26th-Z

Yes, you need the foam. I would go for a couple of sets of clips.

page 24. And you would enjoy this photo from the same thread along with a couple of my pictures. See the seal on the back of my panel? That was a foam seal originally. It decomposes. That panel has to be sealed to the hatch for the vents to work.

Nice heel into the front fender of the TVR. Looks like its too cold for those pansy-assed boys she has posing with her. I'll bet she owns the car.

Cool. I have the August 1970 road test issue.

"...the Datsun rep told us that they had to borrow the show car from Datsun USA" answers one of my big questions. Good find!

Reminds me of Miss Fair Lady. But what's with the title of this thread? How did we all get duped? And duped of what? Or is this an "alternate history" thread?

You see, Philip; Bob Sharp DIDN'T get the car after the New York show. That information just doesn't jive! John Morton is campaigning a Datsun roadster (in C Production as a "240Z") because he didn't have a 240Z at the time and Bob did. That's what this is all about. You have data and pictures from the Cumberland race. Why don't you submit the photos to the archive? That archive is based on user contributions. They just don't have any information about the Cumberland race. The point is that it wasn't the first outing with the car.

These are very nice pictures! Your internet surfing moves are the ballet of a free-rider. However As I said in the "Crusher" thread, there is a record of Sharp finishing second in the CP race at Summit Point, West Virginia on April 12,1970. And I provided the link to the website (which is a fascinating website collection of historic racing photos). Sharp's entries in that archive list SCCA National races. I wonder if Cumberland was a Regional? In these pictures, the car has no front spook - interesting. I'm surprised that there is no SCCA decal. Back then, there wasn't much advertising on cars. Everyone in the SCCA had pretty plain cars. The cars you are looking at from Sharp and Group 44 were cutting edge SCCA racers in car preparation and graphics. What a great photo of the 240Z squat with the inside front wheel up in the air! Lovely suspension mods, Bob. Now compare Sharp's record in his 240Z to John Morton's http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/John-Morton-USA.html Morton / BRE was racing a Datsun 2000 in C Production registered as a 240Z on April 26, 1970 at VIR. It doesn't appear as though Morton / BRE campaigned their 240Z until September when Morton won in Ontario on the 20th and Phoenix on the 27th. What I get from this is the well worn rag about how Bob Sharp got the "crushed" show car quite early and well before Peter Brock got his. Yea, yea.

Nice photo find - May 17, 1970. Bob Sharp raced his 240Z at the SCCA National, Summit Point, West Virginia to 2nd place on April 12, 1970. He also ran an SCCA National at Bryar Motorsports, New Hampshire, June 9, 1970. He dnf'd with a blown engine. http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Bob-Sharp-USA.html Rude reply to the "from the horses mouth" post to follow.

Update for all my fellow Vintage Z enthusiasts. I had to have copies printed for all the inquiries (8 so far) and will have them posted in the morning. Thanks to everyone for the great response. Robert S, I got you covered. Chris

This subject is rife with very disjointed "facts" "to say the least. It always has been with a number of people trying to sort it all out. It's just not easy! For instance, take this quote from Zhome.com; " Bob Speakman wrote: Our car started life in the L.A. auto show, was the cover car of a magazine (Jan. 70 Road & Track..ed), then it was sent to the 69 runoff's as a show car. Then on to NYC for the show there. We had d*** Roberts (of Nissan U.S. - Competition Dept...ed) send the car to my house in Lutherville, MD in the fall of 70. " Red car at the New York Show or green car? I still remain astounded by the Boston photo which I only found recently. MikeB has an extensive collection of material as does Dan Banks and we can form a picture of what happened way back when but as I have found many times in this Z history area, as soon as you establish something as fact, up pops the exception. Keep digging. Let's see what you come up with.

Well, that would mean that Her Majesty the 26th was imported, sold and delivered in Florida before Bob Sharp got his car. Somethings not adding up and I think you will find (as we did) that there was no Toronto show that year and what Bob Sharp is saying is not accurate. You'll have to find a Toronto show after April 1970 AND that a 240Z was on display. Otherwise you're grasping at straws. Me doth thinketh the horse cometh from the mouth of Mr. Ed!

Carl, Yes, remember the valve stem cap discussion? That seems like ages ago. I have always contended that the Vintage Zs shouldn't be judged / compared to the ZCCA stock class rules. They are unique cars on their own IMO. There are a couple of things going with this particular car that should be considered. Primarily the asking price is full blown retail / profit from what appears to be a high-end dealer. I would rather go along with your experience with watching the "average" selling market and determining relative value. Generally I agree with your assessment.

This is the listing for the car. http://hymanltd.com/vehicles/5796-1971-datsun-240z-coupe/ Many more of you indicated that you want a copy than I have PMs. My Paypal address is: cwenzel@earthlink.net and I want you to send me $15 and I'll mail these out this week.

I love your sarcasm! Where the hell have YOU been? Alan and I have been talking about all sorts of things - not a word from you! Please! Jump in on this conversation and help set the record. Here we were. Searching and searching for the Toronto show... Toronto The National Motor Show ended in 1967 and, for a while, Toronto had no auto show at all. It was up to TADA, the Toronto Automobile Dealers Association, to set the stage for a comeback in 1974. The new venue was the International Centre in Mississauga, which hosted the show until 1985. (Wheels.ca; News Features / Industry News, Auto Show History; From Horses to Hitler, Jil McIntosh, Nov. 12, 2012) The final year of the official Motor Show held at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) was 1967, although it would later be the site of special automotive attractions held elsewhere on the grounds. An official auto show did not go unnoticed. The Toronto Automobile Dealers Association decided to organize a new annual event. First known as the Toronto International Auto Show, the inaugural eventI ...and up pops this jokester with a picture from Montreal! duhh! Kinda like finding the Boston picture. I broke down and paid The Boston Globe to search their archives some time ago to find a couple of interesting things. So, if Bob Link doesn't say anything about Montreal, what does that mean? Just how many cars did Datsun have in North America at the time? Evidently, far more than has been thought. Did you see the pictures of the red car at Daytona? From an old Nissan video on YouTube! How the hell was that missed?!?!! Jump in on this - what do you think?

Thanks for all the private messages! I'll get this set up.

I have this picture from the seller. It is not a Vintage Z. The VIN is HLS30-22547. It is a Les Cannaday / Classic Datsun restoration, however.

Thanks I'm flattered. I have a bunch of messages so here's the deal. The compendium is a little over 30 pages long, printed on nice paper stock with color photographs and images. It includes a listing and picture of 27 of the (arguably) 38 cars restored during the program. There is a long bibliography which notes all my references taken from written articles, oral interviews and a VHS video that Pierre gave me. It is bound with a spiral binder and clear cover. It costs me a little over $15 to print one. Carl Beck just published a book and used Lulu to market the volume. I wonder if I should do the same. The compendium covers what I believe to be the full extent of the story which encompasses the Dream Garage advertisement campaign, management of the restorations, and what (initially) happened to the cars. I could work out a Paypal arrangement if you really want a copy. I have three of them printed right now. Chris

I wrote a research paper on the subject which is the most complete single reference on the subject. Send me a PM with your address. What is the VIN? Pictures!! 70K eh? I can see that. Post pictures and let's have a look. Oh, I did all the research and wrote the document because of an argument, here, many years ago. The proper term for the cars is "Vintage Z" and the factory, meaning Nissan USA or Nissan Ltd. did not restore the cars. They were restored by four different private California shops under the direction of Pete Evanow, Nissan USA. Chris

The New England International Auto Show in Boston was held at the War Memorial Auditorium October 25 - November 1, 1969. From then, Datsun 240Zs were displayed: Los Angeles - October 31 - November 9, 1969 San Francisco - November 4 - 9, 1969 Detroit - November 15 - 23, 1969 This according to Robert O. Link; National Sales Manager. Sales Bulletin NS-69-008 Of course, that's U.S.A. Your Montreal find raises many, many questions about Canadian sales and distribution information that I do not have. Was it the same car as Boston? -Or- Is that model Pamela Anne Eldred and is she responsible for the famous race car? Wouldn't that be outrageous?! She was at the Boston show along with Gunilla Knutson and Sally Scheffield.

This photo is from the New York International Auto Show in April, 1970. The picture is from the article which included the famous conversation between Albrect von Goertz and Bob Sharp. If the story of the crushed roof is true, the timeline would mean that this is a different car from the Boston show or the Montreal show. If Bob Sharp received his car in February 1970 then this is not HLS30-00006. Take a look at the trellis over the display. That's the award winning display design used by Datsun on the 1970 car show circuit.

Boston 1969

Usually there is a three month lead time on magazine publications so the car shown in the January issue of Road & Track was in all probability a Kaku U silver car (with badges). The car photographed in Competition Press & Autoweek, November 15, 1969 was definitely a Kaku U silver car. Interestingly, the road test comparison with the MGB and Opel GT in "Sports Car Graphic", March 1970, was darker than a silver car. Perhaps the same blue car that appeared in San Francisco. As I said, all of this is difficult because the photos are mostly B&W. Photographs of the San Francisco car appear in the Japanese publication "AutoSport", February 1970. You will also want to find "Car Life" from February 1970. Also, "Christian Science Monitor", November 19, 1969; "Sunrise in Sales". All of these "early cars", published within the first four months of 1970, were photographed with the hand throttle. I did find "Drive the Ragged Edge" on Youtube. The quality is very poor; made from film that has seriously deteriorated, but I managed to capture and enhance these shots. I think the whitewall tires you mentioned are actually reflections off the tires. I think the 'Ds' are missing on the hubcaps which would be normal for these cars. So in the fall of 1969 there were several cars in North America. Two silver Kaku U cars, a blue show car, a green show car, and a red show car. The red car explains many pictures I have.

Yes, it would make sense that a Kaku U car would be in San Francisco except both Kaku U cars were silver. From the Arizona Republic, October 26, 1969; "Katayama said the new car, the Datsun 240Z, had been years in preparation but had been one of the best kept secrets in the industry. Despite the rosy sale predictions, there are only three 240Zs in the country at the present time. They won't be imported in any volume until early 1970". Your last picture from post 10 above is the Road & Track road test car from the April, 1970 issue. It has a corporate license tag yet aftermarket wheels. I believe the car is a January import example. Somewhere, somewhere I wrote down who all those guys are. Bob Link, Mr. K, Lee Wylie, Marvin Acklin...they are the sales managers throughout the United States.

Blue, I'm delighted to see that you have taken an interest in this topic. Thanks for the Montreal Show advertisements. I have not seen those. I had discovered the discrepancy in dates that you mentioned in your third post and had turned another direction, discounting the accuracy of the Zhome article after discovering a photo of a model sitting on a green car at the Boston Auto Show in October 1969; the car I believe to be the same car introduced at the Pierre Hotel. Peter Brock has been "quoted" as saying that he did not receive his race car until February, well after Bob Sharp had his HLS30-00006. That would infer that a collapsed roof at the Montreal show late in January would not meet the timeline. Most of the photos from that period are B&W which makes things difficult, however the Boston photo is color. It's just too obvious. Another piece of this puzzle is to find an overall photo of the car show setting. Notice the difference in the display staging between the various shows. As much as I appreciate your photo of the Peugeot and Renault exhibits, rules are rules and you gotta show a picture of the Datsun exhibit with the Z-car. Datsun won an award for the "Most Beautiful Exhibit" at the Los Angeles show in 1970. That exhibit design is very different from the 1969 traveling exhibit design. See what you can find from the San Francisco Imported Car Show in November 1969. There's a difficult car to explain! I have been meaning to ask you where you found the picture of the red Z at Daytona? The image quality really sucks.