Jay Leno's Garage - 'The Beginning Of Z Cars: Fairlady Z'. episode Feb. 20th 2023.

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The latest episode (dated 20th February 2023) of JAY LENO'S GARAGE has just arrived on YouTube.
It is titled 'The Beginning Of Z Cars: Fairlady Z', and features the 1971 S30-S Fairlady Z of Mr Jay Ataka:

YouTube link

A lovely car and a great opportunity to discuss the topic in accordance with the episode's title, but it doesn't go that way. It seems that Jay Leno didn't manage to comprehend the structure of the S30-series family through the stages of concept, design, engineering and production and - despite having a Japanese home market variant in front of him, he constantly refers to the American market. He seems somewhat.... confused.     

I think it's a missed opportunity. Jay Leno is a very influential broadcaster and his shows reach a wide audience. He entertains, but also informs. Not necessarily in any great depth, but he often touches on technicalities and historical context. This time he seems somewhat befuddled and insists - I think misguidedly - in viewing this specifically Japanese market Japanese car through the lens of the USA. 

In his introduction, standing in front of the car, he states "This is a car built for the American market". Well, no. This car was not... 

He then trots out many of the cliches relating to the early days of Nissan's exports to the North American market. "Not particularly durable", "smaller engines", "they weren't used to our super highways" etc. But all of that relates more to cars designed in the mid 1950s and the (somewhat strange) importing choices of Marubeni Corp. and early NMC USA. The implication is that 'Japan' didn't know how to make cars, let alone cars for the USA, but the truth is that Japan's industry was already embarked on a journey of rapid rebuilding after the devastation of the war years. Japanese designers and engineers, and the companies they worked for, were focused as much on Japan's rapidly changing needs as they were to any exporting concerns. Within a few short years the Japanese automotive industry (along with pretty much every other Japanese industry) was making better and better product for Japan. That journey was already well under way. The S30-series Z was an effect of that, not a cause. 

Leno then says "So this is a 1971 Fairlady, OK? When did it officially become the 240?". This is as good an example as any of the way the S30-series Z family is misunderstood and mis-explained. I have no idea how Leno and his team prepare for each show, but perhaps a little bit of briefing/scripting would have been useful here? It seems that he's starting out with a basic lack of comprehension with regard to the structure of the family, and - sorry to say this - but Jay Ataka's attempts to explain don't really help much.

And that's at less than 4 minutes in...

 

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I'm going to skip over the usual 'Mr.K' stuff. That's a whole topic on its own. Anyway...

At 6 minutes in, Leno asks "...tell us how this Japanese-only model is different from the American version". Great, maybe some informative content specific to the beautiful example in front of them is coming? Jay Ataka starts to explain, but do I detect an edit? It seems cut short, and Leno starts talking about all that (same old same old) cliched Datsun vs Nissan naming stuff. Which - incidentally - is just not correct. Why would Nissan choose to use their precious 'Datsun' branding on something that might 'fail' in an Export market? No, it's much more complicated than that.

So Jay Ataka explains that the car in front of them is an example of the "base model", but doesn't get time to explain that - at launch - Japan had four variants of S30-series Z to choose from. The point that the "base model" was the cheapest, but that a 'Deluxe' model was available alongside it, seemed to go missing. It would have been useful context for the outward appearance of the car.

Leno says "I guess they studied all the American cars, or at least the cars sold in America", ..."because you see some Thunderbird..." (?!) .."you see some Jaguar, you see sort of Corvette..." (?!). First of all I don't see much Thunderbird (and I used to own a '65 Thunderbird, God help me) or Corvette in there. But anyway, what Leno sees (or what I see) is kind of beside the point. Going down that line of thought sets you up for the implication that Japanese designers and stylists were - that old cliche again - copyists. Its like nobody can bring themselves to believe that the Japanese team which styled the body of the S30-series Z was influenced by the same mid-Sixties automotive design zeitgeist that their contemporaries in other countries were responding to. They were educated, not programmed.

I just don't see how anyone can say that the S30-series Z is in any way "for America" in terms of its styling. The 'Made For The USA' thing is arguably more about ergonomics and economics than anything else. And as for dynamics...      

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8:10 in and Leno asks about horsepower figures for 'the 240Z' (why?). Here's some topic for debate. Jay Ataka states that "...the USA 240Z had 130 (hp) at the beginning...", and "...it went down to 125 (hp) in 1971 and a half..." (Leno: "because of emissions?", Ataka: "probably"). 

Jay Ataka is probably citing real figures rather than published figures (net vs gross) and there's a chance to mention the car that's actually in front of them rather than 'the 240Z' - especially as it didn't carry any emissions-reducing add-ons and therefore was not far off the power of 'the 240Z' that Leno insists on discussing - but then Leno digresses again onto MGs and Triumphs.

Leno talks about struggles with English cars, but he's comparing apples with oranges. The S30-series was closer to a GT than any of those old time roadsters (not to mention Nissan's own Roadsters...) so I don't get the direct comparison. Safety legislation was turning that avenue of car design into a cul-de-sac for a decade or so and the Z was specifically not going there. All we can say is that the people who had been buying open 'sports' cars now had an opportunity to buy sports GTs from several different manufacturers. 

   

[SpeedRoo]

I always enjoy Jay's videos, he's a passionate car loving entertainer that knows his market. I enjoyed the video and he did a good job of targeting it to his main market, the USA. Glad to see he has recovered from the fuel burns to his face. I look forward to catching up with him at Monterey for the historic races each August, he's invariably good for an entertaining chat. I always thought the 240Z had an "E-Type" like front end and the rear haunches styling of an "Aston Martin". All good designers looked at the trends of the day and responded accordingly, as did the Japanese when they created the "Z".

Edited February 21, 2023 by SpeedRoo

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11:16 Leno: "Did all the ones in Japan then go to 240 when America did, or did they stay two litre?". Again, this is where some sort of script or preparation could have been useful. Jay Ataka's answer doesn't really get the chance to make clear that Japan got the L24-engined Fairlady 240Z, Fairlady 240Z-L and 240ZG (which Ataka fails to mention) added to the domestic lineup alongside the four two-litre variants in late 1971, giving seven variants to choose from at that point. So the L24-engined versions were added to the lineup, rather than a switch from two litre to 2.4 litre. Leno appears to have never heard of the 432, which I find hard to believe. Maybe he just couldn't remember it at that point, in which case a little more pre-shooting preparation would have been fitting.

Onto the engine bay. 11:51 Ataka: "You kind of see the throttle linkage is stretched all the way... to get there..." (pointing at the carburettors) "...and if you look at a left hand drive 240Z... everything comes natural. This vacuum hose is extended all the way here..." (pulling at the RHD vacuum booster hose) "...this whole thing was designed for the US market..." HUH? Is he saying that the layout of the L6 engine (and therefore the L4 engine too) was designed with the inlet and exhaust manifolds on the left hand side specifically for LHD markets, and the USA in particular? Wow. I'd like to hear him back that one up with some evidence.

Ataka then goes on to talk about production and sales figures. Fine, but that's all after the fact and a function of economics as much as anything else. How does this relate to the actual car in front of them? And indeed, can we apply it directly to other marques and models? Lets try some of those British roadsters that Leno mentioned earlier, or how about a few Porsches and Ferraris? How about the VW Beetle? 

This talk of production and sales figures leads Leno into talking about the RRP in the US (even though the car in front of him wasn't sold in the US) and comparing that price to the contemporary Corvette and Mustang (again, nothing to do with the Japanese market car in front of him). Why not discuss the pricing structure for Japan, and some comparison with what the same money would buy you in Japan at that time? This is a rare opportunity to talk about a specifically Japanese variant, and to educate and inform viewers. Opportunity missed.          

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1 hour ago, SpeedRoo said:

I always thought the 240Z had an "E-Type" like front end...

You may have been spending a little too much time perusing the Boobs thread. Perhaps an appointment with an optometrist is in order?

Here's an E-Type Jaguar in a fetching shade of yellow:

And here's a Datsun 240Zee in that lovely factory silver:

...it would be rather careless to confuse one with the other.

[SpeedRoo]

Back to your usual practice of insulting someone that doesn't agree with your point of view. You really are a very special person!

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10 minutes ago, SpeedRoo said:

Back to your usual practice of insulting someone that doesn't agree with your point of view. You really are a very special person!

LOL. Get over yourself! You take yourself far more seriously than I do. What point of view have you offered?

All I see is your E-type and Aston comment, and if you honestly think those two front ends are stylistically related then you probably do need to get your eyes checked. Styling wise, they are miles apart.  

[SpeedRoo]

From the April 1970 issue of Road and Track magazine: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a10273163/first-drive-datsun-240z/

I quote: "Since the styling of the 240Z is the first thing you see (and probably the most important factor in what we think will be a tremendous penetration into the GT market), we’ll begin with the body lines. There are several obvious influences on the 240Z, among them the Jaguar E-Type coupe, the Toyota 2000 GT, the Porsche 911 series and even the Ferrari 275 GTB. In a Nissan-produced movie that we saw recently on the development of the 240Z, the exterior forms and seating packages of all the contemporary GT cars were carefully evaluated and compared to the forms that Nissan was considering (using R&T’s own Road Test data panel drawings, we were pleased to note). The Jaguar was the one getting the most attention from the Nissan stylists and engineers; this is not surprising, because the E-Type opened up a market all its own nine years ago and the 240Z could do worse than be a $3500 equivalent with the proportionately higher sales potential. Regardless of its influences, the 240Z is a very good design: clean, crisp and contemporary if perhaps sitting a bit high on its wheels."

[SpeedRoo]

From Supercar Nostalgia: https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/nissan-s30-fairlady-z-datsun-240z

"Styling-wise, the Z was unapologetically inspired by the Jaguar E-type, a car that Enzo Ferrari had famously described as the most beautiful in the world."

Obviously there are more people with eye problems than I thought!

[SpeedRoo]

And from Peter Lyon writing for Forbes: "Critics argued it borrowed styling hints from the E-Type, 911 and Daytona"

To quote Peter's bio: " I am former co-chairman of the World Car Awards and a juror for the Japan Car of the Year and International Engine of the Year."

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1 hour ago, SpeedRoo said:

From Supercar Nostalgia: https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/nissan-s30-fairlady-z-datsun-240z

"Styling-wise, the Z was unapologetically inspired by the Jaguar E-type, a car that Enzo Ferrari had famously described as the most beautiful in the world."

"Inspired by". Perhaps, but were Nissan's team unique in that respect? I don't see a single line or curve in the S30-series Z that directly references the E-Type. They would have been "inspired by" all manner of cars and objects, including Mother Nature. What educated artisan is not?

OK, so far we've got Corvette, Thunderbird (LOL) and Mustang from Leno, E-Type, 911 and Ferrari Daytona from others. Peter Lyon (yes, I'm more than familiar with his work) says that "critics argued it borrowed styling hints from...", but that's not Peter Lyon saying it did, it's them...

Hell of a mash-up there. But you see what's happening, right? Did all of those cars mentioned spring forth from their makers in a vacuum? When the 911 debuted, did people accuse Butzi Porsche of copying something? What did the E-Type copy? You end up dancing on the head of a pin. People only pursue this line with the Japanese designers and stylists because deep down they believe that 'Japan copies'. But nobody copied Japan, right?

Automotive styling follows trends and responds to the prevailing zeitgeist just as much as anything else. Packaging wise it has to conform to numbers both set down on paper and dictated by hard components (like those 'Made For The USA' engines, pfft). I reckon there's a very good chance myself - and any other schoolboy who bought the same automotive magazines - could have doodled a rough outline of such a car in the late Sixties and not been far off. The difference was in the detail and the eye of the guy scraping at the clay (largely Yoshida san and Tamura san in the S30-series Z's case).

Since we're at it, here's a name-check for the great styling houses of Ghia and Touring. Let's chuck these in the gumbo too: