HS30-H

Good point 2Many, I think it sounds like that "GS31" VIN prefix is correct ( and I`ll eat my hat if its not a Japanese "Home" market car that was brought back to the USA by a serviceman making use of "free" shipping from Japan ). Don`t get too excited about the internals of the engine; fairly impressive performance can be had from pretty much standard internals on the "L" series engines. If it was a Japanese street fighter its probably fairly standard internally. Try to see what size Webers it has on it ( are they 40DCOE, 45DCOE or bigger? ) - you can see the model type stamped on the top covers. Also try to see what "series" they are: you will see this number after the model type ( EG: "45DCOE-9" ) which will help to identify how old they are / what state of tune the engine is in. Notice anything else that looks "racey" on it? This might also help to identify its origin / purpose. Is that front airdam / spoiler signwritten / painted - or has it got "EVA" on it as part of the moulding? I`m very far from home at the moment, but I have a picture or some data of something like that at home in my archives. When I get back home I`ll try to find it. Alan T.

Gavin, That`s a good plan; get the car paid for and running right before "Gilding the Lily". Time is on your side ( I think you have got your Z at a much younger age than I was when I got my first one - which should be to your advantage ). Good luck with the new job. Fingers crossed. If I can be of any assistance with the car please don`t hesitate to ask, mate. Oasis? They are from Manchester! I`m London born and bred - which makes me naturally opposed to anything from "Madchester"....! We are like cats and dogs. In any case, I`m sorry to say that I am not that big an Oasis music fan ( and Liam`s a bit of a nut case by all accounts ). Sorry - I must be getting old! Ionman, I appreciate your right to like or dislike the G-nose. However, the REAL Fairlady ZG ( "HS30-H" ) was built by Nissan - and I really don`t think that they were trying to make it look "like" anything else in particular. The main reason for building the ZG and releasing it for sale to the public was in order to allow them to Homologate the parts for their Group 4 race programme in Japan. Without building a certain number of road cars they would not have been allowed to use the parts as a base for even greater modifications. Think Plymouth Superbird or Alfa Romeo GTam. If anybody wants to build a replica of these cars, then its OK by me ( they are rare enough as it is ). The only thing that causes problems is when people try to pass fakes off as the real thing. Otherwise, its all fair in love and war. My car is a "REAL" Fairlady 240ZG ( built by the Factory ) - have a look in my Gallery pics - so where does that put it in your line of thinking? Its not a replica Ferrari, and its not some aftermarket thing I tacked on to it, so its kind of hard to know what you would classify it as according to your previous post. I always get lots of people asking me what it is ( and a lot of negative comments!.... ) - but what I always try to get across to people is that its not ME that was responsible for it! In my way of thinking, it just IS what it IS - and you have to just love it, hate it or not care either way about it. However - before you write anything off or damn it with faint praise you MUST know what it is and all about it. Otherwise, you are just basing your opinion on whether it pleases your eye or not. I have lost count of the number of critical comments that I get about the "Overfenders" in particular; people always seem to think that I dreamed them up myself. I totally agree with people who say that they look tacky and cheap ( "Afterthoughters" - !! ) but that`s what Homologation Specials are all about.................... As for performance, the Japanese road tests back in October 1971 clearly agreed with Nissan that the aerodynamic parts improved high speed stability, cooling and breathing - so clearly the parts worked. I can vouch for this, as my car certainly behaves differently at Motorway speeds to my other "normal" Z cars. I`m not taking about very hight speeds either; it works noticeably from around 60 MPH up ( and especially in crosswinds ). I agree that spoilers / airdams are not REALLY necessary - but variety is the spice of life. Like I say, I have the ZG and a "normal" unadorned 1970 Fairlady Z-L. I love `em both! All the best, Alan T.

Gavin, The car in Eric`s photo looks like a genuine ZG to me ( a proper Factory fitment ) although it could be a very good replica. This means that the G-nose kit is a proper 5-piece item, and is well fitted. That alone makes it ten times better than a lot of the bad aftermarket stuff that you see knocking around.......... I reckon that`s what puts a lot of people off the ZG look ( they`ve never seen a real one in the flesh ). Incidentally, did you know that the "ZG" was designed by the same man who designed / styled the S30-series Z car - Mr Yoshihiko Matsuo? This particular car in Eric`s photo is also wearing the "B" Type front airdam for the ZG ( the original item was available from Nissan as a Sports Option part ). However, it looks a bit odd as the car is not wearing the extra wide "B" Type Overfender kit that went with the front spoiler. These wrapped under much more at the front and joined up the the spoiler. When the "B" Type Front spoiler, super-wide "B" Type Overfenders and big three-piece rear spoiler were used in conjunction with the G-nose in Japan, the whole kit was nicknamed the "Full Works" kit. This is because the final versions of the 240ZR Factory race cars usually used these parts as a base for their own mods. These were available from mid-1973 onwards. I just helped a friend here in the UK obtain a full ZG and "B" Type Full Works body kit for a car he is building ( its a replica of the 1975 / 1976 Le Mans 24 Hour race car ). He said he was pleasantly surprised at the cost - but shipping was pretty expensive. If you are SERIOUS, I could put you in touch with the suppliers - but they don`t like giving price quotes that include shipping costs unless you are pretty much set on buying the kit from them. This is because shipping costs are different for each territory. They also recommend shipping by AIR, as the volume is usually not enough to make it worth sending by SEA. This particular company is quite shy of dealing with non-Japanese customers / enquiries. They told me that they had some bad experiences in the past of customers ordering body parts and then baulking at the cost of Freight / Duty / Handling charges at the point of entry to their country. In the end, they had to receive the parts back in Japan ( it cost them a lot ). Anyone ordering parts from Japan needs to remember that it will cost fair bit in Import Taxes and Duties on top of the Freight and parts costs. Don`t forget that you would need to obtain the different hood hinges for the ZG ( which aint cheap! ) and then the headlamp covers ( which aint cheap! ) and then cut the rear wheelarches ( which aint for the faint-hearted! ). Added to this, the cost of REALLY wide wheels and tyres to fill those mega wide arches. Have a look at my Gallery pics for the full "B" Type kits fitted to cars in Japan ( one of them is the Real Thing ). I love this look, but I also love the pure clean lines of the "standard" cars too. I want both! Gavin, send me a PM if you want more info on a ballpark price for the parts from Japan. I`m afraid the Exchange Rate for $AUS to Japanese Yen will be pretty painful though. All the best, Alan T.

Hi guys, looks like a fair bit has been happening since I last looked in. Carl, thanks for the endorsement - but I think you might be slightly overstating my expertise ( especially on the Left Hand Drive side of things )! I have an interest in the Right-hooker cars in particular - so I`m always glad to try to help in any way that I can with that side of things. I`m still learning though - and you can never sit back and think you know everything about the history of these cars............................ Phoenix_400, I second all of BambiKiller`s advice to you regarding the demon RUST and getting yourself into a project that you will never finish. I`ve been in that situation too, and tried to kid myself that it would all turn out OK in the end. In the end, the rust caught up with me and now that car is a very expensive parts donor for other projects ( the body was beyond saving ). Once I started to cut it up, it frightened the life out of me to see what I had been trusting my safety to; the internal structure was really badly gone, and the previous owners had just patched over the top of patches. Really nasty......... These cars are "Unibody" in so far as they have a monocoque structure ( no separate frame ). Those front chassis rails actually do extend under the floor ( the floor forms the fourth side to the box section - if that makes sense ). Its a real big job to replace them properly ( although good repop parts are now available ). The floors are more easy to replace ( in comparison ) so I would not necessarily worry too much about that. However, like BambiKiller says, this kind of rust is not usually confined to what you can SEE. All in all, its a sign that there will actually be rust all over most of the car. To cure that properly you are really looking at a total strip and lots of welding. Please be careful about what you are getting yourself into................. As to the history of the car, I would be willing to bet that the car possibly has not even been to Europe. My gut feeling is that its more likely to be a souvenir brought back from Japan by a serviceman. There are actually quite a few of these knocking around ( hey - I own one too! Its a 1970 Fairlady Z-L that ended up in Europe after spending time in Japan and the USA on a tour of duty with a USAF pilot ). The stories about it being an ex race car / built by a race car company may very well be simple exaggeration. Its much more likely to have been a street fighter at home in Japan ( with the triple carbed L28 replacing its standard L20ET engine ). That "EVA" name rings a bell - but I might hazard a blind guess that this is the company that made the front airdam / spoiler ( there was a Japanese company called EVA who were famous for making spoilers.............. ). See if you can find any more about the details. All the best and good luck, Alan T.

Hi Phoenix-400, I`m over in Japan at the moment, but I live in London, England. I can possibly help with tracking down the former life / builders of this particular car if you can give me some more details. I`ll be back in London from 8th or so, but I might be checking into the site every couple of days or so whilst in Japan - so I should see any reply you make. Are you sure it came originally from Europe ( meaning it was a RHD Export model if it was destined for the UK ) or was it originally a Japanese "Home" market car? The "Fairlady Z" emblem makes it sound as though it might have originally been a Japanese market car ( we never had the 280Z in Europe ). I have never heard of a British company called "EVA Racing", but that does not mean that they do not / did not exist. They may have even been in mainland Europe - but a European racing Z would have been a notable rarity................. I HAVE heard of a company called EVA who made parts for race cars though. Have a look at the VIN number on the firewall ( its stamped above the brake booster, and you might need to move some wires / lines to see it. That`s more likely to be still in place than the aluminium VIN plate in the engine bay. I have a hunch that its originally a Japanese market car......... Anyway, if you need any help / data etc. please do not hesitate to ask. I know how it feels to try to identify something that you don`t see much data for. Bambikiller`s advice on rust etc is well worth taking note of. Its also worth taking care on any car that is described as having been a race car ( sometimes very badly put together! ). I have a feeling that we may have heard of this particular car on this site many months back ( it rings a bell....................... ). Good luck and Happy New Year, Alan T.

Wow CoastGuard, that's a big homework assignment you've given me............... I'll have to simplify this to make it more manageable, so here goes; S30 = basic model type for ALL the below cars ( its not strictly correct to call them all "240Z", as that's only one variant..... ) VIN prefix / model type: *S30 = Fairlady Z ( Japanese market ). From October 1969. Can be divided into two sections for early cars: either the basic "S30-S" Fairlady Z with 4sp trans or Auto and "basic" equipment, or the deluxe "S30" Fairlady Z-L with 5sp. trans or Auto, with carpets, hubcaps, rubber bumper trim, tints, etc etc. Both the above had the L20 2-litre six on twin Hitachi SU's. *PS30 = Fairlady Z432 ( Japanese market ). From October 1969. Either the "PS30" Fairlady Z432 ( street model ) or the "PS30-SB" Fairlady Z432-R ( race homologation model ). Both had the S20 24-valve twin-cam six with 3 x 40PHH Mikuni sidedraughts, 5-speed "A" type manual trans, R192 LSD with 4.44 gears, Mitsubishi electronic ignition and loads of detail differences from the L-series engined cars. The 432-R had the 100-litre fuel tank, GRP hood and many other detail differences from the standard 432. *HS30 = Fairlady 240Z ( Japanese market ). From October 1971. Can be divided into three sections: "HS30-S" the "basic" model very similar to the "S30-S". "HS30" the "deluxe" model very similar to the "S30". "HS30-H" the Fairlady 240ZG model with FIA / JAF Group 4 homologation aerodynamic parts. All the three above types came with the L24 engine, and either the 5-speed "A" type manual box or Auto trans. Note that the "ZG" name derived from the "Grande Nose" appelation, but the suffix "H" on the type code denoted the fact that it left the factory as a ZG. VIN prefix for the ZG was just "HS30". *HS30 = Export model "240Z" for Right Hand Drive markets ( notably Australia and UK ). Correctly termed "HS30-U" by the factory. From early 1970. These cars were similar to the deluxe Japanese model, and came with the L24 and "A" type 5sp manual trans or Auto. Usually with 3.9 ratio R180 diff and proper rear anti-roll bar. All but the very first came with an ABS rear spoiler and urethane front bumper. UK cars were modified after first consignment to comply with height regulations on front indicators ( the front side corner indicators were deleted and small repeaters mounted on top of front bumper ). Australian market cars did not change from wraparounds. *HLS30 = Export model "240Z" for Left Hand Drive markets ( notably USA / North American market ). Correctly termed "HLS30-U" by the factory. I won't go too far into these, as most of you will know the spec. and the fact that they had a 4sp manual or Auto and no rear anti roll bar. There was also the "HLS30" export model for Left Hand Drive markets other than USA / North America ( notably Europe ). These cars came with the 5sp. "A" type manual box or Auto, and DID have the rear anti roll bar. I'm not going into the RS30 / RLS30 / GS30 / GRLS30 etc series here as I would be up all night. Generally speaking, the early years of Japanese domestic market cars were all 2 Litre ( L20 SOHC or S20 DOHC ) until Oct. 1971 when they also got the choice of the L24. Most export markets started with the L24 until the L26 and L28 were phased in. As you can see above, everybody else got the 5sp manual ( "A" type box ) or Auto. from the very beginning. Only the USA / North American market cars got stuck with the 4sp or Auto choice ( bad luck.......... ). The only code prefixes that you see on the VIN numbers for the earliest cars are "S30", "PS30", "HS30" and "HLS30". All the other info on model type is in the Factory code suffixes, and these are not usually marked on the actual car. So, for example, it might be difficult to discern between a Japanese home-market HS30 and an Australian-market HS30 export model without digging deeper, as both of them would have the VIN prefix "HS30". I know it sounds awfully complicated ( maybe its my fault for explaining it badly ) but its simpler than you might think. It just gets confusing when the RS30 and others start getting phased in, and Japan carried on using some of the old prefixes. Remember I'm only talking about up to 1974-ish here. Any use? I'm off to Japan for a week or so tomorrow, so please don't expect any replies to further questions until at least 8th Jan. Have a good New Year. Regards, Alan T.

He's looking for the 63900-E4126 and 63901-E4126 which are the "short" type headlamp covers for the "normal" S30-series Z ( not the ZG type - which are much longer and won't fit ). Yes - those are the ones in the photo of EricB's car that Gav just put up. They are very difficult to track down now. Nissan have not made any for quite a while ( although when they have enough Japanese orders they quite often make a batch ) - so they are all but unobtainable until suddenly some get released and the prices bounce around all over the place. There are quite a few in the hands of Z specialists in Japan. I have a couple of sets myself, but I'm sitting on them for posterity. One set is going on my "project" car. You will find a lot of other people are looking for them too, and the prices for sets that DO come up for sale soon go sky high. To be honest ( even though I love them ) they are really bad quality. The shiny bit is made from Stainless ( its just a bit of formed channel ) and the "glass" is acrylic. There is a rubber seal between the acrylic and the headlamp scoop, but all sorts of stuff soon gets in there, as it blows up around the headlamp. They soon get dusty and full of insects, and when it rains they tend to mist up too. This would be OK if it was easy to get them off - but the fixing arrangement is prehistoric and very prone to strip off the car. Have I put you off them yet? Like I said, I love 'em...................... Alan T.

Sorry T.O.G. - can't help with any numbers or proportion of Auto to Manual trannies on the Australian HS30's. You can bet that they were a very small proportion compared to the manuals though. I'd take a stab at something like 1 in 50 or less being Auto. Sorry to say that this does NOT tend to make them more sought after or more expensive than the manual trans versions. I think you can guess that the majority of people searching for a Z to buy are going to be looking for a manual version. The Auto's are rarer ( and nice to see them around ) but it just doesn't make them more valuable monetarily. Rick, don't ask me about girls. I'm looking for tips myself........... Sorry to have waxed lyrical about those Japanese dates and lost you a bit. I think all you ever need to remember is to "Add 25" years to Japanese date marks that appear on an S30 series Z car. Most of them are going to be in the mid Showa '40's and '50's - which means the 1969 to 1979 period roughly. Regards, Alan T.

Like I said on my first post above, Nissan made a big jump on chassis numbering on the "HS30" prefixed cars around late 1971. This is why your HS30 100243 VIN number does NOT mean it was the 100234th HS30 built................. They made the big jump BEFORE it was actually needed ( i.e. they did not roll around to "HS30-09999" ). I have never been able to ascertain exactly when the big jump was made ( i.e. after which number ) - but I have a fairly good idea. You also will not find any info. on particular specs. from the VIN number ( such as whether is was Auto or Manual trans ). Only the basic model type can be gained from the VIN, and the final specs. would only be identifiable by looking at the car itself. For the Export market, Nissan tended to stick to one basic spec. for each particular country. This is why most of the "HLS30" and "HS30" cars in each particular market all tended to be pretty much the same - just the paint / interior colour and trans. choice to decide on. Contrast this to the Home market, where a much bigger choice of body / engine / trans / trim was available. On the Japanese paperwork for each car, the spec. is quite clearly stated. Most Export markets never got this. Alan T.

Damian, With respect to your particular car, the situation is slightly easier than the one Rick is facing. The VIN numbers for the "HLS30" prefixed cars are much easier to date than the "HS30" prefixes ( although the "S30" and "PS30" prefixes are also difficult, they are a lot more easy to make sense of than the "HS30" ). Most of the "HLS30" cars went to the USA / North American market, and this was subject to a lot more documentation on the receiving side. You can bet that your car was made pretty much around the month that is marked on the extra door jamb VIN plate that most of the "HS30" series cars did NOT get ( if its still attached ). As to your question about how many numbers were used between October 1969 and April 1970 - then the answer is fairly easy; it was almost exactly 3091st of the "HLS30" prefixed cars. The very first "HLS30" prefixed cars probably did not make it to the USA, so your car would probably have been at least something like the three thousand and eighty something-th car to hit the beach in the USA. Just remember that having a VIN of "3091" does not make the car the 3091st S30-series Z car off the production line................ you have to count the "S30", "PS30" and "HS30" prefixed VIN numbers that ran in parallel with the "HLS30" numbers. That would be an almost impossible figure to ascertain. I presume from your gallery pictures that you bought a USA market "HLS30" and privately imported it to Holland? In that case, you are in a fairly good position to find out more about its true age. Victor, your discoveries sound like a nice bit of carchaeological evidence! If you can post pictures before 28th Dec. ( GMT ) then I might be able to help you read the Japanese on them. I will be off to Japan on 28th and returning on 8th Jan. Did you discover any other writing anywhere? You can sometimes find Factory internal build info. on places like the steering column support bracket and the underside of the glovebox floor. There are sometimes other little messages and graffitoes on the hidden parts of the cars, which the Factory workers scribbled to entertain themselves on the line. I asked a Nissan production line worker who was present on the SP/SR lines and also the S30 Z line about these. I showed him a photo of a scribble on the underside of my dashboard panel ( which read "warau" in Japanese ). He told me that it just meant "Ha Ha!" - and would have been a little joke between the workers on the line, intended to make the working day go just that little bit faster. I thought it was rather heart-warming............. All the best, Alan T.

Can I vote for more than one type? I'm biased, as I own both a genuine factory-built ZG and a super-plain 1970 S30 Fairlady ( no spoilers, plain bumper with no rubber trim and a mesh grille ). I think that the Factory made the best job with the early cars; either totally plain ( preferably with Factory headlamp covers ) or the REAL Fairlady ZG. Most of the aftermarket "G-Nose" kits that I have seen have been pretty poor representations of the real thing. Lots of people will be basing their opinions of the ZG on bad replicas that do not fit right. Thats a shame. Seeing a real one in the flesh might change their mind............. I'm also a fan of the Factory-built race cars ( especially their attempts at improving airflow both before and after the debut of the ZG ). The Factory released a lot of these body parts to the public through their Sports Option parts lists in Japan. Its great to see ANY of these properly fitted to a good car. So, in short, any of the EARLY Factory type front-end treatments are to my mind superior to the later aftermarket additions. Usually, stuff like the KAMINARI spoilers seems to have been trying to make the car look younger than it really is................ Regards, Alan T.

Hi Rick, That's good information from Steve, and its certainly the best place to look. There are other places on the car where you can also find the production dates of the components ( note: they date the manufacture of the component - which can sometimes be as much as a few weeks or even in some cases months before the car was put together ).................... As Steve said, the seat belt labels are a good place to look as they are quite accessible and the date is written in "English". The other locations can be a bit obscure, and may be in the form of an ink or paint stamp on the reverse of the part itself. Have a look on the back of the ashtray or on other easily-removable parts. You can also see them on light housings / bulb holders etc. What you are looking for are usually circular and blue-coloured marks with a date on them. HOWEVER - the dates are not immediately recognisable, as they use the Japanese system for years in relation to the incumbent Emperor of the time. To cut a long story short - you will usually see numbers in the late Forties for a car made in the early Seventies period. If your car was made in 1971, you can expect to see the date marks with a number "46" on the end. This is because they were made in the 46th year of the Emperor Showa's reign ( We know Emperor Showa by the name Hirohito, and the Japanese do not use this - they use the more respectful title of "Showa" ). He came to the throne in 1925, so you can get the Twentieth Century year date by adding 25 to the "Showa" number. Got that? Seeing as we are talking about early S30 models here we do not have to go into the pre or post Showa eras ( we are now in the reign of Emperor "Heisei" - who we know as Emperor Akihito, who is Hirohito's son ). So, you might see a little mark that has the numbers "12.25.45" on it - which means that part was made on Christmas Day in 1970 ( quite possible, as the Japanese do not take holidays for the Christian festival of Christmas............... ). Take a look around the car and try to cross-reference the numbers that you find. You can usually come to a conclusion that is near as dammit from these. Pinning down the precise production dates of "HS30" prefixed VIN numbers is quite a lot more difficult than for the "HLS30" prefixed VINs. The factory has never released precise information to the public or any enquiring journalists on the Export RHD cars, and one of the reasons for this is that they made a giant leap in VIN numbers when the Japanese "Home" market finally got the option of the "HS30" L24-engined models in October 1971. They still don't really have a proper explanation or data to cover this, and don't really like to be reminded of it either.............. Looking at your VIN number I think it would probably be a '71 car rather than a '70. That's quite a nice low number that you have ( for an HS30 ). Low number "HS30" prefixed VINs are a darn sight rarer than early "HLS30" VINs. Please remember that the "HS30" VIN numbers don't have any relation to the "HLS30" VIN numbers, or indeed the "S30" and "PS30" VIN numbers. All of these had their own number series - so you cannot get information on one set of VIN numbers by cross-referencing with another different model type. I've posted about this point before - so you might be able to find it if you have a look around using the "search" function. Hope this is interesting / useful to you. All the best, Alan T.

Hi everyone, Ken - I have a copy video of a Japanese TV programme about the Z ( not the "Project X" NHK programme ) that might be the one you are talking about. Have you ever seen it? I don't think its the "Sunday Project" show that Kats is talking about, as it does not seem to have anything much about Ishihara on it. If you have never seen it, I could get a copy for you. Maybe you are in it! Kats, if you want to get a discussion going about Matsuo san then I would suggest that you make a completely separate thread. Maybe we should start yet another called "Goertz - the lying Count".....! I really want the world to know how he has stolen the credit for "designing" the S30. QUOTE: "I,really found out DATSUN was not well known in some nation as some of you said, in France or other nations in Europe. And in Australia neiter. Even in the U.K. DATSUN was not wellcomed,right?" I think the "Datsun" brand name WAS well-known in the UK, at least by the late Sixties / early Seventies period. The point is that they were looked down upon by motoring journalists and the general public, even to the point of ridicule. I can say that the "Datsun" brand is STILL a joke for many people here, and they have no idea about the history of the company or its origins. As far as I can tell, this was not the case in the USA. As I said in a previous post, there always seems to have been an anti Japanese-car prejudice here in the UK. Even now, I still read and hear comments that mention the word "copying" in particular. It would appear that the people who make these comments know almost nothing about Japan, and even less about its car-making history. I particulary notice it in relation to motorsports, and I am reminded of the many smug English people who are still convinced that they "taught the Japanese all they know". Chief amongst these has to be Mr Tony Fall ( the well-known rally driver of the Sixties and Seventies ) who drove the Works rally 240Z's in many events. He still recounts the story of how he "taught" the Japanese Works rally mechanics ".....the difference between Oversteer and Understeer.........". This is from a person who appears in all other ways to be quite sane. I am sorry to say that people even seem to believe him................. I really don't see that the blame for the decline in sales during the late Seventies and early Eighties period ( the start of Nissan's long slide into trouble ) can be laid solely on Ishihara. I think it must have been a combination of many factors that he and his executives contributed to, as well as natural conditions. Perhaps we ought to be circumspect about turning the whole thing into a Good Guy / Bad Guy gunfight at the OK Corral ( with Ishihara in the black hat and Mr K. in the white hat ). I must say I sometimes feel slightly uneasy about the hero-worship of Mr Katayama. I am sure that he deserves more than his share of praise ( he was a visionary who transcended the normal Japanese working practices ) but it all seems to get a bit like a "cult of personality" type of situation. I hardly ever hear the name of Mr Soichi Kawazoe mentioned, despite the fact that he so obviously played a very large part in Katayama and NMC USA's success. I find it most odd that Katayama gets described as the "Father of the Z", and poor Matsuo gets left as the "Mother". The names of the other people involved in the project are hardly ever even hinted at....... When Nate mentioned the story of some people thinking that "Nissan bought Datsun" ( which is a great story and a really good point ) I am sure that what it means is that many people had NO IDEA that Nissan and Datsun were essentially the same company. It reminds me of another story that I heard, in which one of the first American franchised dealers was selling Datsuns and telling his customers that they were from Germany. He was basically cashing in on the success of Volkswagen in the USA during the Fifties and Sixties, and he found that his customers thought that the "Datsun" name sounded as though it might be German! This is interesting, as Volkswagen's policies in foreign territories really blazed the trail for companies like Datsun and its quite clear that Kawazoe and Katayama learned a lot from what VW had done in sales and supporting services for the USA market. I've tried not to speak on behalf of the USA side in answer to Kats' questions - as its not my business to do that. I'm very interested to hear the views from that side of the world too. It certainly seems that the image of the Datsun brand in the USA was quite different to that of the rest of the world. Regards, Alan T.

When I first saw the picture it made me think of something. Do you have an electric fuel pump? If so, it might be an inertial safety cut-off switch that shuts down the fuel pump in the event of an accident. If the knock is hard enough it cuts the power supply to the fuel pump, and you have to hit the reset button to get the power back. If it has not been "tripped" then it might explain why pressing the red button does nothing at the moment. I too think that it is an aftermarket fitment - I've not seen an "official" one on a Z before. Quite a lot of modern cars have these switches. I have one under the passenger seat of my daily driver Alfa Romeo 156. Just a guess though................... Alan T.

Hi BleachZee, Your car would have come from the factory with the standard steel rims ( probably you still have an original spare in your spare wheel well ). If it was an ordinary Fairlady Z ( the basic model ) it would not have had any wheeltrims / hubcaps, but if it was a Fairlady Z-L it would have had the first ( now very difficult to find ) design of hubcaps. If your car had carpets ( instead of rubber mats ) and rubber trim on the bumper corners, it is probably a Z-L. You should be able to find a set of steel wheels in the USA, I would have thought. Good luck, Alan T.