Z Cars with different noses?

[sahunt66]

I keep seeing pictures of Z cars on this site with elongated noses and the radiator under the front bumper. Sometimes they have rear view mirrors mounted on the fenders and sometime they don't. What kind of Z cars are these? They look pretty cool but I've never actually seen one in person. Were they sold in the USA?

[Smokey]

It's a G nose kit. Some like it, some don't. You can get it through MSA last I checked.

[datto_240z]

Yip the elongated nose is the G-nose kit. Its an aftermarket bodykit for the 240z/260z (280zx? that would be different). The "radiator" you say, "under the front bumper" is probably an intercooler on a custom turbo job. The mirrors on the fendors are because its a Japanese car. Its legal to have mirrors like that there... Im not too sure, but its positivly a Jap thing. Donno If its legal in the USA though. and I cant see why they would relese a different model/spec Z just coz the mirrors are in a different spot.

[HS30-H]

The parts sold by MSA and other aftermarket suppliers are replicas / copies / interpretations of an official Nissan-built variant that was sold only in Japan.

What is commonly referred to as the "G-Nose" was a set of additional body parts that were fitted by the factory to a Japanese-market version of the Fairlady 240Z. This was called the FAIRLADY 240ZG, and the factory model designation was "HS30-H".

Basically, Nissan wanted to homologate ( make legal for use in racing ) these parts so that they could use them on their Group 4 racing cars. Under the rules of the F.I.A and J.A.F they had to build and sell a stipulated number of cars with these parts on them to the general public.

Once the parts were homologated, it allowed Nissan to use an even wilder version for racing, and this evolved through the gradually more extreme "Type A" and "Type B" versions as the factory race cars were further modified for domestic Group 5 and 6 racing in Japan. As the basic "ZG" model now existed, the factory only had to make these even more extreme parts available to the public through their "Sports Option" parts lists in order to be able to use them legally on their racers.

The "HS30-H" Fairlady 240ZG version of the S30 was personally designed by the Chief Designer of the S30 - Mr Yoshihiko Matsuo.

The "ZG" ( the "G" standing for "Grande" according to the factory ) was a factory-made version of the S30-series Z, and simply bolting a G-nose kit of parts onto an unsuspecting 240Z does NOT make it a genuine ZG. However, the factory sold the parts through the aforementioned Sports Option lists and anybody could buy the kit and add it to their car. The genuine parts comprised a five-piece nose kit and four fibreglass "overfender" flares, along with plexiglass headlamp covers that had a chromed ( later

stainless steel ) trim ring around them.

The main parts of the nose were fibreglass, but the front bumper was made of expanded urethane foam. The bonnet hinges on the genuine cars were also different, to allow the bonnet to clear the front filler panel properly. The true "HS30-H" model had an extra rubber strip on the rear bumper, that joined together the two corner pieces. The rear bumper was painted gunmetal grey to match the front bumper, undertray and overfenders.

At the time of its launch in October 1971, the Fairlady 240ZG was the most expensive of all the versions of the S30 then on sale in Japan. They only came in three colours; Grand Prix Red, Grand Prix White and Grand Prix Maroon.

In the USA, Datsun Competition offered the genuine factory parts for a very short period. When they ran out, they started to sell replicas made locally, and as far as I am aware some other companies also offered their own versions - which were of varying quality. Somehow, these were always known as "ZG" or "G-nose" kits, even if they were not all that accurate.

If you are interested in the Japanese-market models, then using the SEARCH function of this site will reveal a lot of answers to your questions. There are also a lot of images in the Gallery sections that you might find of interest.

Have fun.

Alan T.

[seerex]

Alan thanks for the info was gonna post the same question , by chance were the watanabe wheels a option in japan or just an aftermarket add on?

[280zx Fever]

My 280zx Fairlady has or had fender mounted mirrors at one stage..

So to my understanding all Fairlady's had the Fender mounted mirrors? 240-260-280's ?