We're bringin' back the Flat Tops!

[S30Driver]

Very Nice!   My kind of tire shop...   Car looks great,  looking forward to seeing it again next month.

[jayhawk]

On 7/21/2021 at 2:23 PM, jayhawk said:

 Small update on the Z:  Took it to the local America's Tire shop to switch the Bridgestone 175 80 14 tires I had on my slotted "mag" wheels to the Topy's I had recently restored.  They had a young fellow on staff that had a 280Z, and helped ensure nothing was bent.  (I had purchased some slotted rubber jack pad adapters to protect the frame rails which they used) Here is how they lifted it. 4 floor jacks. 

 

 

 

[jayhawk]

I thought I'd update this thread with info about the Z of the last couple of years.  Some of this info has been mentioned in other threads, but just to complete the saga to date about this car, this post is about our adventures at ZCON 2019 in Branson.

Took it to ZCON 2019 in Branson immediately after Motorman "finished" the restoration. (is a restoration ever really finished?...)  Bought a used Nissan Armada, rented a 24' enclosed trailer, and set off for Branson from San Diego after persuading my brother to help drive, as I'd never towed anything larger than a jet ski before this. 

Yoshihiko Matsuo (RIP) inspecting Motorman's work.

Judges judging.  Received 2nd place in Stock, after Zup's beautiful '73 Z.   Very happy for Zup, as he had unselfishly helped on this thread.

The Branson ZCON trophies are really nice!

 

[jayhawk]

After returning from ZCON, took the Z to the 2019 JCCS in Long Beach, CA.  Huge event with over 500 Japanese autos. 

 

[jayhawk]

In October 2019, drove it from our home just outside San Francisco to the Neillo Concours d'Elegance in Sacramento.  Entered into the 1953 to 1979 Sports Cars Under $5,000 class.  Another 2nd place to a Volvo 1800 that has survived the disastrous Paradise, California fire.  The owner had lost his home and other cars, but had photos of his Volvo on a trailer driving through orange smoke and flames!  This was a great lesson is how you present your car!   All in all, great fun.

Edited April 1 by jayhawk

[jayhawk]

In 2021, took it to some local shows.  The owner of the black Mercedes McLaren next to me was looking at my window sticker price ($4200 in 1973) and mentioned that his first service on his car was $8,000!  Yikes!   Found another '73 240Z at the show and he is now a member of ZONC (Z Owners of Northern California, of which I'm now the Membership Representative)

An attempt at artsy fartsy car photo...  Title: Sunset Over a Datsun

[jayhawk]

Took the 240Z to ZCON in Colorado Springs. Won 1st Place, Stock!  Yea, Motorman's work comes through again! 

Judging was done in a dirt lot which did not help with the cleaning.  Judges shirts on the back said "We Will Find the Dirt" - and they did.   ZUP's silver Z in in the photo next to ours.  ZUP drove it from Arkansas, and still got 2nd Place.  He was happy for me. (and Motorman, who was not there this time). 

ZCONs are a lot of fun.  Great cars and great people.

 

Trophy backed by a 13 lb (!) hunk of Colorado Fieldstone. 

Nissan unveiled the new 2023Z at ZCON a couple of days after the press revealing in New York.  I love the blue! 

Edited April 2 by jayhawk

[jayhawk]

In 2022 drove the Z to the 66th Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance, which is the oldest Continuous Concours in the World, running every year since 1956.  (Pebble Beach started a couple of years earlier, but did not hold an event in 1960 due to "scheduling conflicts")  Not as big as Pebble Beach, but still lots of incredible ancient motorcars.  (and Pebble Beach does not have a Japanese car class, not to mention incredibly expensive entrance fees)  Judging of all Concours events in N. California is done by the San Francisco chapter of the SCCA.  They do not give out judging sheets, so no one knows why anyone came in first or second etc.  It is an old boys club that rationalizes their secrecy because someone might get mad about errors they made...   This has caused one beautiful Z Owner (another Motorman restoration) to swear off all judged events.  One wonders how many other folks this has discouraged from entering SF SCCA judged events)

However, Hillsborough does have a Japanese car class, because the wife of the organizer is Japanese!  And we received 1st in Class, thanks to only 2 other cars in the class. One a modified 240Z, beautiful Z, but Concours judging rules are identical to ZCON "Stock" rules, ie. no mods.  And the other car was a '93 Acura NSX, where the owner was not present when the judges came to judge.   

This is a poster I use at events like this to show attendees why the 240Z was such an important vehicle in automotive history.

 

Edited April 2 by jayhawk

[w3wilkes]

@jayhawkI really like your Z "An Instant Classic" history poster! Would you mind if I used it?

Edited April 2 by w3wilkes

[jayhawk]

1 hour ago, w3wilkes said:

@jayhawkI really like your Z "An Instant Classic" history poster! Would you mind if I used it?

  Feel free to use it.  I created it with Libra Office Write, then exported it as a PDF, and used Office Depot's online poster system to print an 18" x 24" poster.   Turnaround time was only 1 day for pickup at a local Office Depot.

I've attache the Libra Writer ODT document I created. (Microsoft Word can use this format, if that is what you use).  The file size seems smaller than I thought it should be, but that may be because the photos I used were low resolution to begin with. 

Have fun!

2023 THE LEGENDARY DATSUN 240Z CONCOURS INFO POSTER 18x24.odt

Edited April 2 by jayhawk

[w3wilkes]

11 minutes ago, jayhawk said:

  Feel free to use it.  I created it with Libra Office Write, then exported it as a PDF, and used Office Depot's online poster system to print an 18" x 24" poster.   Turnaround time was only 1 day for pickup at a local Office Depot.

I've attache the Libra Writer ODT document I created. (Microsoft Word can use this format, if that is what you use).  The file size seems smaller than I thought it should be, but that may be because the photos I used were low resolution to begin with. 

Have fun!

2023 THE LEGENDARY DATSUN 240Z CONCOURS INFO POSTER 18x24.odt 179.6 kB · 3 downloads

Thank You!

[w3wilkes]

@jayhawk Some poster humor. I loaded up the .odt in Word (MS365 so it's current). Did you know that Word only supports up to 17"X22" max page size, then it doesn't have "Export Directly as a PDF", word only supports PDF's in 8.5"X11". I loaded up LibreOffice Writer and your 18"X24" (which is a standard poster size) worked just fine and the same sized Exported PDF. So if anybody else wants to look at this you really should use LibreOffice Writer (it's free), not Microsoft Word. I did make some minor changes, hope you don't mind, here's what I did...

 

2023 THE LEGENDARY DATSUN 240Z CONCOURS INFO POSTER 18x24 a.odt

Edited April 3 by w3wilkes
Minor Attachment Change