HS30-H

Actually, I found it amazing how many people who initially turned their noses up to the very idea of the car ( me included ) seem to be coming around to a different viewpoint. Not that I'm ever going to entertain the idea of buying one or anything ( yuk ) but what I mean is I don't hate it as much as I used to! For me, even the S130 series Z is a model that probably did not really deserve to be called a "Z", let alone this new thing. I think I resented the idea of it being a "Fairlady Z2 more than anything else.............. Interestingly, I already see the whole "Fairlady" / "240Z" name thing happening all over again; In Japan, this new model is called a Fairlady - but ( like I think they should ) it is identified by its model designation of "Z33". All the different versions on sale in Japan are just varieties of Z33 Fairlady. However, in the States and very probably everywhere else outside Japan, its going to be identified as the "350Z". Plus ca change............... Alan T.

Sorry Mr C, maybe I was being a bit too obscure. But Raven really ought to have used the "search" function a bit more before firing off a question like that..................! That "My Fair Lady" story actually initially applied to the "Roadster" SP / SR series cars, and ever since then Nissan / Datsun have called the series and its successors "Fairlady". The "Fairlady Z" was the next generation on from the SP / SR series - and technically we should call this iteration the "S30" series ( mainly because all the model variants were derived from this basic model designation ). When you see the cars badged "240Z" you are really just looking at one type of S30-series Z ( and a local-market single type at that ). Don't forget that in Japan there was always a bigger choice of model variant to choose from. From October 1971 they got the addition of the L24-engined cars - called "Fairlady 240Z", which will confuse you even more. At that time they had a choice of 7 different versions to choose from, and none of them were called just "240Z" - they were all Fairladies................. The more pendantic amongst us ( moi? ) might even try to persuade you that ALL S30-series Z cars are really Fairlady Zs, whether they are badged locally as "240Z" or not. I guess its just a question of where you are looking at it from. For further information on this topic, might I suggest that anybody interested invests in a copy of Brian Long's excellent book "DATSUN Z - from Fairlady to 280Z" published by Veloce - ISBN 1-901295-02-8. Anybody want to discuss where the musical "My Fair Lady" came from? Regards, Henry Higgins.

Hi Raven, OK - I admit it. It was me all along. I made it up. It was my idea of an April fool joke ( but a bit late ). You got me. Alan T. ( insert "irony" smilie here ). PS - clue: You will not see OXO Cubes in Japan, as "oxo" means something very unappetising indeed.

Er, Mike I think the point that Kats is making is that with the help of Nishi san he was able to convert his NOS 72-73 dash to look just like a 1970 version that his car should have ( with the undrilled / unused recess for the Hazard Lamp switch ). I'm sure that he knows what the original dash was supposed to look like ( and that's why he was trying to replicate it ). As you can see from his photos, Nishi san did a great job. This is no mean feat, as it involves some serious filling and blending to make it look correct. Nishi san and his small workforce have these skills. I'm hoping that Kats will keep Nishi san as "our" little secret.......... Regards, Alan T.