HS30-H

Maybe there was a 140Z, but I don't think it used the same classic 'Z' emblem as our cars. I think he's made his own version of the emblem. Reminds me of a story. My friend was looking for a 280ZX ( I know :cheeky: ) and he found a "ZX" in the local paper. We zoomed round to see it, only to find that it was a little white saloon with funny details. Turns out it was a "Sunny ZX":stupid: Did you know that the 432 nearly became the "160"? They were going to name it after its horsepower ( PferdeStarcke ) rating, until they decided to call the HLS30 and HS30 the "240", and then realised that it would make the "160" sound as though it was actually LESS powerful than the 240.......... Here's a pic of the prototype emblem:

No, there was no speeding up of the film. If you watch it you can see that from the speed of the other cars, buses, people walking and the pigeons taking off.............. The big 'cheat' is the sound. This is half of what makes it all seem so fast. If you watch it with no sound you can see that the car is going pretty fast - but not as fast as the soundtrack would have you believe. As far as I am aware, Lelouch filmed it with no sound and then dubbed the sound on afterwards. This is most apparent when the engine seems to be at around 7000 rpm in fourth gear and the car takes a 90 degree turn with no problems! Obviously this is not correct. The engine sounds are from something with a very hot engine and a very close-ratio transmission. Its probably still a Ferrari V12, but probably not Lelouch's car's engine.............

I've found the company that have re-mastered and re-released "C'etait un Rendezvous" on video & DVD. You can see a clip on their site: SPIRIT LEVEL FILMS Turns out they are based just a couple of miles down the road from me here in London. I think I'll order a copy and let you know how I get on. Cheers, Alan T.

Robert, I think you could actually find a genuine Factory-built ZG ( HS30-H model ) for as 'little' as 2,000,000 Yen if you are prepared to buy privately and overlook a few details in originality and condition. However, after that there are plenty of extra costs to put on top. You would have to take into account just where the car is located, and if its in 'heartland' Japan then its going to cost you money to get it transported to a port where it can be shipped from. Shipping costs can vary depending on what method you use ( containerised or roll-on roll-off etc ) and there are lots of other small charges that mount up. Above all, you need to have someone there on the spot that you can TRUST and who knows their job. De-registration and stuff like that needs to be done properly, and if you are not there to inspect the car yourself then again you would want to be putting your faith in somebody who knows what they are looking at. Ultimately I think the relatively low market value of an S30-series Z in the USA ( in comparison to Japan ) - combined with the unfavourable exchange rate - is what stops a general drain of this type of car from Japan to other markets - and the USA in particular. The thought of RHD will be enough to put off plenty of people too I would imagine. You will hear of, and see, some ex-Japanese market models that were brought back by armed forces personnel that were stationed in Japan. The fact that they were able to do this is largely due to the fact that they could get relatively cheap ( free? ) transport back to the USA, and assistance with registering and legalising the car at the other end. Some of the more common models ( later S31 two seaters and 2by2's ) can be had for much less money if you are in the right place at the right time, but in general no early Z in decent to fair condition or better is getting cheaper these days. If anything the prices are going up to a level and stabilising, and the creme-de-la-creme cars are changing hands for as much money ( or more ) as they ever did. Language and communication difficulties are major obstacles that still exist even with translation software and the access that Yahoo Japan gives you to the market. However, as with Ebay ( in my opinion ) the very best stuff very rarely makes it on to the web auctions................. Alan T. ( just my own personal views, of course!:classic: )

Brian, Give me a shout if you want any more info on the real ZG's. I'll be happy to try and be of help. There are a few things to watch out for with regard to replicas and fakes, and how to identify 'real' Factory-built ZG models. You never know, your dream might come true one day. Mine did. Of course, once it comes true then you start aiming even higher:cheeky: Alan T.

Nick, Can you read the casting date? It might be a clue. That blue-painted inner rim might be a clue to somebody too. That's unusual. It makes me think of the "BR" ( Black Racing ) wheels, which used to come in a kind of French Blue and Bright Red colourways as well as black. Would be nice to identify them. I'm off to Japan agin on 28th so I might ask the wheel shop guys about them. That blue paint might mean something to them. I'll see what I can come up with. Fingers crossed for a positive identification:classic: All the best, Alan T.

Yes - the interior of the genuine Factory-produced ZG was exactly the same as the Fairlady 240 Z-L, and the seats would have been exactly the same as the Export HS30 and HLS30 seats of the same month / year. This particular car has a lot of interior changes from 'standard' spec: the steering wheel, shift knob, audio, seats and three pod gauges are all 'aftermarket' items from the modern period, along with other bits and pieces. I should imagine that the vendor expects these to be attractive to a prospective purchaser ( along with the big engine spec and the wheels - are they 16 or even 17 inchers? ) and he may well be right. You can see many cars like this in Japan, although there is always a small group of enthusiasts who prefer originality and / or period-correct modifications. Personally speaking, that's what I prefer. The original seats are very often the first thing to be changed over there. The very hot and humid Summers, and the lack of side-support, often make the original seats uncomfortable to use and impractical to look after. 3.5 million yen is strong money for a car with this amount of modification, especially for a private sale. A specialist dealer might ask this kind of price or slightly less - but they would have to supply the car with some form of warranty and a new 'Shakken' test certification, which is worth a fair amount. You can find good ( genuine ) ZG's in Japan for around 2.5 million, but even these probably would not be very original. There are lots of replicas and indeed a few fakes around at 2 million or less, but every car has to be judged on a case-by-case basis. Location, condition and level of originality / modification are just as important in Japan as they are anywhere else. There is an upward trend for the BEST cars, and I have heard of a couple of the very best and most original ZG's changing hands for over 4 million Yen in the past couple of years. Alan T.

Hi Nick, I don't recognise them from those markings, but maybe somebody else here might? One thing I would say is that they don't look all that old, at least not to my eye. They look like they are good quality - which some of the older ones can't claim! The fact that they are marked "Japan" might well be a clue to the intended market for the wheel being non-Japanese. Most of the older Watanabes that I have seen do not have any "Made in Japan" or anything like that cast into them, and the older Japanese race-use and Works / Sports Option wheels had virtually nothing on them at all. I wonder if this might have been a wheel that was INTENDED for export markets? Do you think they might be Panasports, or a close relative? The only other Watanabe / Minilite clone that I can think of offhand is the "Black Racing" rim - which usually has a "BR" monogram cast or stamped into the front face. If they were Enkeis they would be clearly marked with the Enkei logo. Are they 9.5J? I would have thought that the "95" stamp was what this signified. Can't help with any of the others I'm afraid, although I can't make out the characters from the casting marks in the bottom section of your picture. Can you make them out? It might be a casting date from the foundry. Sorry I can't be of more help. Cheers, Alan T.

There were a bewildering number of special high-performance twin-cam heads made by Nissan in the Seventies and early Eighties for their four-cylinder engines. Plenty of these were never sold outside Japan, but we did get a sniff of them when Nissan used some of them in their rally cars, and on their occasional forays with Works circuit racers in countries outside Japan. I'd agree about Yamaha up to a point, but don't forget about Honda, Isuzu and Mitsubishi - who were all messing about with twin-cams in the mid-to-late Sixties. However, Prince and Nissan had the upper hand over all of them in Japanese domestic racing - at least until the turbo years. A friend of mine has an interesting Works race engine in his workshop at the moment. Its based on the L18 block, and I snapped it parked up next to his rubbish pile!:

Yes - that was a conversion for the L18 and was called the "MA-II":

daddz, I think you are referring to the early Seventies French film called "C'etait un Rendezvous" directed by Claude Lelouch, which consists of a single take ( allegedly ) with a film camera mounted low on the front of a very loud sports car. The take starts with the sound of the driver closing the door of the car and starting the engine. He blasts through the quiet early-morning streets of Paris ( running many red lights and avoiding surprised pedestrians and sleepy taxi drivers ) until he gets to his destination at Montmartre and the 'Rendezvous' of the title. This film was a cult hit amongst car-types, and was sometimes played at car-club film shows as an extra titbit ( its less than 10 minutes long ). I first saw it on cine film in the late Seventies, and there was a lot of mystery surrounding it at that time. There was much discussion about the true identity of the driver ( many people said it was a French Formula One star ) and indeed the type of car that was used ( ranging from Porsche sports-racers to Alpine Renault sports cars ). There was also a legend that the French police arrested the driver after the film was made. Much more about the film has come to be known over the last few years ( although the director likes to keep an air of mystery around it ) and indeed it has recently been released on Video and DVD. With cool-headed analysis its easy to see that the soundtrack does not completely match the film, and that there are a couple of places where this is all too obvious. Its also clear that the low mounting position of the camera makes things look a lot more dramatic than they really were! Maybe we are all a bit more cynical these days............... Its believed that the driver was none other than the director of the film himself, and driving his own Ferrari 275 GTB. The woman at the end of the film is the director's wife. Great fun all the same. Cheers, Alan T.

Hi Nick, The Watanabe eight-spoke wheels have been made for many years ( they started making wheels in the mid Sixties ), and the company themselves ceased trading at one point. Then the original management bought back the rights and the name and everything else, and they have been going from strength to strength. This is a very similar situation to the one that MINILITE ( TECH DEL ) experienced here in the UK. As the classic eight-spoke design was never patented or copyrighted back in the Sixties, many companies have made their own versions. This occasionally leads to some confusion as to the actual makers of some wheels. I would think that the wheels you have thataremarked with the Watanabe emblem are definitely made by Watanabe. The ones that do not seem to have any marking could have been made by a number of companies. If they were Enkei eight-spokes ( introduced in 1978, I think ) they would be clearly marked - so you can rule Enkei out. There is a very small chance that they are original Kobe Seiko wheels ( offered in the official Sports Option lists for the 432 / 432R & 240 / 260 ) but these were made from Magnesium and were quite light - so I think you would notice that they were a bit special ( the sizes are also quite distictive ). In many cases, they were not clearly marked with any stamps or casting marks. Without a picture, it would be very hard to identify them. You asked about the Type "A" and "B" Watanabe identifications for their Eight-Spoke wheels. They also make a Type "R" ( we won't go into the F8 and the other more modern types here ) and these letters basically refer to the STANDARD offset for any particular size. For example, they make a 14 x 6.5j wheel in both "A" and "B" types, and these are identical except for their offsets, so the stamping is a way to identify the offset for a particular wheel without needing to actually measure it. Watanabes usually have the size cast into the reverse, and the Type is stamped onto the front of the wheel on the hub casting near the holes. The offset is different for each sizing and application - so there are hundreds of permutations. The Type "R" is usually a wider wheel with more negative offset ( deeper 'dish' ) and they have a subtly different spoke shape in some sizings. The Type "R" was often specified in Magnesium, but they HAVE also been made in Aluminium in the past. Watanabe have also made the Type "A" and "B" in Magnesium as well as the usual Aluminium. They have been making wheels for so long, and for so many applications, that anything might turn up. You have to be quite careful not to end up with something that isn't quite suited to the application. Hope that helps. Alan T.

Here's the photograph from the ad - but in colour this time:

Hi Frank, I think that might be the twin-cam 24-valve crossflow head conversion for the L-series six that was designed and manufactured by a company called "O.S.Giken" in Japan. It was called the "TC24-B1", and as far as I remember they were first offered for sale to the general public in the late 1970's. O.S.Giken are still making high-performance components for street and race cars ( they are famous for their clutch and transmission components in particular ) but they ceased making the TC24-B1 long ago. I spoke to them a few years back about the head ( thought they might have some New Old Stock on a dusty shelf somewhere! ), and they said that they did not have any current plans to re-issue them - even in a limited production run. Their casting patterns are not fit to be re-used, and the tooling costs involved in remaking the patterns would be prohibitive.......... It was a very comprehensive conversion, with many special ancillary parts. It even demanded special pistons and rods. They were pretty expensive when they were current, and they command very high prices when they come up for sale in Japan ( which is not very often ). I have heard many nostalgic stories from Japanese tuners about the heads that they were forced to scrap after big blow-ups. Quite a few of the heads ended up being used with turbo conversions when they first started getting popular amongst the street tuners in Japan. Indeed, I passengered in a twin-turboed TC24 conversion once and it was mighty impressive for the time. I'm not surprised that so few survive. Here's a pic of one of their original magazine ads:

Hi rzola, You probably mean either 44PHH Mikuni Solexes or 45DCOE Webers?

Hi symon, Welcome to the site! I'm very pleased to see your car. An original Spanish-market car is a real rarity. Well done. If you need any used parts, then don't hesitate to let me know. I'm based in London, England - so that's actually not too far away either. Best wishes, Alan T.

Thanks everybody for the interest. These wheels are now SOLD.:classic: Alan T.

Hi Guus, Actually, I should have thought about you and your car. These Watanabes would be a nice touch for it. I'll drop you a PM.

Thanks Guus for following this story right through to the finish, and to victory once again. Isn't it great to see a Z ahead of the 911's and Escorts once more. Here's my little tribute to the winners. A salute from the last Z to win an East African Safari Rally event...........

The "B" type marking and the 6.5j x 14 size identification are cast into the reverse side of each wheel:

"B" type identification and the Japanese safety marking are stamped into each wheel:

Watanabe symbol is cast into each wheel:

Many thanks to Alfadog and Caen Fred for the endorsements. I just weighed a wheel and it was 5.8kg without any packaging at all. Rather than try to find a box or boxes that will fit them exactly, I think I will bubblewrap them and fabricate a double-wall carboard wrapper for each pair. That might reduce the volume as well as the weight. Stay tuned. Some more pictures:

Halz, Actually, I've been trying to remember how much these things cost me when I bought them. It was a good 8 years or so ago I believe, but they were still more than 18,000 Yen EACH. As far as I remember the shipping from Japan to the UK cost around 40,000 Yen or more, and I had to send them via Air as there was not enough volume to make Sea freight viable. I could probably not do that any cheaper today. Any freight or post from Japan to Northern Europe is always going to be expensive. New Zealand, Australia and the USA are I believe much cheaper places to send freight from Japan. Why was I born here?!:dead:

TTDRIVER, I'm based in London, England, United Kingdom. Its a small country off the coast of mainland Europe which is quite near to France. Unfortunately that means: 1. Its quite far away from you. 2. Its quite a bit further away from Japan, so I paid quite a lot to get them from Japan to home. 2. It will cost quite a lot to freight them from home to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or indeed the USA. 3. The unit of currency that we use in this once-great country, called the "Pound Sterling", is for some unknown reason rather strong on the currency exchange front. Today I believe that one of our British Pounds was worth 1.6959 US Dollars, so that would make my asking price of £450 equivalent to $763.15 Sorry, but that's the reality of the situation. There are some freight methods that are cheaper than others, and as it will prove interesting I am going to pack up the wheels and see what dimensions and weights the packages come out to. Then I can get some freight quotes. I'm sure that anyone who buys these ( even if they are in the same country as me ) will want to have this information. I'll look into it. These wheels are not all that cheap in Japan, and even though I bought them some years ago they were expensive even then. They are in good condition, and are in a size that is not actually all that easy to find. They will be considered too small by some people, but I think they are a good choice for a relatively stock early Z car. mperdue, How about a swap for 300 Ween bootlegs?:classic: 26th-Z, I'm sure we can find an alternative to Fedex that would be cheaper! How about sea freight? Surface post? How about you get the Watanabes to wear on special occasions when you want to avoid one of those embarrassing days when just about EVERYBODY seems to have Libres? Maybe you could negotiate a special discounted rate for Senior Citizens with VIN numbers less than 50?:classic: Alan T. ( I'll get packing, measuring and weighing tomorrow ).