26th-Z

Sad news, indeed. According to John Morton, Paul is not expected to last more than a week or 2. Picked up on the Healey list from the Vintage Race Group List ... "8/13/2008 ... Lime Rock Park was closed down for an hour & a half today to honor Paul Newman. He was attended by his family, close friends, Skip Barber, mechanics on his race team, & those who happened to be at the track. PLN toured the track in his Corvette race car w/his Buick V8 powered Volvo station wagon following. He had come to say goodbye. Diagnosed w/terminal cancer, he is not expected to live beyond September. Race driver, actor, humanitarian, family man & friend - they did not come any better."

Tower Paint info@towerpaint.com

Oh! The national convention is first class, Jeff G! Everyone gets a name tag on a neck lanyard. Even if you don't rececgognize someone, the name tag is a big help. Frankly, Tomo, the title of this thread is w-a-y too negative. It should be "Why are you going!" I hope they have a Hooters in Cleveland. Wouldn't want to miss the party at Hooters. You can't miss me. I usually have on one of my "26th-Z" shirts and I'm the one partying really hard. I'm trying to figure out what to bring, Will. I guess I should make some more copies of the DVDs and I might make up some posters. I talked to Beck this morning and he is thinking of having some posters made to sell and donate to the DHM. I might do the same.

I have yet to take my Z to a convention and this will be my fifth. Ya'll hop on a plane and come party with us! I'm coming up with Jim Frederick and I talked to Beck yesterday. He says he's coming. $303 round trip from Tampa, 2-1/2 hours - beat that! I'm part of the ZCCA judging team now which means I'll be at the next few conventions. Commander Buoni is bringing his car and I'm hoping to team up with him for another rally trophy. The rumor I hear for next year is San Diego to celebrate the Datsun Heritage Museum however I only heard that rumor once and no one else seems to know anything about it. Conventions are a blast - a week of activities and socializing. The Ohio people are way cool and the Cleveland schedule looks to be fun. Mid Ohio is the race track! Lots of Nissan racing history there. We plan to eat and drink like pigs, wallow in the mire of Z, and Rock-N-Roll on down the road. Let me know if you are going and would like me to bring anything for show and tell.

Storm damage from Sarasota...

Couple of comments: Thanks to Mike who takes the brunt of this sort of thing for keeping this site. I appreciate how time consuming it can be and the effort he makes. I don't agree with the poor 16-year-old's approach and think she created well over half of the controversy. In that respect, I agree with "welcome to the internet". It was all I could do to keep Her Majesty from bashing her to pieces. After all, we KNOW that Her Majesty is the sexiest... Tough call, but I don't think her pictures should have been approved. You don't like his attitude...so? What's your point?

I like your car with the covers, Kats. Thanks for the comparison drawing. Thanks for the correction, Alan. That bit is confusing to me.

This topic has been covered :surprised quite extensively several times. I was interested to hear the comment about the lens shape - the "harder edge" description. I DO notice the difference! Headlight covers in America were legeslated out around 1967 or 1968 and we never got them. They were standard fitment on the S30 / Fairlady Z-L model and optional on all the other models. They were also standard on the Fairlady ZG or HS30-H. I bought a set several years ago at the going rate of about $500 for new. I also bought a set from Eiji - reproductions - and they were around $300 at the time and did not include the hardware. Both sets fit well on my FRP headlight scoops. I don't have metal scoops to compare. I would imagine these pictures have been posted before...

I'm glad you posted the map, Kats. Some day we must organize a road trip for all Zs to take on this journey!

I loved this picture. That's Osawa and Uemura in the lower left corner. Of course, Yutaka Katayama behind the car in the middle. In the upper right, behind the car, is John Parker I believe. Now, is that Johnnie Gable? I'll bet that's Johnnie Gable. I don't know who the rest are. Pic - 2 - Here is a picture of the team, I guess. Mr. Uemura is crouched down in front and it looks like the picture is being taken by Mr. Osawa. He has a camera in his hand in the other picture. What does the caption say? This picture came from "All about Fairlady", a Motor Magazine Mook, celebrating the Z's 35th anniversary.

26th has a history of living on the beach however she was garaged. That's why I dipped her, though. She was rusting from the inside out. I cleaned sand out of the frame when I took the hatch hinge seals out. But getting back to the original question, and thanks for the compliment, it is my understanding that Nissan N.A. (or Datsun at the time) maintained a facility to make repairs as necessary. Remember that Mr. K was quite service oriented in his approach to marketing the Datsun brand in America. The fellow who represents him at American functions (ZCCA conventions), Mr. Osami, was originally in charge of service. Also, by the time the 240Z arrived in America, Datsun had been importing cars and small trucks for quite a few years. I can easily see small repairs being made prior to distribution. And I would expect them to be within the paint and body realm. Anything major would have been sent back or scrapped.

I'm glad you did a little research about your car, Scarab. The one on eBay had me stumped for a little bit. It has some honest original Scarab pieces and one wonders how those found their way to the car. I have heard that Morrow didn't keep good records and that it contributed to the demise of the Scarab. All part of the colorful story. Your paperwork is your savior in this case. You seem to have much more convincing evidence to substantiate what you own. The car on eBay has some shady characteristics that make it a much more difficult example to believe in. But a great story! I keep meaning to talk to ZRush about this but I can't get ahold of her at the moment. I will say that her Scarab is being restored by the same guy who did ZRush and that there is talk of selling it when it is complete.

Yes, Calgary

Hey JohnnyRock! That's what the owner of #16 says about his car. Don't feel bad for the blunder. The very correct statement would be something about the lowest VIN sold. We have no idea if #16 was sold first or not. For instance, 26th was actually sold in May 1970. Hardly the 26th HLS30 sold. So where's Wick Humble's car, Carl?

I'm a huge fan of the BRE racing success with the 240-Z. I was there with a GP Austin Healey and a GP Triumph Spitfire. As much as I enjoy this print, I always chuckle at the thought that the scene never happened. This is what the first two laps looked like. Tullius' TR-6 went South on the third lap and Morton as well as Sharp and the Porsches went by him on the back straight. Remember at about the same time, Datsun 240-Zs were winning the East African Safari and Monte Carlo. Pretty remarkable for the same chassis to rallye as well as road race. Here is the Nissan produced Monte Carlo poster. And I thought you'ld get a kick out of a 1975 Road America poster.

Well, this thread has taken an interesting turn! Nice work, Will. See how the graphic is folded? I'm betting it's not a poster but a folded brochure. I said earlier that I had all of the BRE / Interpart catalogs but I don't know. What I DO have is: August 1972 September 1972 January 1973 February 1973 January 1974 The poster you are buying from Peter and Gayle was part # 2852052 - "BRE / Racing Poster, A Pete-Brock-designed, multi-color poster highlighting the 240-Z racing success. Previous posters have become collector's items. Order your large (23"x30") poster now." It cost $1.50 And yes indeed they have become collector items. I paid over 100 times the original cost for mine. I have other posters of the BRE Championship 240-Z as well. One was produced for Road Atlanta in 1971 celebrating the American Road Race of Champions. It is signed by John Morton and I got it from Henry Costanzo in Atlanta. (It's framed, hanging in the house, and way too big to scan) There are about 20 of those floating around. Another is this booklet that I bought at Road Atlanta at the 1971 A.R.R.C. Then I have this original water color (way too large to scan - sorry) that was made into a series of prints. I saw some of the prints for sale at The Walter Mitty a couple of years ago. Probably the previous poster mentioned in the catalog included this poster. I'm not sure who published this.

Mike, To the best of my knowledge, that "poster" does not appear in any of the BRE / Interpart catalogs as the one Peter and Gayle are selling. I think I have all the catalogs however I am aware of other brochures and flyers that I do not own. These picturs may give you an idea of what the colors might be like for the graphic you posted. This was a brochure advertising a performance package that BRE / Interpart marketed for the 510.

I was cruising through Kats' site and following some of his links to other sites. Quite a lot of fun, actually. Most everything is in Japanese which requires some blind clicking without knowing where it will lead to. I stumbled upon a site with pictures of emblems. From what I can understand from the pictures, there are at least two different castings of the Fairlady Z emblem and three of the 432. Evidently, the red paint on the 432 emblem comes in three different shades. This seems to have taken place over a production span between 1969 and 1971.

I think you're right, Mike. The orange one is from Norway and I think I have this picture mis-labeled.

Oh thanks for that reminder photo, Alan. And per some of your comments about 240Z branding, I posted pictures of brochures for export markets other than the U.S. and Canada. We need to do some research and come up with a picture of the shield emblem you talk about. Thanks to Kats for starting yet another great conversation.

Hey thanks for my picture! I'll be damned if I can find it on my computer! Could be the sweltering steam of August has my brain on half throttle. As I recall, I was so happy to have a metal script Fairlady without the Z because all the Fairladys I had seen had big white Zs. But this brings me to a point I would like to make about the Z. I suspect the Z was always part of the car. Whether it was a Fairlady or a 240, it was always a Z. Consider the Zulu. Reference page 46 of Brian Long’s “Datsun Z”. “The targa prototype was trimmed in black leather – the flag on the rear quarter was Katayama’s idea (it’s the naval flag that represents the letter Z).” Studio Sport '70 was working on a design referenced as the Sport Z. Alan, can you confirm the Japanese use of the word "sport" in name descriptions of the S30? We all know that Matsuo's design team was working on a sport replacement for the roadster SP311 – the latest in a long line of sport designs beginning with the DC-3. I suspect the Z represents the connotation of an ambitious design team. “Presenting the ultimate sports car”. Then I would consider that Mr. Katayama already had a Fairlady and wanted something new to market without the old association attached to the roadster. Consider his relationship with Katsuji Kawamata, Nissan’s president who named the Fairlady after the Broadway musical, “My Fair Lady”. We know Mr. Katayama was very brand oriented evidenced by the replacement of the Fairlady Z emblem on the front wings with the brand name Datsun. Reference Long again pages 58 and 59; “The Z in America”. That is Katayama marketing at its finest. “The 240Z represents the imaginative spirit of Nissan… Our product reflects the rapid advancement of our company… It will be the beginning of a new romance for true car lovers who believe that motoring is more than just a commute”. I am more than confident that the 240Z emblem we are discussing is the result of an insistence on a very brand oriented, market identifiable, “signature.” It wasn’t just a Z or the tired Fairlady. It was a Datsun 240-Z Sport.

The 240Z emblem appears on the export model shown at the Tokyo Auto Show in 1969. Time line help please. Wasn't this about the same time that the North American Testing was done? October 1969?

Panasport and Watanabe are two different manufacturers. Although Panasports look like Watanabes, there are differences. Two pictures attached - the Watanabe A spoke and the Watanabe B spoke.

Oh! Well, kick him out of London why don't ya! Is your first picture from Matsuo san? I have the same image - not cropped, of course. I believe the emblem says Nissan, yes. I think all of our pictures of the silver prototype are of the same prototype taken on a roof top plaza.

Just when I begin to think I don't know what I'm talking about, the fates cast their blessing on my karma. Kats is my angel... So much for the so-called "experts"! I was searching through my files looking for that Fairlady emblem I bought from the guy in London who sold me the Datsun film from the Monte Carlo Rallye (can't find it) and I stumbled across this shot of the long lost Zulu emblem. Now, I know this is drifting from what Kats is talking about but I remember a conversation about the Zulu and here is something you are not going to see any day, let alone some days when you run into a chrome Z emblem! First, let me post some pictures of what we are discussing - the infamous chrome Z. I'll let Kats discuss what he has learned about it. Then, the emblem that appears on the Z 432 (PS30) and I believe Alan gets credit for the photo. Finally, a photo of two prototype S30s - the targa top showing the Zulu emblem that I have been told is pure fictional lore from the "experts". I also want to point out that I have other pictures of the silver car behind the targa top car. Notice the 'D' hubcaps? This "car" is not a car at all. It is a clay. Alan, this should interest you. Notice the Nissan emblem on the quarter panel? I believe this is a round Nissan emblem, is it not? But check out the Datsun hubcaps.