Mike B

I was looking through some old Zcar magazines this weekend and noticed classified ads for two prominent Zcars, both with an asking price of $15,000. The first was VIN #HLS30-00016 (#16 to those of us in the US and believed to be the first Z car sold to the public in North America) from the Nov/Dec 1994 issue of Zcar magazine (first issue). The second was Wick Humble's car that he restored in the well known book "How to Restore Your Datsun Z car" from the Fall 1996 issue. The ads are shown below with the numbers blurred out. So, which would you rather have? I know who has #16, and I assume that he bought it through this ad, but I wonder who has Wick Humble's car and what condition it is in today. Is it a Gold Medalion winner, or has it ever even been shown at any national conventions? -Mike

Nice work Will! It looks like Peter had already signed it first. That is his signature in the lower right hand corner. Its interesting, it looks like it is almost a poster of a poster. There appears to be an inner edge that looks like it has thumb tacks or something every six inches or so, but then some of the colored stripes (like the black one with the sponsors names) extends beyond this inner boarder. I want one! They were supposed to sign it AFTER we get BRE to make reproductions for us! -Mike

Hi Chris, thanks for posting those. I thought the colors would be pretty vivid, given the artist's others works I have seen. I think the two posters (the reproduction they are currently selling and the one I posted a picture of) were not sold through their Interpart catalogs, but were more intended as advertisements for their sponsors and BRE. I think the sponsors probably paid for the posters and gave them away in some fashion. I'll see if I can confirm that with the Brocks. The art work on the posters and the catalogs you posted were all done by George Bartell. You can see his signature on the first page of your catalog. Peter said they were good friends and both went to the Art Center in LA at the same time and then both worked at Shelby together. -Mike

I'm sure they've never seen so many decent Z parts cars in one place, so this must be like hitting the motherload to them. -Mike

I think it was from this ebay ad in this thread. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29555 Unfortunately we didn't attach any pictures. Kurt Walters should be able to confirm that since he got a free car in return for trailering another one from Phoenix. -Mike

Looks great Filipe! -Mike

Actually, I already sent it to her this morning. -Mike

I came across this old picture of Mr. K's Z being shown at the 1994 National Z convention in San Diego. I was surprised that the display sign indicates this is the "first automatic transmission Z in the US (Jan '72)". I wonder what all the 1970 and 1971 Z owners with automatic transmissions at the show thought when they saw this? -Mike

I found a picture of another old BRE poster that would be cool to have reproduced. It looks like it is by the same artist, but may have been done earlier, since it only mentions the 1970 National Championship, not the 1970-71 that the other poster does. Now we just need to find someone that actually has one.... -Mike

I came across this MotorTrend article about Adam Carolla and his cars. http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0808_adam_carolla_celebrity_drive/index.html "Carolla's 13-car collection is housed in a warehouse, which includes a heavy dose of his affinity for classic Italian sports cars. There are three he saw on eBay -- a 1973 Datsun 510, a 1965 Lamborghini 350 GT (of 120 built), and his latest purchase, a Bob Sharp 1972 Datsun 610 No. 33. The others are a 1972 Porsche; a blue 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 (of 247 built); a red 1967 Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2; a 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4; a 1999 Jaguar XJR; a 1989 BMW M3; a 2001 BMW M3; a 2004 Ferrari Stradale, which he wants to sell; a 2004 Aston Martin DB9; a 1984 Nissan 300ZX, which was Paul Newman's old race car." Attached is a picture of the BSR 610 in Carolla's warehouse from the article. When I bought my early 240z (HLS30-00032) a couple of months ago, the seller told me that someone from LA had a person to fly up to Spokane to inspect the car. Apparently the person that wanted to buy it was a well known TV or film personality. I wonder if it was Carolla... -Mike

I don't think I'll go to the Meeting of the Minds this year, but I might go to the Nissan show in Vancouver BC again. I think it is Sept 14th this year. -Mike

Sounds like a guaranteed way to get a ticket to me Dave. -Mike

Chris, unless they used the same brochure in other countries, the first picture you posted is a Canadian brochure. -Mike

Yes, let's not forget that the "Export" 240z also had Datsun hood and front fender emblems that were not solid cast, so following the logic of this thread, they were not a last minute change. Then why was the rear hatch Datsun script initially solid cast? -Mike

Alan, the only reason I posted the picture of the Fairlady emblem is because Chris said he was looking for it earlier in the thread and I came across it yesterday while searching for a picture of the solid cast emblem. Yes, we are all VERY clear that you can confirm without a doubt that the guy that Chris got the emblem from is NOT from London. The only reason I repeated that is because it is how Chris identified the picture he was looking for. -Mike

I think the "proof" will be different depending on what you are trying to verify. To support a mileage claim I think the best proof would be documentation showing mileage at various service intervals over the life of the car. Low mileage cars are generally in very good and original condition, unless they have not been cared for, so the condition of the car should also support a low mileage claim. For example, I bought my 1972 with 37,000 miles from the guardian of the original owner. Unfortunately it didn't come with any service records other than the first couple of service entries in the owner’s manual. However, its condition and originality (all the original hoses, spark plug wires, interior wear, etc.) support it being a low mileage car, and the owners manual lists the name of the original owner and his address, so I am sure I am the second owner. For a low VIN car, in addition to the data plates on North American cars (Dash, door, engine, engine block, firewall), there are other indications of production date. The engine block number should fall into a general range of other cars produced around the same time (available on Zhome.com) and there are lots of unique 1969 production features and date codes that are readily visible. Even though most 1969 cars don’t have all of the original items, they should at least have some, even for cars that were delayed in production and have a production date (shipped date) on the door later than would be expected. For Scarabs, I think it would be difficult to prove originality if you don’t have some paperwork to support it, since many of the parts could be purchased separately or could have come off a parts car. The idea that Scarab didn’t track their production numbers closely and two cars could have wound up with the same ID # doesn’t sound plausible to me without some documentation from the company that this happened. It doesn’t matter if it was four months or four years between production of consecutive units, I am sure that would have been tracked closely. I think discrepancies in the look of the data plates to other Scarabs would also be an indication that one of them may not be as advertised. -Mike

Chris, is this the Fairlady emblem picture you were looking for? I found it posted by you in an old thread and you indicated it was from the guy in London that you got the film from. -Mike

I found a picture of the back of a solid cast early 240z quarter panel emblem in an old thread. I think this is Kats' picture. So, back to my original question. We have seen solid cast Datsun hatch emblems and solid cast 240z quarter panel emblems, but does anyone have a solid cast 240z hatch emblem with the chrome Z??? -Mike

No, by solid cast I mean the back side of the emblem is completely solid, not hollow. I would need to see a picture of the back of your emblem to tell if it is solid cast or not. I think there are pictures of 26thZ's solid 240z quarter panel emblem in another thread somewhere, but I couldn't find it right away. I'm posting pictures of a solid cast Datsun rear deck emblem. I have some solid cast quarter panel emblems at home, so I can post a picture tonight if need be. -Mike

I plan to keep it for now. Hopefully Will can get some new repros made. It sounds like he has a couple NOS ones to use as a master, but if needed I would offer mine up for that. -Mike

Here are some pictures of a NOS Nissan Panel. -Mike

Alan, thanks for the correction. I should have said North American models, since my understanding is that all 1969/early 1970 production 240z export models went to the US and Canada. If that is not correct, what other countries received them? My intent was just to clarify that the chrome Zs were on both the quarter emblems AND the 240z hatch emblem, since you omitted that in your post and Mr Camouflage thought we were ONLY discussing the chrome 240Z emblem on the hatch. -Mike

Yes, Ollie is the owner of Zspecialties, though I have never actually met him. Did you confirm with Banzai that they no longer carry them? There was mention of that in another thread a few months ago, but I never confirmed it myself. I have a NOS one of these at home. I can post a picture for comparison to see how different the Zspecialties ones are if anyone is interested. -Mike

We are discussing the emblems on the early US 240Z model. The two quarter emblems and the hatch 240Z emblem all had chrome Z's (in place of the later white painted Z's). The earliest quarter emblems and the Datsun script emblem on the hatch were also solid cast instead of the later hollow cast versions. I have not seen a solid cast 240Z hatch emblem, so I am not sure if any of those were ever made. -Mike

You're right Ron. I guess I didn't look closely enough before and just assumed the open hood meant it was being serviced. :stupid: -Mike