240260280

Lime Rock Sept '74

Zandvoort Aug 75

1979 Sebring 12 Hr

Of course not for Mr. K. to single handily do this. He was a great leader and catalyst but he needed the opportunities, timing, a great team, a dynamic company and a lot of luck too. I agree on the blanket blurb... seemed daft to me too. It is interesting how different regions deal with things. When I was living in Ireland, I would often see people pouring pans of hot water on their wind screens to de-ice. It worked quickly. Here in eastern Canada, we scrape the ice and often flick the wipers up before parking at night.... or some have remote starters and turn their vehicles on to warm up while inside the house 5min before driving away. I believe now there are even newer chemical products that you can put on your windows to reduce ice adherence. I think even a piece of plastic or cardboard over it can trap enough heat and block the moisture to make clearing easier. In Quebec where there is a lot more snow and colder winters, people commonly erect car tents in their driveways to mitigate the snow on the car. In Central and Northern Canada (and throughout when owning a heat-cycle diesel), many use block heaters and plug their car in at night. Every region seems to have their own tricks. I am sure those in Hokkaido and in Canada have converged in their techniques by now.

Hi Kats, Could that be Mr. Masataka Usami standing to the right of the model in the photo above? Also would he be the expert tuner in this still from your videos? (with Mr. Hitoshi Uemura on the left)

Many may find this excerpt interesting. It demonstrates how Nissan had to adapt Datsun products to North America well before the Z sports car was designed specifically for the North American market. (To replace their only sports car (roadster) in its biggest market) : Source: http://datsunforum.com/datsun-discovered-america-part-3/ Masataka Usami, a Nissan executive who lived in Greenwood Lake, New Jersey, and whose own car would not start in cold weather, reported back to Tokyo that Nissan could not have a car that started only two out of ten times. Tokyo was not very helpful. The alleged starting problems were impossible, the home office insisted, since it had checked Hokkaido – Japan’s northernmost island, where Datsuns started without difficulty – was just as cold as New Jersey. Usami replied that in Hokkaido those few Japanese who were privileged to own cars lovingly put blankets over the hoods every night. Tokyo asked why Americans didn’t do the same thing. Usami explained that to the Japanese a car was a privilege, but to Americans it was an appliance, and they expected it to work without pampering. I had the same experience first hand when I worked nearly 5 years for a Chinese company who designed and produced international products that were not selling here in North America. No one in head office listened to anyone in North America whether they were local or transferred from HQ. It ultimately caused so many missteps that the company had to pull out of this market. Nissan obviously did not do this and adapted their products to the North American market; otherwise they would have failed like the company I worked for. In the early to mid-sixties, it is because of Mr. K's perseverance, automotive knowledge, powers of observation, intuitiveness, logic, understanding of people, understanding of customer needs, and international corporate skills that he was able to align Nissan HQ with the North American market. The products followed suit and sold well. For being accused of turning up "late to the discussion": It is in the spirit of accuracy and adding new and useful content that I am contributing to old posts. This is very important for the organization of content on forums for the benefit of others who come across these threads in the future. The thread should be complete with the information contained within it, not scattered throughout the forum. People are not visiting this forum to look at time stamps. I have done this (updated old internet posts) on the technical side of Z's for nearly 14 years. My interests have changed slightly as I am now delving into the history and design of the Z; however, I am doing the same as I always did with respect to posting information helpful to others. With so much great historical and design data on this forum over the years from you, Carl, Kats, Chris, Mike and many others, it is difficult to find new and interesting content to add (as most has been put forth);however, even though I am "late to the game", I am fortunate to contribute some new data in this area that I hope others can enjoy. I think you may have enjoyed this example: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/33633-24th-october-1969-the-s30-series-z-public-debut/?page=2#comment-509152

I think it is/(maybe was) a California thing where the number on the licence is unique to each dealer and many cars on the road with the same plate number is manageable.

Clarification: Gas station in Japan, Autumn 1969. "No hoses on high."

Kats, You may be correct in seeing 3 different numbers. My guess is that the test team could legally driver around the USA in '69 with the DLR 2177 California dealer plates but in order to drive the car across the border into Canada, they needed a more permanent plate thus the requirement to formally register and licence the vehicle in California. The two cars probably have different plate numbers in the Canadian pictures.

but... this photo (that seems to be summer of 1969 based on cars... please double check my observation) would put the Boston Auto Show the first week of February 1970.

Note: - car manufactured pre-Feb 1971 - no bumperettes on rear bumper - bridgestone tires - full rubber strip around rear bumper - hatch vent - no rear marker lights - air valve aligns with spoke on hub cap

The plot thickens... I guess that may explain the over-rider bar appearance in NYC too. The Boston Auto Show window seemed to jump around a bit (~ March 1910 and January Now) but it is clearly Nov in 1971 when the first Lamborghini Miura SV was shown.... so we can assume the 1969 HLS30-00006 photo is from November.

Obtuse Joke: Legend has it a Canadian model posing on top of the 240z crushed-in the roof when the car was in Canada at an auto show. It was then given to Bob Sharp to race. I found a photo of the car at a Canadian auto show in early 1970 along with what seems to be the car... but I think the horse behind it is to blame.

Looks like the bumper over-rider was removed between NYC and Boston... probably left outside on the street unattended for a few minutes... Same model? Maybe she had something to do with it?

Hi Chris, I'm having very little success tracking down the dates of early New England International Auto shows/ Motor shows or Boston Auto Shows/Motor shows. The current event (New England International Auto Show) is the third week of January so if the slot was held back to 1970 then the photo below would be from Jan 1970? Would you have more details on the time? Thanks!

I agree. The 3 month lead time, the hand throttle, as well as the layers of clothes worn by the reviewer and miserable weather. I would guess it is a damp 50F day so freezing dead of winter in LA lol. When I do the grey scale colour comparison from the April R&T article the car could be red or blue. It seems to tilt a bit more to the blue (especially after considering the statement about not attracting attention while driving the test car and a brightness adjustment) .

Here is another early Z. I can find references reporting that Nissan dropped support for Bondurant in 1970 until 1972 so this exchange probably happened in the first half of 1970 given the early hubcaps on both cars?

I did a quick grey scale comparison of cars in sunlight and hopefully this tool may be helpful in decoding. It makes me think the dealer parking lot photo in post #10 above is Orange.

Merci! Tres Cool! The clear front turn indicators are interesting. That shade of Green seems to be very dark like the NYC Preview photos you shared a while ago.

April 30th1970 Jacksonville Dealer Ad: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I bought a used 1970 240z manufactured in Feb. 1970 HLS30-01360. I purchased it in Charlotte SC in 2007. The records that arrived with the car show it to have entered the USA in Jacksonville, Florida. It was first sold at d*** Smith Motors, Columbia, South Carolina, on July 15th 1970

There is a report from Kats of a 4th car arriving or being noticed at NMC LA on Dec 20, 1969 by the Kaku U team. It is not clear whether it is for further testing or if it is for demonstrations. The photo above with Mr K was in a paper published on Feb 6th so the photo pre-dates Feb. 6th. I think the Road & Track road test car from the April, 1970 issue was photographed much earlier as it still has the hand throttle. It would not have been wise to formally delete this feature in January then hand a car over for test driving with it non-deleted for liability and bad press reasons. What colour was the car at the San Francisco Import Auto Show? The blurb I found states an automatic 240z will be in San Francisco but it could be a typo/error.

Found this so far: The San Francisco Import Car Show opens Nov. 24, 1969 for a six- day run at Civic Auditorium J and Brooks Hall. It will feature many cars never seen before in the Bay Area. Among the 200 automobiles in both auditoriums will be a 1971 Monteverdi from Switzerland. Dodge's new' Colt made in Japan, Peugeot’s 304 Sedan. Alfa Romeo’s Veloce, Ford’s DeTomasso Pantera, Datsun’s 240 Z with automatic transmission, Russia’s Moskvich 412 and England's Bond Bug. Kats has the Kaku U team in SF from Nov 16th to 20th (Thanks Kats!) then departing for Canada on Dec 7th so they could have remained in SF during the show and continued North rather than go back to LA then return North. They would just have to ship some test parts up to SF from LA to make the adjustment.

Hi Chris, Thanks for that nice photo of the LA Show! The car seems to be silver HLS30-00008? The Chicago show had a Gold 240z (below) so the silver car skipped it. I have not been able to find what was at the NYC show on April 4th yet. Maybe the gold one? There was another car at NMC in LA in January 1970 (below): This one was also kicking around LA in early 1970. It had the choke and hand throttle levers so it may be from early Jan as well or could be the same car as above: For the red HLS30-00007 photos, yes they are poor. I captured them from the Nissan film "Drive the Ragged Edge". It seems to be HLS30-00007. It appears ~ 1:03 into the film. For an initial generalization, it seems #6 was in the North East, #7 was in the South and #8 was in the west. I'll dig (pun) into the San Francisco show. I had no luck finding anything online regarding the 1970 New England International Auto show or New England Auto Show or Boston Auto show or Philadelphia Auto Show yet. I'll post back to this thread when I do.

Independent from Long Beach, California Friday, October 31, 1969 DATSUN PREVIEWS 240Z On display today, Oct. 31 through Nov. 9 at the L.A. Auto Show is Datsun's 240Z Sports. Available at dealers showrooms about March, the new personal car offers a six-cylinder overhead cam 150 hp engine, disc brakes, three doors and a top speed of 125 mph. Highlighting the 1970 line of Datsun cars from Japan is the new Datsun 240Z Sports which was specifically designed for the American market and the larger sized American, according to Mr. Y. Katayama, president of Nissan Motor Corp., U.S.A. Powered by a new 2.4 liter (146 cubic inch) single overhead cam six-cylinder engine, the 240Z's 150 hp engine will produce, a top speed of 125 mph. It has fully independent suspension on all four wheels, an all-steel body of unit construction (for rattle free shell) and front wheel disc brakes. The spacious interior is designed with safety, comfort and convenience in mind. Full quick reading instrumentation, including oil pressure, water temperature, fuel, and ammeter gauges, are recessed in the completely padded and formed dash. A large- faced speedometer with a trip meter and tachometer are positioned directly in front of the driver. A flow-through, draft- free fresh air system combined with an aerodynamic shape changes the air inside in a matter of seconds . . . quietly. Vinyl covered deep cushioned bucket seats with built-in head rests are adjustable horizontally and vertically for both driver and passenger, with an adjustable reclining angle of up to 10 degrees. An all synchromesh four-speed . .transmission, radial tires, radio, clock, steering lock device, collapsible steering wheel, three anchor seat belts, backup lights and cigarette lighter are standard equipment. A Borg Warner automatic transmission will be made in the U.S. for Datsun as an optional extra. Air conditioning also is available. Price of the new personal sports car is just under $3,500. The car can be seen for the first time in the U.S. by the public at the Los Angeles International Auto Show which starts today at the Pan Pacific Auditorium.

Thunderdome Disco, Montreal 1987 while at Concordia I saw this for the first time. I think it may be a Montreal tradition.