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HLS30-00006 at the Crusher?


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There is a report from Kats of a 4th car arriving or being noticed at NMC LA on Dec 20, 1969 by the Kaku U team. It is not clear whether it is for further testing or if it is for demonstrations.

The photo above with Mr K was in a paper published on Feb 6th so the photo pre-dates Feb. 6th.

I think the Road & Track road test car from the April, 1970 issue was photographed much earlier as it still has the hand throttle.  It would not have been wise to formally delete this feature in January then hand a car over for test driving with it non-deleted for liability and bad press reasons.

What colour was the car at the San Francisco Import Auto Show? The blurb I found states an automatic 240z will be in San Francisco but it could be a typo/error.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by 240260280
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Usually there is a three month lead time on magazine publications so the car shown in the January issue of Road & Track was in all probability a Kaku U silver car (with badges).  The car photographed in Competition Press & Autoweek, November 15, 1969 was definitely a Kaku U silver car.  Interestingly, the road test comparison with the MGB and Opel GT in "Sports Car Graphic", March 1970, was darker than a silver car.  Perhaps the same blue car that appeared in San Francisco.  As I said, all of this is difficult because the photos are mostly B&W.  Photographs of the San Francisco car appear in the Japanese publication "AutoSport", February 1970.  You will also want to find "Car Life" from February 1970.  Also, "Christian Science Monitor", November 19, 1969; "Sunrise in Sales".  All of these "early cars", published within the first four months of 1970, were photographed with the hand throttle.

I did find "Drive the Ragged Edge" on Youtube.  The quality is very poor; made from film that has seriously deteriorated, but I managed to capture and enhance these shots.  I think the whitewall tires you mentioned are actually reflections off the tires.  I think the 'Ds' are missing on the hubcaps which would be normal for these cars.

So in the fall of 1969 there were several cars in North America.  Two silver Kaku U cars, a blue show car, a green show car, and a red show car.  The red car explains many pictures I have.

ARRCNov261969HLS30-00007BackQuarter2a.jpg

ARRCNov261969HLS30-00007Fronta.jpg

ARRCNov261969HLS30-00007Sidea.jpg

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On 2017-01-09 at 0:24 PM, 26th-Z said:

Your last picture from post 10 above is the Road & Track road test car from the April, 1970 issue.  It has a corporate license tag yet aftermarket wheels.  I believe the car is a January import example.

I agree. The 3 month lead time, the hand throttle, as well as the layers of clothes worn by the reviewer and miserable weather.  I would guess it is a damp 50F day so freezing dead of winter in LA lol.

When I do the grey scale colour comparison from the April R&T article the car could be red or blue. It seems to tilt a bit more to the blue (especially after considering the statement about not attracting attention while driving the test car and a brightness adjustment)

.colour compare 1024.jpgR&T April.jpg

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3 hours ago, 26th-Z said:

Hi Chris,

I'm having very little success tracking down the dates of early New England International Auto shows/ Motor shows or Boston Auto Shows/Motor shows.  The current event (New England International Auto Show) is the third week of January so if the slot was held back to 1970 then the photo below would be from Jan 1970?  Would you have more details on the time?

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, 26th-Z said:

Boston 1969

 

BostonAutoShow_Oct-1969.jpg

 

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The picture of the car at a marina is very interesting to me as I had those same wheels when I bought my first Zed a '73 in 1974, blue with a cream/white interior. They are EMPI wheels originally designed for the four lug VWs. If I remember correctly they were 14X 6 and were two-piece. FWIW, I have seen that same picture in a British book about Zeds. It is "Essential Datsun Z 240z to 280 zx, The cars and their story 1969-1983" by Colin Shipway. There is a picture on p. 11 of a car just like my first one.

Cheers, Mike

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Carl - I miss stroked.... Alan still has #6 and Dave Stone has #8 which he bought a few years ago and had it repainted. If you get a chance look at the before and after pics.

I'm still trying to get an answer as to the "crusher" heading and it's meaning.

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