26th-Z

I'm no Black Pearl expert either, but the stripes are not correct and the wheels are not correct. Before I replied to this thread, I searched "Datsun Black Pearl" and found many listings including a Facebook registry of Black Pearls. There are plenty of pictures to compare.

I saw this on the Facebook page about a recreation of the 1975 Le Mans 24hour entry. I don't remember if pictures have been posted of this car or not. This car (registration #6466) was entered in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GT class driven by Andre Haller, Hans Schuller, and Benoit Maechler. It qualified 50th with a time of 4:33.70 and finished 26th some 83 laps behind the winner. The following year, the car was painted a different color and entered with a 4:30.20 qualifying time. During the race, I believe Andre Haller crashed the car and was killed and the car was destroyed. The original car was right-hand drive and I believe this recreation is left-hand drive.

If you look at the various pictures on Carl's page, there are two different wheel configurations. From what I can gather the "base" black pearl came with the options package that included wheel covers (hubcaps) in the dealer sheet photo. However the advertisement picture "* years..." shows the optional road wheel.

As much as I understand, a 12/77 manufacturing date would be a 1978 model year car.

When I was at Sebring last March for the 12 hour, Burt Levy was selling books in the legends hall of fame building and I bought Sylvia Wilkinson's "The Stainless Steel Carrot" from him. Signed by both Sylvia and John. I had always meant to read it and Burt's price for the book was just right. I liked the book, but frankly, I struggled to keep my attention through most of it with my deep respect for John Morton pushing me on. John has a lot to say about the BRE / Peter Brock / Baja effort and it is worth reading for the insight to fully appreciate this video. Peter is portrayed in the book as extremely fascinated with the Baja race and motivated by his almost fanatical desire to compete in that environment / venue. If you haven't read The Stainless Steel Carrot, I recommend it.

It has been a number of years since I have gotten into it with Carl and the rubbish about painting the cars at the port of entry. I do know quite a bit about the port-of-entry services at the time and I'm not convinced. Neither have I ever seen a black 280Z that wasn't a Black Pearl Edition. Certainly one could fake a Black Pearl restoration; why? A 280-Zzzap could be faked also. I just don't see the advantage of faking one. So my thoughts are that if you find a nice candidate, with the peculiarities of a full blown Black Pearl, it probably is the real thing.

From the recent Sonoma Historic Motorsport event. Still enjoying a few hot laps.

Thanks! Learn sumpin new everyday!

I don't remember where the wiring harness tag is underneath the dash. I think you are going to have to contort to find it. But this action has rewards! For your outstanding diligence in successfully finding the tag or any date marked inscription on your car ( and there are plenty of them ) you earn points acquiring or keeping the sacred Datsun secret handshake. I briefly cruised the archives for discussions we have had in the past about S30 models showing up in North America. Estimates put the number around 30. I know at least one serious collector who has an S30 in his stable along with his gaggle of Vintage Zs and low VINs. The S30 is a rare commodity in North America. Similarly, Kats' HLS30 is quite rare in Japan.

What does TOPY mean? I have always taken what I believe is the logical side of this debate. Why would Nissan specify a different trim color for such few trim finishes? Uniformity would not only be consistent but economical. I don't think they did specify another color, or texture, or finish, or anything. I think the grill, tail light finisher, and hub caps are all the same color. Perhaps, and only perhaps, differing sub-manufacturers used different equipment resulting in slight variation, but I don't think that's a valid point for a restored car.

Further to Alan's accuracy point: this car is a 2-liter with a 5-speed transmission. Nothing common about that in North America. The valve cover should say "NISSAN 2000 OHC". If you look closely at the picture of the interior, you will notice switches on the console for parking lights, right and left. There are many other peculiarities about this car that make it anything but common in North America.

Cris, I don't agree with the appraisal but so what. I'm thinking that you have a purchase order document dated 1969 and that's why you are claiming the date? Or is it the 69 in the photograph you posted? What's written next to the 69, Alan? A "numbers matching" statement means that the numbers on the chassis and engine match an ID tag or some form of appropriate documentation. It doesn't look like you have the engine # on the ID tag however if it is still the original 2-liter it probably is "matching". If you really want some hard build date evidence, crawl up underneath the dash and find the part # tag on the wiring harness. It is going to be a white tag wrapped in the loom. It will have the part number and a date printed on it. See if you can find it and let us know what it says. You also may encounter a build date underneath the dash that looks like this one.

Carl has about the best reference. www.zhome.com Engines were not installed in sequential order, though. Don't make that mistake. They were installed in the other S30 models as well.

SledZ, In order to possess or keep the secret Datsun Z handshake you must be able to convey a proper VIN when discussing the Marque's. Are you discussing an HLS30, an S30, an S30S, an HS30 or what? Automatic transmissions were produced and available from the very beginning of production so your 1971 model year production is pretty far down the line. The information on Zhome is probably exclusive to HLS30s which were not exported with an automatic transmission until later, however there are all those other "VINs" out there with automatic transmissions well before the production of your car.

Well, this motivates me. I often wondered if a restored early car would bring this sort of money. What I'm hearing from the comments is that a "correct" car would be of this value class. I'm motivated to work on my cars. One comment mentioned the color "change". The shock towers and the rear wheel arches are original vinyl if ever I saw, meaning the car would have been 907 racing green. See how faded the vinyl is compared to the seats? I wonder if the pictures are dark or if the paint color is dark. Racing green is much lighter IMO. Check out the lower left corner of the deck lid valance. See the seam in the deck carpet between the seats?

I have the tan panel type, Kats. Some time ago, I bought a black colored panel and it has the vent like your blue panel. Strange?

There is no way that I know of to establish original color from the VIN. You have to go back to the original paint layer or in an area that has not been repainted.

From the archives:

The short answer is "no". The long answer is that your round emblems are fresh air vents and closing them off will ruin the ventilation system unless you change the rear hatch to the style with the vents AND change the interior panel to the vented one.

I'm having a hard time comparing what you are discussing with a $2,000 steering wheel on eBay. The steering wheel you picture is a buck meant to be covered. The joints in the wood are dangerous and the rivets are even worse. Great way to keep yourself safe in an accident, eh? No! It doesn't look cool. It looks dangerous. Steering wheels on eBay are $400 or less. Buy another steering wheel. Yours is worn out.

Look at the cam on the door hinge to determine if the hinge is one stop open or two stops open. The lower hinges changed around July 1972 from one stop to two stops; the difference between the E4100 series and E8200 series of part #'s 80420 and 80421.

Les sells spray cans for $28 or so. I have used that exact Dupli-Color for a heater cover plate in my house. Excellent paint. I sprayed over a primer base coat. I found that it was difficult to get a uniform color finish which seemed to be the thickness and drying rate of the paint. Some areas of the spray pattern were darker than other areas. Streaks. I finally got the finish I wanted and it looks great. I'm usually pretty good with spray cans. The color is just one of those!

Classic Datsun Motorsports / 240Z Parts / Misc. http://www.classicdatsun.com/index.html Or you can do a website search and read all the comments about the color.

Yep! I'm good. Still have Her Majesty and sister 27th. I got hit really hard during the 2007 - 2013 depression. Stopped working (spending money) on the cars and stopped participating in Z-Car events after the Nashville convention in 2010. Things are MUCH better now. Thanks for asking about me.