HS30-H

1968 VW Type 3 models had 'high back' seats. I owned several VW Type 3s in the past and I had both low back and high back seat versions. As far as I remember, the switch to high back seats was due to safety legislation (rear-end impact/whiplash) and perhaps VW were one of the earliest adopters?

The suspension specifications for Nissan's Works 240Z and 260Z rally cars - as used in period - are a moving target. They changed for every major event, according to the nature of the event but also with a natural evolution of improvement. So, for example, 1970 RAC Rally specs were different than 1971 Monte Carlo Rallye specs, and 1971 East African Safari Rally specs were different again, and so on. I think your Gartrac-built Bilstein monoshock setup is getting close to ideal for the nature of event you are taking part in. I have a very similar Gartrac/Bilstein set myself. Some very successful cars have used an almost identical setup and you just need to fine tune with rates. I think if you go back to first principles and build something else from scratch you might well end up with something fairly similar to what you've already got.

One of the factors to take into account with regard to Bring-A-Troller is that comments are pre-moderated. If the moderators don't think your sincerely-offered, helpully-intended observations (ahem...) are of interest or of relevance to the auction process then there's a good chance they simply won't get through their net. Meanwhile, certain 'players' are seen to be part of the in-crowd and even their most inane and sloppy posts get a free pass. Even when you do make the cut, if enough members of the in-crowd don't like the perceived tone of your trolling well-intentioned pithy observations then phut, you're 'unhelpful' and gone. By all means get them over here and see if it's possible to teach them the difference between 'Concours' and 'Concourse', 'Camaro' and 'Camero'.

I don't know about anybody else, but for me what I call the "flip forward" function of the seat back wasn't so much about quick recline of the seat back for driving position, but more useful to access the area behind the seats and the tool stowage area/rear deck via the doors. Maybe everybody else thinks about it in a different way? November 1969 Nissan 'Service Shuho' #184 (Z-1) calls the lever the 'Reclining Device' and the large knurled knob the 'Back Fine Adjustment Device'. The later design added more forward flip, but I've always thought of it as more useful for access...

Kats, I think a lot of people here will not know that two types of seat were available in the Japanese market from the beginning of production. We could call them 'Standard' and 'Deluxe', corresponding with the models that they were originally fitted to. S30-S 'Standard' model received seats that did not have the 'flip forward' handle, but S30 and PS30 models were 'Deluxe' models and did have the 'flip forward' handle for the seat backs. I noticed on my 4/70 HLS30U that it did not have the 'flip forward' handles on the seats. As far as I can see, the early Export market cars got the 'Standard' seats.

Everything I've heard - having talked to several people who worked for Datsun UK at the time - points to there being very little actual choice when customers were ordering HS30s in advance. It seems that, for most dealerships, cars were turning up from Japan and were distributed with a 'luck of the draw' on body colour. The customer would only be able to choose to state a preference, and then choose from what came into stock. Some of the bigger dealerships had more cars and therefore more colour choice per batch. Interior colours were fixed by exterior colours. I've only ever seen Brown interiors in a couple of UK market HS30s, and they were both #907 Green exterior colour. One of the ex salesmen for a reasonably large Datsun UK dealership told me that he'd had more than one potential customer give up on buying an HS30 because it took too long to get them what they wanted in terms of body colour.

Have you got the vinyl swatch page in your 'R-Drive' Export part catalogue Kats? Here's the illustration 103 page from my earliest 'R-Drive' Export parts catalogue, which has actual vinyl swatches for the Black and Brown seat vinyl textures. Blue colour is listed, but no swatches. I have never seen an original Blue interior in a UK market car and only one or two Brown. Normal colour was Black.

Is it from the gentleman's area from a whale?

Part of the 1970 New York Auto Show stand:

My advice would be to tread very carefully. Kanji has subtleties and variations which make it very difficult to transliterate from different languages and ideally you'd want a native speaker/writer looking over your shoulder to help you avoid falling into any elephant traps. You don't want to get tattoos of anything until you've had second, third, fourth and more opinions on it... In the meantime, here's a bit of food for thought: Your 'Pride' might be best expressed as 誇り ('Hokori'). The Kanji you have chosen for 'Performance' ('En') is more appropriate to a theatrical performance (it's a link to 'skill'). As you are referring to the performance of a car, I would recommend 走り ('Hashiri') or 高性能 ('Koseinoh') as they are appropriate to a mechanical object, and to movement. For 'Protect'/protection it might be better to start off with a different English word. Since I'm guessing the sense you want to evoke is one of looking after, preserving and curating, I would recommend 保護 ('Hogo'), but there might be a better phrase (which would mean a combination of two or three Kanji). You smaller 車古団 ( 'Shakodan') is OK, but 古車団 ('Koshadan') might be an improvement? It's just a touch more sophisticated. I don't want to put @kats on the spot (I'm sure he's very busy) but I'd trust his opinion on this kind of thing much more than mine...

Maybe you should put the tail lamps through one of your grayscale algorithm tests? The car has a '240Z' script quarter panel emblem, 'Datsun 240Z' tailgate emblems and rear side markers. I don't see a "driver". I see somebody sticking his head out of the left side window. My money's on it being a North American market car.

Looks like a North American market car to me, complete with rear markers, 'Datsun 240Z' tailgate emblems and '240Z' script quarter emblem. You really need to check that filter...

That's a classic bit of 'Whataboutery'. But your Hoover has sucked up somebody else's error and swallowed it without due diligence. Datsun UK (a privately owned concessionaire at the time) showed two HS30-prefixed RHD cars at the 1970 Earls Court Motor Show. The above photo doesn't show one of them, and isn't even a photo from the Earls Court show. I believe it was misused and mis-captioned in your source publication. You might want to check the filter the next time you empty the bag. But it was a pretty poor show wasn't it? Only two cars, and a year late. Hey, maybe Datsun UK "didn't want to disprespect" the UK auto industry? If only they'd thought to hire a ballroom in another town and fly bus in a plane coach load of journos for a private peep? "No Photo!"... You're not really getting my point about Katayama's NY and LA 'trunk shows'. They've been hyped up into something they were not because people are happy to accept the stories they are fed, and without question. I've already said here that I believe they were a reaction to the timings of the Tokyo Press Preview and Tokyo Motor Show rather than somehow being The Main Event. With the lack of photos of the Pierre Hotel unveiling (I only know of one shot) I think we could surmise it possible that the press were asked not to take their own photos, and to use the photos in the press packs instead. If so, why? Would it be because the car was missing some emblems and/or other parts and would not fully represent what was going to be sold? Could it be because the backdrop at the unveiling was not ideal? Speculation, but perhaps food for thought. Any "delight" is at the thought of getting to the bottom of a few tall stories. I remind you that we even have different people - one of them closely involved - telling us different stories about the colour of the particular car. The reminiscence of it being "Gold" is something I noted being thrown up in the hoo-ha regarding the 'rediscovery' of "Lucky #13" a few years back, where it seemed some of the commentators appeared to be hoping it was the Pierre Hotel car.

What was the original market of this car? You are in Norway, but I'm guessing it isn't an original Scandinavian/European model car, right? There *might* be a date code stamped into the strut tubes along with the part numbers. That might be a clue as to whether they were on the car when it was new.

Who's saying there was no car at the Pierre Hotel? What I'm pointing out - I thought you'd have got it by now - is that there's not much photographic evidence of the event. My point being that it seems to have been a slightly (ahem...) less illustrious affair than it gets credit for, and to my mind that seems to point to it being a reactive event. I playfully cast some bait towards you a couple of posts ago. I have a Nissan photo of the 'unveiling' of the car at the Pierre Hotel. @26th-Z and @Mike B have seen it too. You didn't take the bait. I'm dragging it out a little because I want to add weight to my point: There's a dearth of photos for what is claimed to have been a seminal event, and there's even conflicting opinion/evidence as to what colour the car was. Extraordinary.

I am adding to the discussion. I'd say that - at the very least - I might be offering an alternative take on all this, and a bit of grit to go with all of that "International Preview" type corn you seem so happy to swallow. One thing I'd point out is that you do seem a little bit too eager to assign some of these cars concrete chassis numbers. Much of it seems to be based on a little less evidence than would be ideal. I think it's a bit risky when some cars are known to have been repainted between shows. It reminds me of what Shelby was doing with Cobras a few years earlier. That situation was because he didn't have enough cars on-hand, and needed to make it look like there were more. NMC USA were in a similar situation in late 1969, as far as I can see. About those journalists: You seem to share Carl Beck's feeling that jetting in a bunch of journos from Detroit was "nothing". It seems to have produced little more copy than mailing them out the press pack and a bottle of half-decent single malt would have. Still, I'm sure they enjoyed the canapes. Maybe they took in a Broadway show whilst they were in town? I guess it wouldn't have been 'My Fair Lady' though...

Don't you think this kind of adds weight to my Force Majeure 'trunk show' point? We are told that the Pierre Hotel event was organised "weeks in advance", as though that's a long lead-time. No photos? Really? If I post one, what will be your forfeit? It'll be a one-off transaction, by default. Once it's in your Hoover bag it'll travel...

"...the photo you refer to...". I'm not referring to the April '70 NYC show car. I'm referring to the actual car at the Pierre Hotel "International Preview", reportedly the same car that was flown down to LA and shown at the Beverly Wilshire (and presumably not stopping for a colour change pit stop at Earl Scheib along the way). Considering the effort gone to - flying a car in from Japan and a bunch of hacks over from Detroit - you could be forgiven for imagining that everybody was asked not to photograph the car. Where's the coverage? "No Photo!" Most of the copy filed seems to have used Nissan stock photos from the press release... I'm calling them trunk shows because they would appear to have trouble living up to the hype they've been given. Drinks, canapes, a car under a sheet, press packs, speeches. Would have been great to be there of course, but if I was one of those Detroit hacks I think I would have preferred to be flown to Tokyo instead...

So you classify the NY and LA 'trunk shows' (that's what I'm calling them...) as 'Press' only events? Good. I think it's more realistic than "The International Preview", which is what they are regularly referred to as. Perhaps you'd like to spread the word? Why have you got 26th October for the Tokyo Motor Show? It opened its doors (to the general public, not just the press) on 24th October. The Press Preview at Nissan's Ginza showroom (the real 'International Preview', as far as I can tell) started on 18th October and ran for three days. Don't feel insulted. Feel grown up and engaged in a debate.

You might want to try one of your Grayscale experiments on one of the numerous photos* of the car at the Pierre Hotel NY event. Doesn't look 920 to me. *

(my bold) As I've pointed out before, I don't think this story holds up very well to scrutiny. It seems to me that Katayama's NY and LA trunk shows were organised under Force Majeure as an attempt to mitigate what was going on back in Japan. In Japan, Nissan was aiming squarely at the Tokyo Motor Show as the debut for its new models, and had a massive presence there. As usual, they invited members of the Press, selected dealers and well-connected customers to come to their party on the ground floor of their Ginza HQ a week before the opening of the Tokyo show. What options did Katayama have? What major shows in the USA could he debut the new HLS30U at? What was he looking at on the calendar? What car(s) was he going to show? They were in somewhat short supply... I don't buy the "disrespect" story about Detroit and the US auto industry. The 1969 Detroit Auto Show was held at the end of November, simply too late for Katayama's taste. There was nothing else that lined up. I think he was organising the NY and LA single-car events so as not to be eclipsed by events in Japan, and preferably to try to be seen to be 'first'. That would be true to Katayama's personality, and advertising/sales/PR was the basis of his education and career. With Nissan making such an effort in NY this week for their 50th anniversary celebration of the Z and GT-R marques, I'm already reading the legacy of Katayama's sideshow. Apparently the 240Z was "first seen at the NY show in 1969". It gets swallowed whole.

Interesting how this so often seems to happen. Missing: 1969-10-18 Tokyo (Nissan Ginza 'Press Preview' of the entire - at launch - S30-series Z range) 1969-10-24 through 1969-11-6 Tokyo (16th Tokyo Motor Show - all models - over 1.5 million visitors)

I agree. A lot of lead-time needed for the production of the manuals and literature on these cars, and I see a few Skyline, Cedric, Gloria, Laurel and assorted 4-cylinder type parts used on the (likely pre-production/not to be sold) cars and details in the photos. Not surprising.

2019 is the anniversary year. We can have a discussion about the actual day and the exact location (Japan will win that one...), but 1969 is the year and November is the month. Nissan have already started celebrating it for the S30-series Z, along with the anniversary for the PGC10 Skyline GT-R (specifically as the anniversary of the GT-R, which debuted in February 1969). Any local ideas of 'Model Year' and such are trumped by 'debut'. Last week in Tokyo:

S20 is the engine type.