Mike B

Hi Carl, No, I wasn't meaning to say that your poster was the same one I had mentioned. I was only trying to clarify who the BRE posters were produced for and how they were distributed. I like your poster too and if you get them reproduced put me down for one. -Mike

I heard back from Gayle Brock about this. She said, "The art was commissioned by Peter and they were BRE posters that were given out to dealers and sponsors. The way I tell if something is a Nissan poster or a BRE poster is that the BRE posters are cool (-: and the Nissan posters are in general rather dull. At least that’s my opinion and then when I ask Peter I find I’ve guessed correctly so far." She said that she does have one of the original 1970 National Championship posters and intends to make a reproduction of it some day, after they sell more of the reproduction 1971 posters they are currently selling. She also said the original 1970 artwork was painted on aluminum, and those are rivets what I was seeing in the poster. -Mike

Mine is a 5/72 production car and it has the red "fasten seat belts" light in the center. -Mike

It looks like the sale did not go through on the car that started this thread. It is listed on eBay again. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-Z-Series-1970-DATSUN-240Z-ALL-ORIGINAL-W-49-089-MILES_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6187QQihZ020QQitemZ300254477293QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW Not sure how accurate this line is "I AM CURRENTLY RESTORING THE SECOND 240Z EVER TITTLED IN THE WORLD ". I know he is referring to HLS30-00017, but that may not be the second 240Z ever titled in the world. -Mike

Chris, this techinical service bulletin was posted by Carl in the same thread I linked to before. It discusses the differences between the longer (WASO) ignition keys and the shorter (VOSS) keys. It indicates that VOSS keys were used starting with HLS30-00001, so no WASO keys were ever used on US 240Zs. If Jim's cars were HLS30's maybe they had the ignitions replaced at some point? HLS30-00032 has its original keys and it has a VOSS ignition key. However, as we have seen sometimes the early cars did wind up with parts they weren't supposed to, so I guess anything is possible. -Mike

Chris, I think you are referring to the WASO and VOSS keys, but I'm pretty sure only the shorter VOSS keys were used in the 240z export cars (at least in North America). I believe WASO keys were used in some home market Fairlady Z's (in addition to the roadsters that you mentioned). Here are pictures of the key with the opposite groove. I documented all of the Nissan Keys used in 240Zs a while ago in this thread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20530&highlight=original+keys&page=3 -Mike

Yes, that is my picture. So this isn't where you got them from? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/7-Vintage-Nissan-Motors-Key-Blanks_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ10076QQihZ008QQitemZ180279742894QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW -Mike

I could be wrong, but VIN #999 (HLS30-00999) seems kind of high to be the first car delivered to Alabama doesn't it? I have HLS30-00331 and it came from Alabama to the northwest about 10 years ago. Its license plate and other stickers indicate it was in Alabama at least since the mid 80's. I don't have any other period documentation for it, so I don't know if it was originally delivered there or not. -Mike

One sold on ebay last year for over $2K. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25920&highlight=BSR+valve -Mike

His former ebay ID was "ur-gellis". http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16183&highlight=datsun-parts -Mike

Are you not aware that a significant number of the Japanese cars and trucks sold in the US are made here by US workers? -Mike

Diseazd owns the car with the dash that was repaired (at the start of this thread). This was his update as of May 2008. -Mike

I guess that was just my interpretation, knowing that the first cars didn't arrive in the US for delivery to the public until early 1970. I was assuming it wasn't actually a sale until the car was delivered and prior to that it was just an order with a deposit. -Mike

Carl, Is that really all it takes, to have a build date prior to 1970? One of the prior owners of HLS30-00331 bought it with the intention to use it in vintage racing because of the 1969 build date. After he got it he found out he couldn't, since no 240Zs were sold in the US prior to 1970, let alone raced here before that. -Mike

Congrats, and welcome to the low vin club. I don't see #110 listed on Carl's list of 1969 cars, so maybe it was previously unaccounted for? Does it have the original rubber mats? I'll PM you my checklist of 1969 unique parts if you are interested. -Mike

Ron, the images and data plate for HLS30-00013 are from the Nissan Parts Catalog. These are the pages from the 11/69 edition. -Mike pg0007.pdf pg0008.pdf

I would go (without the Z) if it weren't at the end of the month. My job requires me to be there for every month-end, and this is also a quarter-end, so the timing definately won't work for me. If it is in San Diego next year I will do my best to go and maybe even drive a Z down. -Mike

How about these. The green one is supposed to be a 370Z g-nose with a possible V-8? http://www.7tune.com/high-performance-z34-fairlady-z370z-to-get-g-nose-possible-v8/ -Mike

I've done the Portland to Vancouver leg already :classic:, but I don't think I would attempt the Northern portion during the winter like they did. -Mike

Ok, I guess I'm just slow to catch on then, as usual Chris. -Mike

Alan posted this picture in an old thread of the test crew wearing cowboy hats at a dealership during the 1969 North America road test. I wondered were this was taken at, so I looked for the partial name shown (rasso) in a Datsun dealer list (although it was from 1971). It shows three Brasso Datsun dealers, two in Vancouver BC, and one in Calgary. I assume this was taken at the Calgary dealership. Anyway, I wasn't sure if Alan and Kats already knew that or not. -Mike

Jon, our comments weren't a slam against you, but merely an acknowledgement that any statement that is not 100% technically correct on this site won't go unchallenged by some. There is a usually a valid point in that challenging, but it seems to get further diluted all the time. Alan, most of us on this site get your message (and even agree with it), but many of us don't agree with the way you chose to convey it. -Mike

I tried to be very careful with my wording and reply to Jon in a matter that won't attract attention of the Z police, but I have not been very successful at that so far . That's too funny Carl! I'm surprised he didn't fly up there and camp out in their yard.:classic: I also wanted to mention that in the same isssue of Zcar mag there was an article by Wick Humble regarding Z restoration projects - which Z to get, etc. In it he says "if I had 10 grand burning a hole in my pocket, I'd invest in the three best original, unrestored, lowest VIN 1970 240Z's I could find. I would drive them and when demand peaks, sell two to entire pay for the complete restoration of the third. Opportunities like this come with less frequency every year!" I thought that was an interesting comment for a lot of reasons, but in reading that issue it was interesting to see how demand for quality Z cars and restoration parts was starting to rise very quickly about that time. -Mike

Jon, on zhome.com it indicates there are actually three earlier HLS30 models still known to exist and which are privately owned (HLS30-00006, 00007, and 00008), but these cars were initially used for photo shots and displays and then delivered to race teams, so they were never intended to be sold to the public. As Alan will point out if I don't, this also just references cars sold in North America and there could possibly be an earlier home market or other export market car that is earlier than this one. -Mike

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