HS30-H Posted April 21, 2004 Share #25 Posted April 21, 2004 I don't know if its of any interest, but the UK market cars were subject to UK 'Type Approval' laws that - as far as I understand - dictated that the safety belts on the early Z were changed to a UK-compliant type when the cars were sold new. The officially-franchised importer ( Datsun UK LTD ) gave the job to a well-known UK safety belt manufacturer called BRITAX. BRITAX made a "Datsun" branded safety belt system which complied with the UK's then-current British Standard 3254 safety belt laws. I should imagine that the cars were shipped from Japan without belts, and that Datsun UK LTD had their dealers fit the UK-compliant belts before sale. As far as I know, at that time the UK was one of the first countries in the world to legislate on inertia-reel safety belts for new cars. Other markets were probably not far behind, though. Here's a pic of a DATSUN / BRITAX belt: Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/11204-original-seatbelts-for-1970/?page=3#findComment-78113 Share on other sites More sharing options...
civ104 Posted April 21, 2004 Share #26 Posted April 21, 2004 Originally posted by HS30-H I don't know if its of any interest, but the UK market cars were subject to UK 'Type Approval' laws that - as far as I understand - dictated that the safety belts on the early Z were changed to a UK-compliant type when the cars were sold new.The officially-franchised importer ( Datsun UK LTD ) gave the job to a well-known UK safety belt manufacturer called BRITAX.BRITAX made a "Datsun" branded safety belt system which complied with the UK's then-current British Standard 3254 safety belt laws. I should imagine that the cars were shipped from Japan without belts, and that Datsun UK LTD had their dealers fit the UK-compliant belts before sale. As far as I know, at that time the UK was one of the first countries in the world to legislate on inertia-reel safety belts for new cars. Other markets were probably not far behind, though.Here's a pic of a DATSUN / BRITAX belt: Were the BRITAX belts three point; lap/shoulder arrangemnets, or simply the lap belt? Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/11204-original-seatbelts-for-1970/?page=3#findComment-78115 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted April 21, 2004 Share #27 Posted April 21, 2004 The type in my picture were three-point inertia-reel type. Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/11204-original-seatbelts-for-1970/?page=3#findComment-78126 Share on other sites More sharing options...
civ104 Posted April 21, 2004 Share #28 Posted April 21, 2004 I'd love to find a set of them. This is the third 70 or 71 Z that I've owned and all of them had the totally mechanical type we had the first couple of years here in the states. Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/11204-original-seatbelts-for-1970/?page=3#findComment-78132 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS30-H Posted April 21, 2004 Share #29 Posted April 21, 2004 Unfortunately, most of the sets that I have seen over here have been in pretty bad condition. I also would not recommend trusting your personal safety to a pair of this type of belts - with an old and slightly suspect inertia-reel mechanism. Even an old set of static belts must surely be better insurance than these? Link to comment https://www.classiczcars.com/topic/11204-original-seatbelts-for-1970/?page=3#findComment-78140 Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorman7
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