26th-Z

Just sent you a PM

The Boston Globe got that a little wrong, didn't they? "And you won't find them on the streets of Japan..."? "Only two of the new Datsun 240Zs...are to be found in the United States at the time". Wrong!!!

The last thing I want to do is start and argument with you, Mike. I think the point you are missing is that what they ordered from you has nothing to do with their intentions. Here's an AutoWeek article that says 200. The NewsdayZ article says open ended - 150 or more. I could search for more from my digital files. I may have something in all the printed material I have. Nissan USA had big intentions and the Vintage Z program was a big splash in the automotive press. How it actually turned out, is quite the different story.

I registered, but I'm not going. If someone sees Datsun printed masks, get me a couple! Even better, a Datsun logo face mask signed by John Morton. I would pay for that.

The 200 unit target is pretty well documented from a number of different sources, Mike. When you say with, I'm sure you meant conviction, that they ordered 55 sets of everything, do you mean 'everything you had, everything Nissan USA had, what? I recall talking with Pierre as he reminisced about the program and his concern about replacement part availability. It has always been my opinion that the traditional concept of restoration does not necessarily apply to the Vintage Z program. The cars were 'refitted" with little attention to any particular original build. According to what I learned on the BaT conversation, less than half the cars have original engines? I did learn something interesting about the three cars I have not found. Evanow lists all the serial numbers. Carl identified one that wasn't a VZ. All of them were accounted for over a few years except three. Two of the cars on Evanow's list are noted as "private sale". Now I find out that they were incomplete. One of them wasn't even painted. To me, that alters the 37 car count. Sure we could quibble over matching engines or correct builds, but I wonder if it shouldn't be more like 35.

Would someone please link me to the thread involving that group buy? "Bpilate" and Carl Beck led the project through Courtesy Nissan. I bought two sets from Courtesy back then and they have been sitting on a shelf in the original boxes since.

This is great! I just bought one that will need to be restored. Supposed to arrive Monday.

Patcon, I used a mechanical preparation of the slab and not an acid etch. The installers sanded the slab. I'm not a believer of acid etching the slab. They also sanded the base coat. That was a lot of labor cost going in.

Yes, it is slippery - in bare feet. Just like the terrazzo floors I have in the house. But the floor doesn't really get wet and with shoes on, it isn't a problem.

It was $2,250 for 600 square feet. https://www.garageexperts.com/garage-epoxy-flooring Their material spec and installation was in line with what I would spec for a commercial quality installation. Normally, in my work, I would spec something like a Sherwin Williams product (institutional and manufacturing type of applications) but this material spec had a higher percentage of solids. I didn't do any flakes, just a solid color. I have noticed that it does scratch from sand that I track in, but I clean it with Swiffer and it shines right up. A lot like a polished terrazzo finish. I let it cure for 72 hours before I started moving stuff in.

I wanted overhead doors with glass panels like the old filling stations used to have but they were 7 grand apiece so I opted for insulated doors which were only $300 more than non-insulated. These doors are double skinned and are rated for 200 mph wind loading. Stout things! Then the epoxy guys took three days to put down the floor in three coats. Sand / prep, primer coat, sand smooth, base coat, sand smooth, and top coat. Cottonwood beige. The walls and ceiling were primed and painted Willow Springs white. The lights are LED units 3000k delivering 5000 lumens. The windows are aluminum projecting but much to my dismay, they only project out 3" which doesn't do much for cross ventilation. I screwed up and located the ceiling fan outlets where they conflict with the overhead door hangers. In this photo, I have my oak drafting table placed up against the back wall. The holes in the wall near the floor are flood vents which go in after the stucco. I have to get everything off my shelving and work bench before I can move it all in and get organised. Look at that reflection off the floor!

The inside is finished. Exterior stucco work starts today. We moved 27th in last Friday and 26th's engine, which has been at a friend's shop, moved in Saturday. I'm slowly moving parts from the rental shop. I had the floor epoxied which turned out better than I ever expected. The overhead doors are really nice.

My seats held up!

Yea, sorry to be the bearer. From what I saw on Facebook, he just celebrated his birthday. I recall sitting in a bar with him at a ZCON in Long Beach. I enjoyed a certain sort of connection with him, designer to designer, when he took out a pen and started sketching. I still have some some of his sketches.

I am saddened to learn that Yoshihiko Matsuo passed away, aged 86, on July 11.

Technical Information: USA AND CANADA parts reference; revised December 1973 80900-E4600 RH and 80901-E4600 LH up to 06/72. Nothing said about the door handle and the parts diagram shows the RH (passenger) door. Nissan Fairlady Z Parts Catalog 1972 from 1969 80900-E4100 / E4101 (RH) and 80901-E4100 / E4101 (LH). Distinguishing between LH and RH drive and the parts diagram shows the driver's door without the handle. Both of my cars did not have the handle on the driver's door. My opinion of why the driver's door didn't get a handle is because it protrudes into the "sphere of control and accessibility" for the driver. We can't get proper driver's door (LH) any more because they are NLA and there are plenty of Japanese domestic passenger door finishers available.

BaT has no fault, here. They have no responsibility to preside over the petty banter from the peanut gallery either. They DO monitor, of course, as they select notable comments that enhance their business model. They will pull a posting if people complain...and think nothing of it! I have never had trouble with posting a comment however I try to adhere to automobile etiquette by not bad-mouthing someone's car or name-calling. It was all I could do to keep from commenting about the "originality" of the green car that sold for $300k. On the other hand, I saw a fellow collector bid up the last Vintage Z auction with the idea that he wanted to see a higher selling price in line with the value of his collection. He would buy it if it was going to sell that low. If Larry Steppford did what we are discussing, that's leaning in the fraudulent direction, definitely.

I just saw "The Guild"s Facebook page saying that the Franklin Mint Car sold again.

No, they don't leak oil. If yours is leaking oil, it needs to be replaced.

I would argue, in reference to the symbolism of the hood ornament, that "datto" is a prefix. What we really should say about the hood ornament and the DAT / hare correlation includes the prevailing philosophy of design (in Japan) at the time. The image of a leaping hare expresses datto - or DAT; lightning speed. DAT / Datsun really means "lightning speed". This is classic Japanese Art Deco. The expression is obvious and I can see with a stretch how the DAT / hare connection could be made, by someone who doesn't understand art, perhaps an American (sarcasm intended). The ornamental animal is posed in a way to express motion, or in this case, lightning speed, quick response, and as fast as... It is expressed from a hare which conjures the thought of quick response or lightning speed because those are the outstanding qualities of a hare. It is not a literal translation to "rabbit"!

What a lovely car! It needs a new interior, gaskets, and I think that original paint job could be preserved. Might be tough to match the paint in spots, but in all honesty, it needs a whole paint job. Depends on what you want from the car. Fix the seats and it looks like it would be a nice driver / conversation piece.

"following that with its Los Angeles debut two days later with the same car." Oh gosh, we have been down this road so many times...the Los Angeles debut was the next morning with a different car. This just grabs my craw. I can do the research from the comfort of my rocking chair. Why can't the "experts"?

I never collected owner's names and locations like Carl did. I just collected pictures. Carl's list on Zhome probably has the best answer to where they all reside. I did look through my collection of cars the other day and noted that three cars were unaccounted for. No pictures, no information on three recorded cars. I wonder if they were crashed? I missed most of the bantering, however I did post my objection to the VR name that everyone started using to describe the Vintage Z / Z Store / Dream Garage program from Nissan USA. To make that clear again; Vintage Zs were the result of a Nissan USA ad campaign and independent of any "factory" involvement. The proper (educated) description is Vintage Z, or VZ for short.

To the best of my knowledge, it sold with the stock wheels and hubcaps. $105k represents an upward tick from a VZ that sold 6 months ago for $101k. Wow. To think that ten years ago, these cars were in the $20k - $25k range. There was a mention in the BAT discussion about a certain collector who has a number of these VZs. They bantered around six cars, eight cars, or perhaps eleven cars in the collection. I remember when that shuffle from one collector to another happened, about ten years ago.