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There are some beautiful Sharp vs. Tullius jousts from later in the year and '71 on Youtube and elsewhere on the net. I was unable to find video for that race.

The site http://www.racingsportscars.com/ is good but it is missing a lot of information and some of it seems incorrect. For example here are the North American 240z appearances in 1970. It shows Morton in a BRE Z at VIR 1970-4-26 however he raced a 2000 roadster then (photos below showing Morton in a 2000 [CP Class] at the VIR race on April 26.). Likewise the BSR-Z racing on April 12 is suspect as the NYC International Automobile Show is on then and it is too early for HLS30-00006 to be prepped if Bob just requested it at the show.. The racingsportscars.com data base is also missing any data on the Cumberland May 17th races apart from course and date. Ultimately all of this helps paint a clearer picture.

Nothing from my friend in the archive yet but I have HLS30-00006 racing on May 17, 1970. That is a month and a week after the NYC International Automobile Show. If he asked for a Z at the New York show then he received it quickly. If he received a car that was damaged in Canada it would have been previously damaged earlier in Montreal. Bob Sharp passing a Porsche and finishing 2nd at the Cumberland Maryland Races. May 17, 1970. There is a red 240z in the background of this photo at the races. No decals on it. HLS30-00007 cheering on the event?

Cumberland Sports Cars Races May 17, 1970 Bob Sharp Car 33. New Datsun 240z Unofficial report he placed 2nd in C Production. (Any official results for these races would be appreciated). That is Fitzgerald in the roadster (DNF). Passing Porsche in front of official's area. Scoreboard in photo of Finish Line shows: (44) Bob Tullius (33) Bob Sharp (38) Jim Fitzgerald (4) Brian Fuerstenau Well past Porsche in first corner after Finish Line. Scoreboard in photo now is missing (38). Fitzgerald has dropped out. (4) and (96) move up. Bon Sharpe chasing down (44). Spoiler, cage, straight pipes, no advertising decals, and fender badges. It looks like the GT-6 of (4) Brian Fuerstenau in the background ~ 1/4 lap behind Bob.

Nice page and 510 sedan too Be sure to put your engine cradle plan up... I just made two. The cat's meow! B I G T H A N K S

Electrons are lazy and always take the shortest path of least resistance home.

$126k final bid.

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4 hours left and at $80k:

Many thanks vintagezracer. That helps a lot! Wow that is one interesting car you have! The letter is great. The 2 or 3 colours of paint before they received it may explain a lot but it will be challenging to track in photos if it was re-painted during the first year in the USA! I wonder why and when Nissan did this? I hope it was at the factory and the car remained silver for the first year here. These are possible photos of your car (silver) in 1969 and early 70: Mrs. Speakman mentions it was at the '70 Run offs. Did it race at the '70 Run offs do you think? Maybe Fitzgerald's or Scoville's ride?

Note the rear quarters w/o corner markers

I'm in the Safari gold Club! I just need James as a first name to be a full member. Happy New Year to you and V!

Flashback to when the restoration program was in full swing: Source: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-1998-Datsun-240Z-Nissan-Brochure-mx583-14Y813-/290878018075?hash=item43b9ae521b:g:K0sAAOxyldpR-7w7

Does your 76 ignition system still use the stock ignition box or did you upgrade to the newer 280zx "matchbox" one? If you drive it again and it dies, quickly note the tach and see if it drops to 0 instantly. Also coast along with the gears engaged to see if the tach shows the engine rpm. If it stays at 0 it means no spark.

lots of pictures here of many tanks., You will have to look at each closely (for year, etc.). https://www.google.ca/search?q=site:classiczcars.com+tank+cut+open&newwindow=1&biw=2880&bih=1476&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjm57mxsNHRAhXi6YMKHWVoB4EQ_AUICCgB#imgrc=3FBXpeQSpx_J-M%3A

You may consider this one: 3 days left in auction... at $40k now http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-nissan-skyline-2000-gt-r/

Will do! As you say it seems impossible for the Speakman car to do all those things claimed as the R&T Jan 1970 issue seems to have a silver car; the Nov. ARRC car was red; and the NYC car was green, so they can not all be the same car. Hear are pictures of HLS30-00008. I am trying to see the original paint but it was stripped and painted a lot. The good photos of the interior are all painted black (very well painted too) so it is difficult to see the colour inside the interior panels or where a clip or fastener was removed to expose the true base colour. Parts of White, Silver and Red paint job are hard to differentiate as there is even white on each side of the license plate where the red is. The other colours seem to be Nissan original primer and rust red primer. Maybe more eyes will do a better job: Nov 71, Original or painted? Drips of red paint. Two top heater mount tabs and steering column holding bracket looks silver (w some flat black over spray on the steering holding bracket)? No colour in seat brackets or in rockers. Firewall and rest looks flat black. Missing grommets and extra holes in firewall do not look red? White Silver and Red, Is that silver under the cracked filler on the quarter? Is that even an original quarter? White on each side of plate but whole back looks like it was all painted red at one time then some black for fun. The steering column holding bracket certainly looks silver for no reason other than being original? White door jambs and rust wheel well with 280z-like back bumper. Red rust primer and Nissan grey/white primer.

I guess Bob could be wrong but his reference to not having a car by the April 4-12 show in NYC (when he says he first saw the Z.... very memorable moment for all of us) and the late appearance of 240z's in race result records in Q3 of 1970 seem to both point to BSR/BRE procurement well into 1970. There was probably a car show(s) in May/June in Canada based on the unusual photo of the air shipment of a 510 in May, 1970. Hopefully my archive friend will find more for us! Another possibility is that the original green demo car (HLS30-00006) was crushed at the Boston show and Nissan squirrelled it away until Mr. Kawazoe formally asked for it (many months later). Mr Speakman did not receive his HLS30-00008 until fall of 1970 so Nissan was holding them/using for a long time after the production versions were available in the dealerships. Mr. Matsuo told me he wanted to buy an early Z when they first came out but was not permitted as the public came first. Nissan administration in Japan seemed to put Joe Public first ahead of Mr. Matsuo and proven racers like Sharp.

May, 1970 Vancouver Airport. Loading a Datsun 510 bound for Toronto. On the trail and getting warmer

From the horse's mouth: Sharp: "By 1969 I'd started a Datsun dealership and I saw my very first Z car-a green one-at the New York Coliseum auto show (April 4-12). I went up to Mr. Kawazoe, who had a very close personal relationship with his dealers and asked, "When am I going to get one to prepare for racing?" Mr. Kawazoe shook his head and said, "Maybe if we get a salt-damaged car you can get one, but right now I have nothing I can give you." Well the green car went to the Toronto auto show and a model sat on the roof and caved it in. I got a call from Mr. Usami who said excitedly, "Bob, come down here quick and get this car. It's no good as a show car and it can't be sold. Grab it before they change their mind." So I took that car, prepped it and raced it all year. We built up a second car for the Runoffs and Jim Fitzgerald, our Southern Division driver, ran it at Atlanta." So the show in Canada would have occurred after April 12, 1970..... now to find it. If Brock's car arrived after Sharp's, it would account for the late entry of these cars into racing in 1970 (~ September). Sharp: "A very significant change occurred with how we prepared race cars when BRE got into the game. Up till then we'd get a car in February, strip off the putty, make a few changes, add decals and numbers and two months later you'd be racing what had been your street car. The first time anyone had a contract to build a car and race it the following year, holy mackerel, that was a whole different breed of cat. The whole concept of stripping the car down to nothing and rebuilding it was a whole generation of expense above what anyone had previously done." A two month window would put the possession of cars as late as the first week of July, 1970. If Brock got his in the "first boat load" it would probably be "January to March". So the Canadian crushing would have happened between April 12 and ~July 6th, 1970.

That car would certainly be one of the world's most beautiful daily drivers! Being restored as a daily driver explains for the minor items we noted.

Hi Kats, For completeness, it seems the blue 240z was only on display for an early portion of the Tokyo Motor Show. It was eventually replaced in the beautiful banked racing display by a 432-R. I am not sure at what point the switch happened. As you allude to, in other posts in the thread, few in Japan would be interested in a LHD apart from curiosity, so using a RHD 432-R in the first place would make more business and regional sense (and keep the racing crowd happy). As well, it would be a much better fit with the racing theme of the banked display (as the other 3 cars were all race cars [including white circles with numbers]). Why the 240z was there in the first place begs the question: Were the 240z's further along in completed form in the factories and the 432-R needed last minute badges/items thus its delayed appearance? Was the 240z just a stop-gap "filler" until a 432-R was show worthy? Further to this theory: The licence plates on the three Z cars at the show are different. Both the 432 and 432-R have the same font and character size yet the 240z plate shares the same "Fairlady Z" top line but with a much smaller and thinner font "(EXPORT MODEL )". Could this 2nd line text be simply a last minute rework for the blue "filler car"? The small text "(EXPORT MODEL )" is also skewed to the left with a blank space after the "L" where as the other 2nd lines are centred nicely. In the end, it is ironic that the L24 seems to have been unintentionally placed in the race display as its L24 engine went on to become the favoured racing engine in the 432-R shell (and later in the 240zg). 3 RHD Racers and 1 LHD Anomaly in the Banked Racing Display Early in the Show. Blue 240z on the Banked Racing Display Early in the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show (Note the wooden ladder slats in front of/and behind the yellow R382. These are used for workers to access the various areas and place garnishes such as the laurel wreath. These garnishes are not in place in most photos with the Blue car). Eventually an engine also appears in the display. 432-R on Banked Racing Display (Replacing the Blue 240z) Orange 432-R with Black Hood and No Wind Shield Chrome (in right of photo) Last Minute 240z Plate with Odd Tiny 2nd Line Font and Spacing

Missing spark could cause unburned fuel to accumulate and carbon-up things.