Hi all,

Some of you may know that I was in Japan last week, and attended a couple of events while I was there.

The most exciting of these ( for my part ) was being allowed to see Nissan's large store of more than 400 old cars at their now-closed production facility in Zama, near Yokohama.

Its always been frustrating to know that almost all the other Japanese car manufacturers have their own museums in Japan, but that Nissan were lagging behind and had no concrete plans to put a proper museum together, despite using references to the company history and 'DNA' of their product whilst advertising and selling new cars. This was especially frustrating in the knowledge that Nissan have for many years held a vast store of old pre-production, show, concept, landmark models and old race cars.

I have been trying to get to see these cars ( and one or two of them in particular ) for roughly the last 14 years - even while I lived in Japan in fact - but Nissan does not open the doors of this store to the general public and it is pretty much an 'invitation only' situation.

As part Nissan's "70-year anniversary celebrations", May 2003 has been marked by some special events in Japan. Some of Nissan's collection of old race cars were put on display at the company HQ in Ginza, Tokyo. These looked fantastic, and drew large crowds of office workers from nearby buildings at lunchtime ( making it hard to get a clear photo opportunity! ). There was also a small display to mark the retirement of Factory race driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino, and a series of films in a temporary theatre setup.

Throughout May, Nissan have also been inviting selected Nissan-related car clubs to view the contents of the storage warehouse at Zama. My chance to see the contents finally came when CLUB S30 were invited to visit on the morning of Sunday 18th May, and as a member I was finally allowed access to this holy shrine of Nissan history.

There had to be a catch, and sure enough here it was. Basically, only two hours max for the visit and no electrics in the building ( natural light only - as the electric is currently disconnected to the warehouse while redevelopment takes place! ). This made taking photos very difficult indeed, as only gaps in the clouds made enough light flood through the skylights - and the gaps were few and far between. This was going to be a big test for my little Nikon digital, its small flash and its limited battery power.

To be honest, I could have spent the whole two hours on just ONE car ( guess which one that was? ) but the place was chock FULL of interesting stuff and I tried to take in as much as possible. There's no knowing when I'll be allowed back.................

The good news is that I finally heard official confirmation of a rumour that had been circulating amongst interested parties; Nissan are currently putting plans together for a PROPER heritage museum - so we will be able to have a place to make a pilgrimage to after all. More news on this as and when it comes...........

For those that share an interest in this kind of thing, please take a look at a few pics that I've posted in the Members Gallery section. There are a mixture of pics from the Ginza, Tokyo HQ exhibition and the inside of the storage warehouse at Zama.

Link to my gallery:

http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=2116&thumb=1

If anyone has any specific questions, I'd be pleased to answer them if I can ( just post questions on this thread ).

Hope that you enjoy them.

All the best,

Alan T.

Merci, Alan.

It's not even bad looking, even better than a stock Z31...

Got any pics of some rare, pretty unknown Nissans Alan? Like prototypes or Japanese Market only cars?

I would like to see them

I reckon this is about as close as you come to trying to teach a pig to dance. And better yet its for sale, yours for a shade under 7k if I remember correctly. Ozzy guy, you could have got this as your v8 Z cheaper

This link below was sent to the 240z.org mail list. The page has over 20 photo's of the Zama facility that Alan visited. Some pictures show the visitors as well as the cars. Just wondering if our friend Alan was captured on film (silicon) here?

Visiting Nissan Storage Warehouse in Zama

I won't be in those photos. You'll thankfully be spared the shock of my rictus grin, goggle eyes and flapping red ears.

They were taken by members of the SP / SR Owners Club, who were the second club allowed into the hallowed halls on the day.

Basically, that day was just for CLUB S30 ( which I'm a member of ) and the SP / SR Owners Club. We were shipped in first and marshalled into orderly and photogenic parking lines, given a pep talk about what to do and what not to do, and then ushered into the dark chamber. While we were inside, we could hear the noises of the Roadster boys turning up outside. As we emerged blinking and filthy-handed ( at least I was, as I was crawling around underneath the 73 Safari car ) we were greeted with the sight of the beautifully lined-up Roadsters. Didn't get much time to pop off any shots of them before we hot-tailed it for the Nostalgic Car Fair back in Tokyo ( a disappointment ).

I don't think you'll see any human beings in my shots ( apart from the ones that strayed into the frame ). I tried to avoid them in an attempt to capture some of the atmosphere of the place. The cars being the stars and all that.

Interestingly, I've already had a funny message ( that's funny-peculiar rather than funny-ha-ha ) sent to me by a 'well-wisher' who thinks I wasn't really there, and that I downloaded the images from a Japanese website. Maybe I should have put my mug in the frame after all.

For this dumwit ( who I think is probably tuning in ) I have got some shots of my finger in frame, which I will gladly donate to him.............

Alan T.

Originally posted by HS30-H

Interestingly, I've already had a funny message ( that's funny-peculiar rather than funny-ha-ha ) sent to me by a 'well-wisher' who thinks I wasn't really there, and that I downloaded the images from a Japanese website. Maybe I should have put my mug in the frame after all.

Alan T.

Ha, Know I now why you didn't find the metal nose nor the G Nose 2+2!

ROFL

For my well-wisher:

Alan T.

Originally posted by HS30-H

For my well-wisher: "20a middle finger salute-01.jpg"

Alan T.

Here's one from me too! 20a middle finger salute-01.jpg

Originally posted by BambiKiller240

Here's one from me too! 20a middle finger salute-01.jpg

Is that for me or for my 'well-wisher'?

Originally posted by HS30-H

Is that for me or for my 'well-wisher'?

It's for the guy who doesn't believe that you were there, of course!

Alan T - Paranoid Android or what?

What is the very snazzy-looking yellow car in the warehouse shot? Is it the GR-X? What about the R381 - these two look like lemans-style endurance racers What is Nissan's history in this area? Sorry to the load of Q?s - maybe there's a good website you could direct me to...