16 minutes ago, HS30-H said:

......(snipped..cjb)......There go those pesky cats again. I was referring to the parts/components photographed on location by independent photographers working for two different Japanese magazines. Seeing as the articles were specifically about the VZ Program process it seems to me a fairly high probability (shoot me if you think it's an assumption too far...) that the parts would end up on VZ Program cars. Clear enough? Hope so.

Speaking of parts - from the beginning getting all the needed parts was a real challenge. E-Mail from June 12, 1997

Exception here (damn it).........Remember/PAY ATTENTION - the second iteration all had my reproduction door jamb and engine compartment ID tags. I've stated this more than once but given the source it's not taken into consideration.

I consider Les a friend, confident and partner- in- crime, we had several long chats about the car(s) he did. I won't repeat any of them here for obvious reasons.

49 minutes ago, deanhuff said:

@Carl Beck thank you for the clarification. In an effort to determine the shop that worked on my car I emailed Les. He told me: "The cars I did were in the 23000 serial number range." It seems my car was done at Pierre's. I'm still thinking my car may likely be the 3rd one in this YouTube Video. If you have a copy of this speadsheet with Pierre's list, can you post it?

Dean I don't think that is your car. The Master list has a revision date of Jan 1998, it shows your car as #18 and having been finished. The date in the video of the red car being driven out for test is late April 1998 and the red Vintage Z has silver mag wheels. I think it may be 40904.

Edited 18 hours ago18 hr by SpeedRoo

Just for fun, I've dug out the JUNE 1997 edition of OLD TIMER Magazine - published in Japan - to scan some photos from the 8 page article in which they covered Vintage Z Program-related activities at Pierre's, Z World and the lobby of NMC USA.

The original photos are many, small and scan up with a noticeable Moire pattern, but people still might like to see them.

'Donor' cars sitting in the parking lot behind Pierre's, waiting to start the process. Original caption says that they counted 13 in this row alone and that Pierre's had a total of 25 base cars and 8 cars for parts, so a total of 33 cars 'in stock' at that time. Any lack of ambience is made up for with Ambulance:

Caption says this is a stripped bodyshell, waiting to be collected by the bodyshop:

Caption says that this lineup of suspension parts have been stress checked and delicate areas taped up prior to collection for blasting and "powder coating":

I'll scan and upload some more tomorrow...

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by HS30-H

Did they really "powder coat" them? I would think paint would have been more accurate?

5 hours ago, Patcon said:

Did they really "powder coat" them? I would think paint would have been more accurate?

The Japanese caption specifically says powder coat, but that could easily have been a miscommunication (or, heaven help us, an assumption...) between reporter and the people at Pierres. I would think it much more likely that they were in fact painted, as per the original factory finish.

A few more:

Caption for the above photo says that the guy working on the door is an Armenian, and that Armenians are historically renowned as being skilled metalworkers ("in their DNA").

A pair of cylinder heads and other engine parts - including an early type oil pan, painted Nissan engine blue, on a bench at Pierre's.

Caption says that "...from now on, all engines and transmissions will be rebuilt at an NMC USA contracted factory in Texas. The proud staff at Pierre'Z were not happy with this decision. It seems they would prefer that everything was left with the car's 'foster parents' (ie in-house) if possible."