HS30-H

Not getting many bites from the LHD owners, so it might be declared "no contest".......... I'm after a healthy and grown-up debate here - not an 'argument'. Where are the Zhome supporters when you need 'em?! Zedrally - that's an interesting analogy about the Volvo indicator stalks. I drive an RHD Alfa Romeo 156 as my everyday transport, and that is compromised in the same kind of way. Its really easy to tell that it was designed primarily as a left hooker, and the RHD version has lots of silly little niggles like that. I think one of the biggest no-no's on a car is to have the indicator stalk on the same side of the steering wheel as the gearstick. It just makes you feel really busy sometimes. Having it on the opposite side of the wheel somehow seems more natural, even though you still need to use both hands. Interesting that Nissan seem to have thought of this with the LHD and RHD versions of the S30-series Z. Alfadog, I have never heard Japanese Z enthusiasts talk about "Series 1" and "Series 2" cars. I think this is terminology that grew up in the USA market in answer to a perceived cut-off or change point from one spec to another. From what I have seen, heard and read, there were many changes all through the life of the early cars ( I'm primarily talking 1969 to 1973 here, and ALL markets - not just USA ). Some of them were more noticeable than others ( like the venting change and the holes in the steering wheel that you mentioned ) and this may have led to the perception that there were different "series" of cars. I think in truth the factory was changing / improving / fettling details all through the life of these cars, and it was mostly done on the hoof. Sone of the big reasons for changes would have been improvements to manufacture of components - like the "sugar scoops" changing from plastic to steel. Apparently it took a while for them to sort out the proper pressing of these items, and they were forced to use plastic in the beginning. I can't see any reason for changing most of the details except that they might improve production, function or looks. They were pumping out so many of these cars in the first few months of production that its not surprising they found ways to improve them. That story about Mr K. changing emblems is at least partly apocryphal. There's no doubt that it was Katayama himself who insisted on the name change, and this involved him taking some "Fairlady" emblems off of cars and switching to a "240Z" emblem instead. But where did these "240Z" emblems come from so suddenly? They must have already existed in order for there to be the possibility to use them. Do we have the whole story? Cuong, the pedal box question is a good one. Its pretty crowded on the left side of the trans tunnel and engine bay of an LHD Z. The footwell is pretty wide though, so the factory may have done a good job in packaging the pedals and their linkages. Notice that the Clutch Slave and Throwout Arm are on the right side of the trans though. ( Cuong - when I get to 432 posts I'll probably need an oil change at the very least! ). Fred, I think its fairly typical that "Export" markets never get the full Home Market range of any automobile manufacturer. They usually pare down the model selection to make it simpler for themselves and their territorial representatives. Here in the UK, the early days of Nissan / Datsun importing were carried out by a franchise ( called "Datsun UK" ) who tried to keep things simple for themselves. For example, they never imported the C10 Skyline range as they probably thought they could not compete with the Escort and Cortina in the UK market. This must have been the scenario in most other territories too. "An American car, built in Japan" - anybody want to agree with that? Alan T.

Sean, That's what I think - but there are people out there who say that the S30-series Z was made "for" the American market ( rather than just made with hopes that it would sell well there ). That's why I'm trying to be an Agent Provocateur ( hopefully I won't be accused of Sedition ) and promote / provoke a debate about the 'natural' bias of the car being LHD or RHD. There's a whole litany of other things on the car that make me think that the RHD market cars are the ones that are the most natural state for the car to be in. The whole layout of the engine and transmission is a large case in point. I don't want to let these assertions that the car was made "for" the LHD market go unchallenged ( or at least undebated ). I think its quite clear that it was not. The Handbrake positioning is a good example of this. So far though, comments from LHD car owners have been fairly non-commital. What I really want to know is if anyone out there with an LHD car thinks that the Handbrake position on the right side of the tunnel is the way they think it SHOULD be for an LHD car. My intentions are constructive rather than destructive, and I'm hoping for an old-fashioned debate without descent into confrontation. Or maybe this is too dry a debate for most people to be bothered with getting into? Alan T.

Interesting to see USA-based company describe themselves as "The home of the English Wheel"!........... Interestingly ( and perhaps not so surprisingly ) over here we just call them "Wheeling Machines". There's a company called FROST here in the UK which claims to have been making them for over 100 years. If you look at the prices that they charge for them compared to the prices in the USA, you might think it would take around 100 years to save up for one ( £1 Sterling is roughly $1.60 at the moment.... ). I scanned this section from their catalogue ( they do not have a website ). Pretty frightening prices aren't they? Alan T.

Mr Ghosn needs to contact Mr Camouflage regarding a job offer too. The main focus of my annoyance with the Z33 is those bloody door handles. They belong on a refrigerator. Will somebody please Photoshop them off? Alan T.

Thanks for the replies Gentlemen, Alfadog and That Ozzy Guy, you might be interested to know that the Japanese "Home" market S30-series Z cars had extra seat mount brackets - so that the seat runners could be unbolted and moved several cm forward of the "normal" position. If you look at the seat mount brackets in the floor area of a non Japanese market Z, you will see that the REAR bracket has TWO holes in it ( am I right? ) - however, the forward bracket only has one hole position. This means that the Japanese market had the option of having the seat mounted forward of its usual export position. Take a look at the pictures of the floor on my 432R replica base car and you will see what I mean. They are just L-shaped brackets that are attached to the floor and the forward seat crossmember. This is also a good way to identify a true Japanese "Home" market car - if ever you are in doubt............... There are a lot of replies from owners with RHD cars. I am hoping for a few more from LHD owners ( thanks Victor and 2Many ). Maybe I should re-frame the original question a little and get a little closer to what I am driving at here: The S30-series Z was made in both LHD and RHD versions, but the Emergency Brake / Handbrake / Side Brake / Frein a Main was always on the RIGHT side of the trans tunnel. As far as I can see -either the LHD cars or the RHD cars must have had the Handbrake in the "wrong" place. But which one was "wrong" and which one was "right"?...................... Alan T. ( ps - is this a "leading" question?! )

This is a modified Tamiya kit. In the text on the builder's site he says that he was moved to make this "350ZG" as a tribute to the original 240ZG that he loves so much. He says that he also loves the 432, but as the body on the 432 was so similar to a "normal" Z he thought the ZG treatment would be the most appropriate........... I can't say that it looks any better than a normal Z33 to my eye, but I think Nissan need this guy working at their design studio. He seems to have a much better idea of how their modern cars might be related to their past history than they themselves do. They can start him off in the Exterior Door Handle Design Department................. Alan T.

Hi Jash, Congratulations on your new 'Hakosuka'. In Japan, the C10 series Skyline and the S30 series Z have always been seen as 'brother and sister', so its kind of appropriate that you ask the question here. You won't find much that is interchangeable between the S30-series Z and the C10 Skylines, except of course the engines, transmissions and diffs. Certain brake parts are swappable, but it really depends on what exact model you have and what is still standard or has been modified. Lots of parts will look very familiar to a Z owner, but there are cases where minor differences can make the parts non-interchangeable. The rear suspension on the C10 was completely different to that of the Z, and that is probably the biggest and most apparent difference under the skin. Actually, with such a high survival rate for the C10 series Skylines in Japan there is a pretty good situation for genuine Nissan spare parts, and replicas for those items NLA. At least the body panel situation is better than that for the Z. Here in the UK there is only ONE two-door C10 Skyline. Its a KGC10 that had a half-hearted GT-R makeover in Japan, and was imported privately by a very gullible young lady who used an importing agent to find a car for her. It turned out to be a real shed, and is still unroadworthy. Its a really sad tale of somebody being ripped off by an inept and unscrupulous trader. He got her money and she found that the small print did not cover her. A very sad tale. I'm sure yours is much better than that. I have a fair bit of data and literature on those models, so if you think I can be of any help then please don't hesitate to ask. All the best, Alan T.

Hi Mr C. Congratulations on your new purchase. Sounds like its a good 'un. I remember a thread in the General Discussions forum a while back called "kph in a 240Z?" or something similar. It was this same conundrum of an MPH speedo in an Australian-market 240Z or vice-versa. Search for it and you should find it in there somewhere. Looking forward to seeing the photos and hearing the VIN number ( always interesting on RHD cars ). All the best, Alan T.

Hello all, Can I ask for opinions on the following? Are you happy with the positioning of the Emergency Brake on your early Z car? In the UK, we have traditionally called this the "Handbrake" ( is that true for Australia / New Zealand too? ) and I know in Japan it has mainly been known as the "Side Brake". Some owners will realise that the positioning of the Emergency Brake on the right side of the trans tunnel ( from the viewpoint of the driver sitting in the car ) was the same for both Right Hand Drive and Left Hand Drive versions. As far as I am aware, the only time that the positioning was changed to the OTHER side of the tunnel was in Factory-built "Works" competition cars ( specifically, in SOME of the Works rally cars that were Left Hand Drive - but not all of them ). I think this was only performed on a handful of cars after the Works drivers complained. As the owner of more than one RHD early Z car, I have always felt that the position of the handle on the right hand side of the tunnel was perfect. When I drove an LHD early Z car for the first time, I was shocked to find how awkwardly positioned the Emergency Brake seemed. I have in the past owned a fair few non-Z LHD cars ( American, French, Italian, German ) and I think I remember that the handbrakes were usually centrally-mounted or were otherwise easy to get to and use effectively and sportingly ( especially for the odd handbrake-assisted turn ). The early Z cars seem to be unusual in the way that they kept the same position on both LHD and RHD cars. What do you think? Alan T.

Gotti. There's a name that brings me back to my youth. I had a set of 8 x 13 Gottis on a Renault 8 Gordini I 'acquired' many years ago. They were de rigeur for a tuned Frenchie at that time ( late Seventies ), the car was a 1969 model but the wheels I had were probably made around 1973 or so. I used to think I was Jean-Luc Therier driving a Works Alpine-Renault on the Tour De Corse ( reality was a lot less romantic ). They were so wide they actually slowed the car down a huge amount just through tyre drag............. Used to go 'round corners like it was on rails though. That was until I discovered that terminal oversteer in a rear-engined car really IS terminal. Took me ages to get my Insurance premium back down to a sensible level after that. Alan T.