daddz

Victor, That is very cool! When I was out in L.A. back in March I drove to the front gate at Toyota HQ in Torrance and instead of being let in to see the museum (not open to the general public) I struck up a conversation with the security guard who stated that even he has not been to see the musuem! One of these days I will have to make it out West with T.O.R.C. (Toyota Owner's and Restorers Club) preferably with the old '72 Celica. Only three semesters left and hopefully a move to SoCal! BTW, the Toyota 2000GT was once described as being just about as small as a Lotus Elan (even at stock ride height). As for values of these wonderful cars there is one for sale in Hemmings at something approaching $300,000 USD with only 10k original miles on it. You can search it at: http://www.hemmings.com

Steve, Go figure! My Supra had a similar story: After sitting in a field for three years at the original owner's farm he decided to sell it in 2004 after owning it since Oct. '87. At 148k miles the original clutch hydraulics decided mutiny was their best course of action. I thought for sure the original clutch would be up for replacement but now at 160k it is still working just fine. The big job was the replacement of the original vlave cover gasket at 146k. Even this was not bad. The original spark plug wires were replaced w/ NGK's as well as the spark plugs and dist. cap and rotor. I would like to be the owner that gets to never change spark plug wires in a 17 year period!

Steve, Don't worry about finishing your Z. Maybe both of us can show up in our MA70 Supras? We could explain by saying that we are the offical 'spares' vehicles? As it turns out I may not have enough time to get the only running Z before the cruise. The only other running Z that I have has a bad fan blower switch or blower motor? If not I may try to make the cruise with the '72 Celica? Rob

Hopefully the weather will cooperate. The '81 280ZX needs the exercise and who knows it might be the oldest Z car there? I should've driven the '78 280Z down to Florida this time.

Adam, Too funny! I think you have hit the nail on the head! Actually I was trying to corner the market on paint code #611 but I have run out of space and time not too mention that other rare resource: capital. The other problem is I have a weakness for all cars especially the ones from Japan.

Bob, I was watching that car as well. If only there were more complete pictures such as the undercarriage and in the wheelwells etc... Ebay is a great way to advertise in terms of generating interest but the insertion fees are becoming a bit too steep. The silver one is pretty nice and it doesn't surprise me that the 25k threshold has been exceeded. For example the '81 280ZX in my signature line had $17k spent on it over the course of four years! A good resource for those looking to find clean West coast Datsuns is via craigslist.org. Considering how expensive it can be to restore a rusty old Datsun the plane ticket or car transporter can minimize the financial burden.

I was searching for videos on google and ended up watching this one again: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7503638729249272041&q=ferrari&hl=en ...years later this would inspire "The Run" featuring the 350Z. This one I had never seen before and is also good fun.... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8514123126430796910&q=porsche+911&hl=en

Could also be diagnosed as "SS" or slippery slope syndrome. Just look at my signature....

Keith, I would recommend that you contact 'Dtsnlvrs' or Buck on this website as he is very well versed in the carb. installation. Additionally, if you have a chance, come out to the next No. Va. Z Car Club meeting which is held the second Wednesday of the month at Kilroy's in the Ravensworth Shopping Center off of Braddock Rd. If you need help sooner, the Z club is planning a cruise out to Manassas on August 26th at about 5:00p.m. The Manassas event is held every Saturday during the spring/summer/fall at the Burger King located at the 234 bypass.

This link is always helpful when asking that dollar question: http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/Research/data/us/calc/index.cfm According to the Federal Reserve calculator the 14,300 in 1980 would be worth: 35,142.60 today.

For me there is no choice but GP Maroon!!!

Dan, If you are lucky the original jack and tool kit are still present with the car. If you are very lucky there will be a piece of paper about the size of an index card in the tool bag. Hopefully the date stamp in the Showa format is still visible and that will give you the exact date of one of the last items to be placed in the car before being shipped from Japan. In my 240Z's case the date was 15 August 1970 or 45.8.15 with 45 being the year in the Showa period. The info. is here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?p=169039#post169039

Justin, What you have there is an AMCO wooden shift knob (using their parlance from a Datsun accessory parts catalog). Those are fairly rare and if you don't want to restore it Mike McGinnis of Banzai Motorworks sells reproduction AMCO shift knobs which are much more durable than the AMCO. For example I bought an NOS AMCO wooden shift knob for my '77 280Z about two years ago and within a year and a half (only 1800 miles) the finish has detoriorated. In contrast the reproductions from Banzai Motorworks have stood up to five plus years of use (about 9000 miles) with no apparent deterioration. His website is: http://zzxdatsun.com

Chris, This peaks my interest as I have always imagined a block of similar colored cars rolling off of the assembly line together and being reunited in just the way you have accomplished with 26 and 27. I also tend to imagine with regard to later S31 production that larger blocks of between five and ten were constructed with the same color combination? My only proof thus far is HLS30437667 and HLS30437661 both finished in 611 paint code. It would be wonderful to find notations with regard to color in the data that kats has ben able to obtain.

In my estimation: No. You could spend a little more just look on craigslist.org in Ca. and you will find many better rust free candidates. As always buy the very best car you can afford and you will have many less headaches/ heartaches. I know from experience--over 40 Z cars in 15 years. Sometimes it is better to walk away and wait.

Don't feel bad my 240Z (HLS30-08323 08/70) was last driven in 1984 but more accuratley was last registered and inspected for the road in 1979! Just expect to do everything and you won't be dissapointed. Remember that they are not making anymore S30's and yours (potentially) is a low serial number and may have a 1969 production date? Good luck.

Andy, Fascinating piece of history that you have! Just be sure to take lots of detailed photos for us as you go through the restoration/ assembly process. As I always joke with friends it is only original once.

Alan, When translated what does "Shatai Bango" become?

Alan, Thanks for bringing this S30 to light. An interesting question is why Nissan haven't expressed interest in obtaining this S30 for a possible museum slot? This is reminiscent of a story some years back in 'Classic & Sports Car'? about an Mercedes Benz 300SL that was purchased in pieces by an MB employee but never assembled. I rmemeber some disucssion revolving around the topic of whether the car should ever be assembled or not. Surely one would think that the factory would want to celebrate an S30 that was 'pulled' from the assembly line and thusly singled out as 'special' by the factory even though it was probably just a random event and not one in which that serial number was identified before hand? This brings to mind another question which is this: What other Japanese auto manufacturer has done this previously and if so is there anything that could be learned from that situation? Lastly, if Nissan has repeated this with any other generations besides the S30and S130 I would be curious to learn about them as well. An example might include a Z31,Z32 or Z33? If so were these bodyshells christened with a chassis i.d. number?

kats, I would suggest that for purposes of obtaining additional information that the data sheet you now possess not be published until you can obtain the regular production information. I think we can all agree to take your word with regard to what you have so far.

I have heard of 'heritage bodyshells' with regard to the British sportscars such as MGB, TR-6 etc. The old tooling was saved and thus the new bodyshells were stamped out and sold and I believe you can still buy those bodyshells. The bigger question for any S30 enthusiast is what did Nissan do with the old tooling which stamped out the S30 bodyshell? If that tooling still survives maybe a possibility exists that reproduction bodyshells could someday be stamped out and sold? Assuming Nissan still had the tooling the negotiations would be very interesting.