is 11/71 considered a 72?

[BTF/PTM]

This is just a curiosity. When did each fiscal year roll into the next model year? Would an 11/71 car be considered a '72?

[Arne]

Yes. Typically for Datsuns of this vintage the model year seems to start with September production. So 8/71 is a '71, but 9/71 and later would be a '72. But when in doubt about a particular part, is is best to go by the build date alone, not the model year.

[Gary in NJ]

My 10/'70 was a 1971 model year.

[geezer]

According to Nissan HLS30-46001 was the starting serial number for the 1972 Model Year. This does not mean there were not discrepeancies in how the cars were outfitted.

[Kathy & Rick]

According to Nissan HLS30-46001 was the starting serial number for the 1972 Model Year. This does not mean there were not discrepeancies in how the cars were outfitted.

Hi, Ron, Rick here. Long time, eh? Ready for Stanley Cup?

I am sure what you said is accurate, but it is puzzling to me, since #46001

would seem to be a mid-Sept 1971 build. According to my records, the

earliest 9/71 VIN I know of is #42717, and the latest is #47545. There

may be a few lower and a few higher VINs for Sept, as I show a small gap

on both the Aug end and the Oct end of the Sept records. But based on

the sample and assuming a degree of consistency in day-to-day production, #46001 would have been built on or about Sept 21.

We know of the strange things that happened in the first year of production

(1969-70) whereby a car with a VIN 1000 lower than another could show a

build date of a month or two later. But by Sept 71, exactly two years into

Z production, those types of things had smoothed out. Therefore a model

year changeover date in midmonth seems even more strange to me.

There probably is a reasonable answer, but I don't know what it could be.

FWIW...............All Z Best,......................Kathy & Rick

Edited April 10, 2010 by Kathy & Rick

[geezer]

Hey there Rick - This is page 1 of TS71-47 issued Oct 6, 1971. I know from discussions with club members that some of the changes intended for the '72 model year were delayed, because of what appears to have been a need to use the remaining stock from the '71 model.

Edited April 10, 2010 by geezer
corrected sentence structure so it makes sense

[Mike B]

Here are a couple more Nissan documents to support HLS30-46001 as starting VIN for the 1972 model year (series III). It looks like Nissan chose nice even VIN's (000's) to use as starting points for the model years. Although, as Ron noted, there was some parts carry over as some old parts were phased out. Also the cars could be titled differently in different states, by different dealers, etc. Using a starting VIN in the 000's seems much easier than trying to target a specific production date cutoff (first of the month for example).

Rick, what is the closest VIN either side of HLS30-46001 that you have recorded? Zhome shows HLS30-43274 (Escanlon's car) on one side and HLS30-46354 on the other. It seems there may be a gap so that certain VINs prior to 46001 were not actually used in order to provide a proper starting point for the new model year.

-Mike

[katcarl1]

you guys are going to drive me crazy i have a 11/71 hls30-17645 it is a 71.

[Kathy & Rick]

Thanks for the feedback, Ron & Mike, I appreciate it.

One of the main reasons I love this site so much is that we can

learn from one another, and you guys help me a lot.

To answer Mike's question:

Latest 8/71: 43160

Earliest 9/71: 42717 (slight overlap)

Latest 9/71: 47545

Earliest 10/71: 48713 (big gap there for me to fill)

So Mike has a good point which I never thought of, namely:

that some numbers may have been omitted to start a model

year at an easily referenced point.

Still seems odd to me, though.

All Z Best,.....................................Kathy & Rick

[IdahoKidd]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"you guys are going to drive me crazy i have a 11/71 hls30-17645 it is a 71."

I have two 10/71's, one is 49062, one is 59995. Both titled as 72's

Out of curiosity, and it may have been answered somewhere before, where all the z's (240's) made in the same plant/assembly line?

[geezer]

you guys are going to drive me crazy i have a 11/71 hls30-17645 it is a 71.

What that represents to me is a car that was held back in the system before being completed and being issued the conformance tag. It could have been for any number of reasons. We will never know the exact reason and could only guess. At the end of the model year build it is nessesary to clear out the system, complete any stragglers that were held back for repair or kept for reference. Consider that the VIN is etched onto the cowl early in the build process and the conformance/door tag is the last thing attached to the car before going out the door. In my automobile manufacturing experience, some of the last to be completed were always the ones that were kept in the layout room and kept as perfect examples with exacting tolerances as masters. With the new model under way even they had to go. Maybe you got a perfect example.

Just another point. There is never a clean division between model years. Many 1972s were being built in the system before the last of the 1971s was completed. Every year several of the new model were built ahead of the official launch date for the engineers use, advertizing or training purposes. This had to be done to also to allow sufficent lead time for tooling to be finalized. They were just mixed in with the previous year model, but didn't have a conformance tag attached until deemed fit and it was time.

Maybe more than you wanted to know, but I hope it helps.

[geezer]

Thanks for the feedback, Ron & Mike, I appreciate it.

So Mike has a good point which I never thought of, namely:

that some numbers may have been omitted to start a model

year at an easily referenced point.

Still seems odd to me, though.

All Z Best,.....................................Kathy & Rick

Thank you also Rick. We all take something away from these discussions which are usually spawned from a simple question.

I believe Mike is correct in his assumption of starting VINs. It is reasonable and downright logical, if you consider what I have also said. There were likely a dozen or so 1972 pilot cars built as much as 3-4 months before the official build was slated to begin. They had to be assigned VINs that were representative of 1972 models, therefore an estimation of how many 1971s would be built before launch of the 1972s had to be made. A margin of safety included and a rounding of the number brings them safely to 46001. Remember, the VIN was engraved right into the cowl, so a simple tag swap couldn't be done. Make sense? Does this theory fill in the blanks?

Edited April 10, 2010 by geezer