeedHunters do not know Z's the way most of the enthusiasts here know them.  I was surprised to read that the older Watanabe's are made with a 'lesser' alloy.  The air dam is definitely not 'factory.'  There is some misleading wording in the article, but all in all its nice to see a largely period S30 getting attention on the world wide web.  

It would be intriguing to have a thread here or an article on SpeedHunters that really went into great detail discussing the Datsun Sports Corner which was established before NISMO and was the think-tank for the factory Datsun/Nissan racing program.  Much of the racing parts available in Japan at select dealers made for some mean period correct street and race car's.  I just thought I would throw that out.

 

Ben

[NVZEE]

They’d probably welcome the input. Like most online magazines, blogs, webzines, or whatever they are these days, they rely on individuals to submit content which might only represent that one person’s knowledge or perspective. They do have a comment section, so tactfully pointing out inaccuracies might be the place to start their education. They’re Z fans, after all — maybe we can help them along ?

[v12horse]

NVZEE, I totally agree with you.  I wonder if some of the contributors over there check forums like these to somewhat fact check their content before posting?  I still remember when the internet was not a thing and it was print magazines.  I was a kid and I would practically be waiting at the mailbox to receive my latest copy of Road and Track.  I would devour its contents over a weekend and then I would have to wait until the next month to do it all over again.  There was always a 'letter to the editor' section and the things they were correcting were power outputs and 0-60 times.  To give SH credit, discussions on the complexity of the modified cars was not a thing.  

Now there is a myriad of information from forums and online magazines such as SpeedHunters, Petrolicious, Jalopnik(?) etc. that are pushing out content daily.  It is almost too much and trying to 'correct' it all is a real task.  I am no expert on any car really, but like many here I have my qualms with SpeedHunters and other's write-ups on Z's and some Datsun/Nissan articles in general.  

The more years that pass the more I feel I know less about Z's and I am not so sure why.  Are other car's history as convoluted/misunderstood as the Z or is it just me?  

Ben

Edited February 18, 2018 by v12horse

[Diseazd]

Just glad someone in media loves the S30’s like we do......can’t argue, the car sounds awesome at 4000 rpm.....would’ve loved to heard it at 7500 rpm! Speedhunters I share your excitement.....”keep up the fair work”!

Edited February 19, 2018 by Diseazd

[v12horse]

This is a tough topic... the car sounds great...looks great...I would definitely be all over it if I saw the car let alone had an opportunity to drive it.  It's so easy to be critical from a far... I feel like such an arse...

 

Ben

[grannyknot]

58 minutes ago, v12horse said:

This is a tough topic... the car sounds great...looks great...I would definitely be all over it if I saw the car let alone had an opportunity to drive it.  It's so easy to be critical from a far... I feel like such an arse...

 

Ben

I don't think anyone so far is criticizing the car, it's a nice little gem, I'm sure it would be a blast to drive, the only problem is the writer didn't do enough research on the topic of originality. To call a resto-mod  period correct is just shabby journalism.

[Zed Head]

The author is listening, via Comments.  Maybe somebody can let him down gently.

Here's an ironic one, from "researchisyourfriend".  I saw the user name and thought he was going to give a lesson.  Disappointed.