I asked the seller what made him think it was a black pearl.

His reply was that he never claimed it was, leading me to believe his intention was to cause the confusion we have in this thread and get some good bids based on the chance that the car could be what it absolutely is not-if it were, the seller would have capitalized BLACK PEARL and tagged the blurb everywhere.

It is, at best, one of the undocumented number of 280Zs that came in Black pearl metalic paint with out being dressed by Nissan as a black pearl.

Will

Still, a pretty car....

Please understand, it's not my intention to incite an argument with you, or anyone for that matter.

Here is a quote from zhome.com:

We know what at least one Black Pearl Edition with the "SPORTS APPEARANCE PACKAGE" was sent to each Authorized Datsun Dealer in 1978, with the larger volume Dealers receiving more than one. Thus at least 850 Black Pearl Editions with the SAP were produced and most likely something closer to 1200 or 1500 of them. We have no official production figures for the number of cars which received only the Black Pearl Metallic Paint (but not, the Sports Appearance Package.).

This statement can be argued against, or proved correct by an original non SAP Black Pearl owner.

It was my understanding that the #638 paint code made the Pearls what they are. I remember reading that the SAP was applied at the dealer. I could be wrong, but does it really matter?

Apparently, I know less about the BPE than you claim to, but my knowledge is based on the ownership of one for the past 13 years. I am quite familiar with my car and its options.

Oh no, don't take it that way. I wasn't trying to argue with you. What you say could well be true but I've just never seen it. I spent a lot of time in and around the dealerships back in those days. That, by no means, makes me an expert. On another note, here's an interesting response from the seller of the car that started this thread to some questions that I asked him:

Thanks for the info but if you look at my add again you will not find anywhere in it that I called it a Black Pearl. thanks though.

Looks like the seller had a statement prepaired-I got the same thing...

Will

Yeah, and I decided to just leave it at that. He would not have liked my answer!:devious:

Whew. Okay, now we are on the same page, I think that is a shame that Nissan did not give their rare edition Z's distinctive serial#'s. Maybe there wasn't the forethought that these cars would be held in such high praise nearly 40 years after the first 240Z's appeared.

Imagine what a true, documented BPE non SAP would be worth. If they did exist the production numbers would have to be pretty minimal.

It's obvious that these Z's are worth considerably more in original shape; restored ones worth less, and imitations relatively worthless- comparatively speaking of course. If the winning bidder pays less than $3000 and it's a Pearl, that's a good deal. If it's not a Pearl, the high bidder paid market price for a (seemingly) good condition Z.

I agree with you completely on this: There is no way to distinguish a clone from the real thing.

Seems they are not as rare as we may think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978-datsun-280z-Black-Pearl-Limited-SAP-collectable_W0QQitemZ320136551848QQihZ011QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Note the chrome mirrors, and once again, the painted black tail light trim

Seems they are not as rare as we may think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978-datsun-280z-Black-Pearl-Limited-SAP-collectable_W0QQitemZ320136551848QQihZ011QQcategoryZ6187QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Note the chrome mirrors, and once again, the painted black tail light trim

Also note what appear to be 240Z seats.

I read on his site that not all BPE Z's had the SAP.

THEN

I don't get that statement wherever it comes from.

For one it comes from me, because I worked for Datsun in 75. Secondly see post #2 again. The SAP was "available" as an extra cost option on the Black Pearl Edition, not standard.

Datsun never built a plain black S30.

True - at least for North America.

And that's what you'd have without the SAP. Again, see post #2.

Not True - - Again, see post #2 - That Dealer Sheet was to announce the availability of the SAP - not the Black Pearl Edition 280Z. The SAP was "AVAILABLE" on the 2 seater coupe with Black Pearl Metallic Paint. That is why they listed the Package Content for the SAP, which was only available from the factory on the Black Pearl Edition 280Z.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Imagine what a true, documented BPE non SAP would be worth. If they did exist the production numbers would have to be pretty minimal.

"if they exist"... See window stickers below. One with the SAP at $199 and one without the SAP. No way to tell if the SAP was more popular than the non-SAP equipped cars. It's possible the people that wanted the SAP equipped cars simply kept them in better shape, and today more of them are in existence. Who knows?

I agree with you completely on this: There is no way to distinguish a clone from the real thing.

As with all Classic, Collectible and Special Interest cars - Documentation, documentation, documentation. That is the best way to tell the real thing from a clone. That is also why a full documented example will sell for more money and sell faster.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Okay, I'm convinced! I just said that I'd never seen one (a BPE w/o SAP) and, like I said, I spent a lot of time around the Datsun dealerships back then and even worked at one (for a minute-as the saying goes) if you call washing/detaining cars working. Basically, I was such a pest to them, they gave me a job.