HS30-H

My scanner can't cope with double-page spreads, so here's a few snippets to be getting on with. Eric seems to be keeping a low profile, so I'm wondering if he's actually seen this yet ( ? ).

To shed a little more light on the subject, its the October 2006 edition of 'Retro Cars' magazine - published here in the UK. www.futurenet.co.uk Eric's car got a nice 5 page article dedicated to it. Have you seen it yet Eric?

Come on Eric, don't hide your light under a bushel. Don't be shy. Spill the beans. Tell us all about it.

Well done Lachlan, and congratulations. Just goes to show what a little bit of proactivity can achieve. Coincidentally, I have just spent four days in London and the home counties with a small crew from Nostalgic Hero - shooting some features for the issue that is due to hit the stands in November. Should be an interesting one for the Japanese readership, as we 'scooped' features on two ex-Works 240Z rally cars ( one with an LY ) that have not been seen for many years. Apparently, they might even give us as many as 15 pages...... Masuda san ( Editor-in-Chief of Nostalgic Hero ) mentioned you and your article, and said that they were very impressed by the cars that you have over there. He was very pleased that you took the time to contact him, and it made him think. Maybe you should follow this up with some more reporting, and encourage them to take a trip out to Australia ( and NZ ) to cover some of the great cars you have over there? All they need is a little bit of help with the coordination. Well done! Cheers, Alan T.

Hello Zedric, and welcome! Finland has some rare and unusual Japanese cars that I hope you will be showing us........

Personally, I like to think of it as an internet based site. It helps to remind me that we have people from all over the world posting here, and that the cars we share an interest in, and which form the basis of the site, are Japanese. I don't agree. 99.9999% of the cars we talk about on here are Nissan designed and Nissan manufactured. Nissan stuck 'Datsun' emblems on them for export markets, but they were Nissan products nevertheless. The disdain I can't quite get my head around. Essentially it seems to be based on the regret of losing a name that shouldn't really have been used in the first place. Seems like people didn't actually know who was making these cars with 'Datsun' written on them......... Alan T.

A few observations: The car in question ( from 26th-Z's post ) was sold by Christie's at their Le Mans Classic sale on July 8th. This was of course in France, and the sale price ( inc. buyers premium ) was 176,250 Euros. Let us remember that we are talking about a World market for these cars nowadays. Desirability means that the cars will cross continents to reach their buyers. The currency exchange rates will make certain cars look like a bargain to some, and extremely expensive to others. Let's not forget that. Japan takes the lead in prices for certain old Japanese cars, and this will tend to pull up prices of similar vehicles in other territories. Unsurprisingly, many of the Toyota 2000GTs originally delivered to Europe have been making their way back to Japan over the last 20 years or so. The kind of people that are buying them in Japan are - in many cases - the type that could be compared to 'Baby Boomers' elsewhere. They might have fallen in love with the Toyota 2000GT in their youth, and now have the funds to buy one. They can justify their purchase by calling it an "investment". I know a couple of people in Japan who have bought them, and consider them to be good value for money as far as old cars go. Don't forget that the Japanese market has seen certain S30-series Z cars changing hands for the equivalent of over $100,000 US in the last couple of years. Rarity and desirability are key words here. I think the high Japanese market values for RHD Toyota 2000GTs are certainly pulling the value of LHD versions up with them. There's never going to be a huge chasm between them, as there were never enough cars built. But a straight comparison between a Toyota 2000GT and an S30-series Z? I don't see how a straight comparison is relevant to any discussion of market value on each. I'm sorry, but in terms of looks alone the Toyota makes the S30-series Z look very conservative. Having driven one ( an RHD Japanese-market version ), I can tell you that the Toyota was a beautifully balanced package that gave a tangible sense of occasion. It felt well engineered and very nicely put together. Driving it was an event. The only S30-series Zs that gave me anything like that feeling have been a pair of 432s. The standard L-series engined Z was like a saloon car in drag by comparison........ This discussion about 'market value' reminds me of property prices here in London. The house that I lived in until recently ( not mine - I just rented part of it, I hasten to add ) has just been put on the market at £2,750,000 STG. My former landlord bought it less than ten years ago for no more than £500,000 STG. It is a terraced Georgian ( 1799 ) townhouse in a central London street, with no parking place or garage, and almost no garden to speak of. Does it offer value for money when judged purely on its status as bricks and mortar, or as a dwelling? I think the answer is no! That 2.75 million could buy me ten times as much space and luxury elsewhere. Desirability and exclusivity are what drives the market for such properties, and the same thing is true with the Toyota 2000GT. That kind of money is chump change to some people. Alan T.

Sadly, there are some easily spotted mistakes in the C10 and C110 sections. Why do people keep saying that the S20 in the C10 was fitted with Webers from the factory? And the S20 was not simply a detuned GR8 either......... it is a little more complicated than that. GT-Rs were quite different in a lot more details than he realises too. I realise that the writer's intentions are for the good, but these little mistakes get taken for truth and just proliferate on the 'net. Sound like a stuck record, don't I? :cross-eye :tapemouth

Don't forget Nissan.......... My KPGC10 is not a Prince or a Datsun - despite the combined DNA. Come to that, my Fairlady 240ZG and Fairlady Z-L ( 432R replica project ) are both proudly 'Nissan' products too.......... Alan T.

More correctly "Tekkamen" - a contraction of 'Tetsu Kamen'. Tetsu = Iron Kamen = Mask

I quoted the ISBN number right back on post #4 of this thread, in February 2004...........

Hi Eiji, How are you? Good luck with your business venture. Nissan's Z-10 'Service Shuho' book for the C-S31 and C-GS31 model range carries an interesting illustration on the differences between the manual and power window mechanisms. Looks like the metal plate 'Bottom arse'y' ( which holds the door glass ) is different too? Here's a scan:

Yes, he was guesting at the Goodwood Revival Meeting. I was there on Friday, and there were huge crowds around the Holden FX that he was driving. I could hardly get near it. This was the first time that Peter Brock and the Holden had appeared at the Revival, and it created a lot of interest. His reputation and achievements put him on a par with some of the greatest drivers that ever lived, and many of us at the meeting were well aware of that. I was listening to a fascinating interview with him on the Goodwood radio channel as I drove down to the event. I made a mental note at the time to try and read up a bit more about his career. Can't believe he's gone. Very sad.

They were first seen on the C-S31 group range, released in July 1976. Here's a scan from the relevant model range catalogue, showing some of the options available. Power window option is second item down on the right hand options column.

The Factory race prep manual for the S30-series Z carried information on their recommended diff cooler setup. See scan below. Parts were sold to the general public through the Nissan Sports Option catalogues. See scan below. In Works rally cars, the pumps were most often mounted inside one of the 'tool bins' behind the seats. The diff coolers sold in the Sports Option catalogues measured 70mm x 200mm x 40mm, and the pumps were rated at 5 litres per minute. Alan T.

Thanks ChrisA. Saved me a lot of explaining there. Over here in England, we call these the 'Flange Height Code' letters. I believe each letter relates to a measurement taken from the base of the tyre bead seat ( the part of the rim where the tyre bead actually sits and seals ) to the outer edge of the wheel rim itself. Nothing to get too worried about. In fact, I only write the size out that way because I'm old fashioned and set in my ways......... :stupid: Cheers, Alan T.

My ZG has Cibies, which were fitted by the last Japanese owner many years ago. I had thought about them for the GT-R, but when I looked into the prices I decided that they were more expensive than I'd like. I have been looking at generic eastern-European copies, which cost peanuts and should be good enough to get it road legal...... I don't think I'll fit any outer trims, as it would then look like the grille needs fitting too. I'll just stick with the bare lamps, and the Works-style FRP covers can actually fit over them ( which is useful ). Offer much appreciated Miles, but I think these eastern-European units will be good enough. They actually look quite good quality-wise, and are cheap. I think I'll have the covers over them most of the time anyway. The best and most reliable way to identify a real factory-made ZG is by looking at the Japanese registration documents. As long as these have not been modified or tampered with, they clearly show the extra length and width of a real ZG. None of the other domestic S30-series models have the same dimensions as the ZG. There's nothing stamped on the body to differentiate a real ZG from an ordinary 'HS30'-prefixed 240Z-L, and the same goes for the stamped aluminium tags too. However, there are numerous clues and minor detail differences that will help to confirm a real factory ZG, and when you add all of these together you can usually tell whether its a real one or a clever replica / fake. As for the differences between an HS30-U and a domestic-model HS30, I'd have thought that ( as with the ZG / Z-L comparison ) there would be quite a few clues on the car itself that you could cross-reference and draw a conclusion from? Having said that, the domestic model Fairlady 240Z-L would have to be the closest of all the domestic models to the RHD export-market '240Z', and would therefore be the most difficult to pin down. Like a lot of these things, I suspect that the real truth lies in the details........ I've been a bit busy over the last couple of weeks what with one thing and another, but there is a least one bit of progress that is worth reporting on: My 'correct' wheels finally turned up from Japan - brought to my front door by a cursing postman ( poor guy cut his hand on the straps that secured the parcels ). At one stage I thought these had disappeared into the ether, but I'm happy to say they turned up safe and sound. They are not new, but they are in great condition. R.S. Watanabe 8-spoke 'R'-type in Magnesium. 11j x 15 ( -38 offset ) rear, and 9.5j x 15 9 ( -19 offset ) front. Incredibly light considering the size: those 11j rears weigh just 6.3kg each. I'm too poor to buy any tyres for them this month! Cheers, Alan T.

Kitano and Takahashi were arguably the best drivers in the race, but I don't necessarily think they had the best machinery in the race. You'd have to wonder what the race result would have been had either of them been pedalling the Porsches ( a 910 and a 906 ) that were also taking part. Purpose-designed and built sports racing cars really ought to be no match for cars built up from a standard road car design, but talent has not always matched up with the power of the gentleman racer's bank balance......... And those two Works 'Fairlady 240Zs' were actually PZRs with engine transplants, so we could still say that a PZR won the race. The truth was that by early '71 the Works circuit race team had already given up on running the PZR in this type of race; internal company politics ensured that the race development of the PZR engines was dead in the water by late '70 - with the S20 engine being 'saved' for the ex-Prince faction at Murayama and their precious GT-R. It was expedient for SCCN to be using the L-series engine by that time. Alan T.

Lachlan, Your photo was taken at the start of the main race at the 'Zen Nihon Suzuka Jidosha Race Taikai' ( All Japan Suzuka Automobile Race Event ) - in March 1971. Pole position went to Works SCCN driver Kunimitsu Takahashi in car no.64, an SCCN-entered Works 'Fairlady 240Z'. Second on the grid was Works SCCN driver Moto Kitano in car no.63, another SCCN-entered Works 'Fairlady 240Z'. Third on the grid was Motoharu Kurosawa in car no.65, a Works 'Skyline Hardtop', with Masahiro Hasemi in car no.66 - a similar car - right behind him. Fifth and sixth grid positions were filled by Hiromi Nishino and Masami Kuwashima in Fairlady Z432-Rs. It was a 25 lap race, won by Moto Kitano in a time of 2 hours, 20 minutes and nine seconds. Team mate Kunimitsu Takahashi was given the exact same time in seciond place, and the cars crossed the finish line almost side by side ( no doubt for a nice team photo opportunity ). Manzo Masuda crossed the line third in his Fairlady Z432, with Yoshimasa Kawaguchi coming home fourth in his Porsche 910. Motoharu Kurosawa in the Skyline placed fifth. A photo from Autosport magazine: