HS30-H

No Mike, I'm back in cold and rainy London now ( home sweet home ). Mind you, those grilles are a lot more than $140 in Japan - more like double or triple that last time I asked, and then the freight and duty on top. You can bet that Nissan Japan will not have any in stock, and will tell any enquirers that they do not envision making any in the near future. Like I said, its the better-connected of the specialists in Japan who can get them nowadays. Like 260Z said - this would actually not be that difficult to fabricate at home. Its a slightly rounded-edged square section tube ( does that make sense? ) welded into an oblong shape. The mesh is tack-welded to the back of it, and some brackets attached to line up with the body mounts. Its got a very thin layer of paint with apparently no primer under it ( ! ). I was a bit shocked when the last one I bought turned up. I figured it was rather expensive for what it was. Anyone with a welder ( or a friend with a welder ) could knock one up. The only difficult part would be getting the "kink" in the centre to match that of the bonnet ( hood ) line, but then you DO have the line there to follow anyway. Why not have a go? By the way, if there are any grille pedants out there who are as badly afflicted as me, then they may want to know that the very earliest Japanese Home-market mesh grilles were the same across all models ( including the base Z model, the "luxury" Z-L, and the 432 and 432R ). In late 1971 Nissan changed them slightly and listed three different types; one for the Z and Z-L, one for the Fairlady 240Z series and 432, and one just for the 432R. Its a real minefield of part numbers, and since the late '70's they have offered just ONE part to cover all three types again. Regards, Alan T.

Hi Kats, You put your points very well. Hats off to you for doing it in English too......... At first, it seemed to me that you were implying that the S30-series Z was designed "as" a LHD model primarily, and a RHD secondarily. I'm sorry to say that there are many people who believe this to be true! I would agree that Japanese historians / journalists / enthusiasts are perhaps somewhat lacking knowledge on the "world" view of their car industry in the post-war period ( although whenever I see a Japanese book or magazine article on the S30-series Z, it seems to me that they usually DO mention the LHD export versions ). However, they are certainly no less uninformed ( and sometimes downright wrong ) than the "rest of the world" ( read; "English speaking" press here ). You will STILL find magazine articles, even books dedicated to the subject, written in the English language, that get SO MUCH wrong about these cars. They are still even preaching the big myth that Albrecht Goertz designed / styled the car. In many cases they have NO IDEA that the S30-series Z was sold in its Home market with so many variants, or that it was raced and rallied with great success outside the USA. I was another of the mis-informed masses until I first went to Japan some 15 years ago. I then started seeing that I was not in command of the full facts about this particular car or the Japanese car industry of the Twentieth Century in general. My eyes were really opened to the excellent models that were available in Japan but unheard of in the rest of the world. I made great efforts to try to learn about all this, and since then I have been learning all the time. Its a massive task, and I will never finish it, but I do want to try to find out as much as possible - and I always try to promote the Japanese "side" of the story where it is necessary. I have to say that the best part of 35 years of the WRONG information about the S30-series Z and its design process is now committed to "history", and it will probably take another 35 years to overturn that. Recently, I have noticed a slow but sure reappraisal of Goertz's involvement in the project - but its nowhere near strong enough to dispel the myths that he himself has created and maintained. I really feel sorry for Mr Matsuo, and I have pretty much lost respect for the people that should have protected Nissan's history and heritage, and defended Matsuo and his team back when the silly stories started. The design change from four-cylinder to six, and its consequent enlargement of the body, happened quite early in the design process. What interested me was that they actually did not seem to have total conviction that the car could sell as well as it finally did in the export market, and that there really WERE so many compromises in the final LHD version. The point about the "cost-cutting" and use of generic / shared componentry with other models is actually just good sense; so much of the Japanese car industry's success in exports through the '60's and '70's was down to having a good product AT THE RIGHT PRICE. An aid to that was that the Yen was so weak in foreign exchange during that period. What Matsuo and his team were having to face up to is something that ALL car manufacturers now have to take account of. I know that the British car makers of the '50's and '60's had to face the same task, and people would be surprised to know where a lot of the componentry came from ( the engine of the Triumph TR2 for example was basically a tractor engine...... ). What impresses me is that they made such a good job with what were components from a very diverse range of models, mixed with some key type-specific designs. So, here's me and a few others trying to tell the English-speaking car world that they should not necessarily believe all they read or hear, and there's Kats in Japan trying to do the same thing in reverse! I must say that I do honestly think that the situation in Japan is better than in the rest of the world. At least they generally have an inkling that the S30-series Z sold incredibly well in the USA and North American markets. I still meet and speak to Z enthusiasts who have NO IDEA of what went on in the rest of the Z world, or that the Japanese market arguably had the better choice of models / variants to suit all tastes and pockets. The rest of the world pretty much got one market-specific specification on a take-it-or-leave-it basis ( exterior colour was the only choice offered in the UK market for example ). I think that you can almost see Nissan's realisation about the needs of the rest of the world from the mid-'60's; a whole host of models suddenly appeared towards the end of that decade that really hit the spot and proved a success in the export market. The 510 Bluebird was a world-class car, and I am still amazed that it hardly seems to get the recognition it deserves. If it was French, German or Italian the car journalists would still be praising it as a milestone design. I think that there still has to be a lot of prejudice against the Japanese out there that goes hand in hand with ignorance. I saw and spoke to Mr Matsuo at the Nismo Festival again last Sunday. The poor man was making his own way around the event in the company of a friend, and in no way seemed to be looked after as any kind of VIP by the Nissan or NISMO top brass. It was mainly "us" Z enthusiasts who noted his presence and crowded around him, or showed any kind of reverence. I guess the fact that he left the company such a long time ago means that he now has to fend for himself. If I were at Nissan, I would make a great effort to re-recruit him and make him some kind of advisor. Stranger things have happened; look how close Mr K. is to the company again ( he's having the last laugh at all those beancounters who showed him the back door all those years ago ). Maybe Mr Matsuo would not be happy about such an offer, but it would be nice if Nissan asked him. Its interesting to note that many of the new magazine articles and books in Japan on the Z33 are interviewing Mr Matsuo about the "original" Z, but I have yet to see the man's name mentioned in any story about the Z33's "DNA" in the English language. Very sad, that. Kats, I completely agree that the design process of the S30-series Z was influenced by the intention to sell it as a LHD export model. They could not have ignored this fact, and would have been keeping it in mind right from the beginning. They could not have done otherwise. What I want to defend against is the assertion that the S30-series Z was designed PRIMARILY as a LHD car, and that the RHD versions were in some way second-best. Just as I said in my previous post, it could be argued that Nissan made a great mistake in NOT designing the car primarily with LHD in mind ( surely some LHD customers would have complained about the positioning of the handbrake at some point!? ). The fact that such a huge percentage of sales went outside Japan would not have been such a surprise, especially since the Japanese economy and road system of the period made the Z look the equivalent of a Ferrari today. I have met many Japanese Z owners who saw the car when it was new and immediately wanted one - but were not able to realise their dream until later. I have to say that the situation in Europe was perhaps only a few years ahead of Japan at that point. We had lots of exotic cars coming out into the showrooms that only a very few of the elite could afford to buy and run ( example; E-type Jaguar ) - but it was good to dream whilst we exported in quantity and reaped the rewards in foreign currency. I think this is pretty much what was happening in Japan too. I want to defend against statements like the one I saw on zhome recently, which imply that the LHD version of the car was the primary concern of Matsuo and his team, and that the S30-series Z was designed "for" the USA / North American market. It even goes to the point of saying that the car was an "......American car, designed and built in Japan........". That's the kind of skewed view that I find it unbelievable anybody could really believe is near the truth. It would have made sense for Nissan, Matsuo and his team to be thinking along those lines ( if they had, they might have made a better job of the ergonomics on the LHD version ) - but I think its quite wrong to think that they DID. Whilst I agree with much of what is on that kind of website, it really does seem to take a very strange view about this point. I can see faults on both sides ( being neither Japanese nor American ), but I completely understand the Japanese viewpoint and think that it is natural. The zhome opinion is much more difficult to even get near to agreeing with. Best regards, Alan T.

Hi GunnerRob, Thanks for the nice comments. Its makes it all worthwhile when we see a good result in the end. I can vouch for Kats and his generosity, as I have personally been on the receiving end of it too. He should should work for the United Nations - we'd have world peace in no time. Regards, Alan T.

Kats, you might find that as this is a US-based and largely US-populated site that you do not need to tell everybody what they already think to be the truth. Personally, I take the opposite view to you. I think its quite clear that Nissan aimed its sales of the S30-series Z at its biggest potential market ( the USA and North America ), but there is NO WAY that the S30-series Z was designed primarily as a left-hand-drive car. It is beyond doubt that Nissan designed and built most of the components in the S30-series Z to suit a right-hand-drive layout. The left-hand-drive version was a variant on the RHD base. If you want evidence for this, try thinking about where the handbrake is situated ( or emergency brake / side brake - depending on where you are ), or where the inlet and exhaust manifolds are situated on the engine. Does anybody have any real conviction that the LHD layout makes more sense than the RHD layout for these cars? I'm sorry - but if you want to believe that Nissan built the S30-series Z with a mainly LHD version in mind, then you would have to say that they messed it up! To aid my defence, I would state the examples of the UK-based auto manufacturers ( such as MG, Triumph, Jaguar et al ) who always knew that their biggest chance of major sales was to sell well in the USA. This is back in the days of "Export Or Die". They made LHD versions of their cars, but there is NO WAY that they designed them primarily as LHD cars. You would have to say that this was in fact a great mistake; if they HAD put more thought and effort into the LHD versions then those companies might have still been in British ownership today........... Nissan made a pretty good job of the LHD version of the S30-series Z, and people like Yutaka Katayama may well have preached the story that it was designed "for" America. However, I would much rather listen to an Engineer than a Salesman ( and lets not forget that Mr K. was naturally going to tell America what it wanted to hear ) and I don't think that you will hear any of the engineers involved in the project saying that the car was built "for" the American market in any engineering sense. If it was, then how come they compromised the LHD version so much over the RHD version? I have often toyed with the idea of starting a thread here that asks what people believe to be the truth about the RHD versus LHD debate. However, I very soon thought better of the idea as it seemed clear that asking a 99% LHD based audience a question like that was going to elicit just one type of answer! But seeing as Kats has kind of opened a debate about it, how about it? Any comments? Who agrees with him, and why? Simply citing the numbers sold will not swing it, as quantity does not mean anything. If it did, then most of the UK-manufactured sports cars of the '50's and '60's would be in the same position. What we are talking about here is cars designed in a RHD market being sold in a LHD market, and that is something that Japan and the UK shared in common. I can't think of even one of the big-selling UK manufactured sports cars that worked better or made any more sense in LHD form over RHD form. Its just natural, and as I say, could arguably be seen as a big mistake on the part of the manufacturer. Kats may be seen as something of a rebel in Japan. I don't think that there are very many Japanese historians or enthusiasts that would agree with him that the S30-series Z was designed "for" the LHD export market. Its somewhat ironic to have an Englishman debating with a Japanese gentleman over these points, when the Englishman is fighting for the Japanese corner! I personally know only too well about cars originally designed as LHD not working very well in their RHD versions; I have owned several Alfas and Lancias that had terrible ergonomics in RHD form in comparison to their LHD iterations. I know that these cars were designed primarily as LHD, and that the RHD was something of a compromise. I see the S30-series Z as a car that went through its design process primarily as a RHD, with thought paid to a LHD version secondarily. How else can you explain how it turned out? The new "Z33" is the opposite; I think they have shown all the way through that they were thinking of the LHD form primarily, and the RHD secondarily. I don't think this happened with the S30-series Z. Looking forward to a probable barrage of disagreement.............! Alan T.

Hi DRECORD, Don't want to rain on your barbecue whilst you are still enjoying it, but the PS30 Z432 had the same mesh grille as all other early Japanese Home-market S30 series Z cars. What you have found is actually a Japanese Home-market mesh grille common in all the S30 Fairlady model variants ( except the HS30-H 240ZG ). They are still available in Japan ( I was in a specialists in Japan last week and he had a stack of about 12 in the factory boxes ) so they are out there. The trouble with Nissan at the moment is that they are telling different stories to different people. My contacts in Japan tell me they can get most parts if they put an order on a waiting list and then get patient. When Nissan have enough orders they put them together and make an order with the supplier for that part. Naturally, we know there are some items that are now unobtainable - but it seems that the Japanese specialists with the better contacts in Japan are able to get things that we outside Japan are being told cannot be had.............. The mesh grille ( to my mind ) looks a LOT better than the bar type grille. Hope that you enjoy it, but please make sure that you correctly identify it as a Japanese Home-market grille - and not specific just to the 432. Regards, Alan T.

Hi Enrique and Kats, Looks like a good result for our little carchaeology expedition...... Kats - your drawing was very good! I think it confirms that the Fog Lamp Switch was just about the same shape as the Hazard Lamp switch, but just with a different symbol on it. Enrique - I think that thought about the reversing of the symbol for LHD and RHD might be a red herring; I don't think they would have done it unless they did the same thing with other switches and their symbols. I shall keep a look out for a switch just like Kats - but don't hold your breath! It seems they are pretty rare now................. In the meantime it might be a good idea to try and modify a Hazard Lamp switch, as you say. Yes - the three meters on top of the dash were juxtaposed between the RHD and LHD versions, so that the clock was always furthest away from the driver. Enrique - I recommend you put Kats on your list of most interesting contacts. He is a true detail fanatic and is rather singular in having an absolutely cracking early HLS30 that he had restored in Japan. Most HLS30's that made their way back to Japan were bought as cheap but rust-free donors for modified or non-standard projects, and change hands for much less money than a similar condition RHD car. Kats's car shows his fanaticism for period-correct detail and I am sure would be a top-dollar car anywhere in the world. I'm sure he will put some more photos of his car up on the Members Cars section of the Gallery, but if he comes over all modest I will scan in some pictures from a Japanese magazine article that I have on it. Its a peach. Alan T.

Hi Kats, Good to hear from you. Hope that you will be around here more often. For Enrique's delight - here is the picture of the Works rally car dash with its supplementary switches. I think that's no less than FOUR of the factory switches in the centre there................ This particular car is now under restoration in the UK, and competed as a Works entry in the 1971 RAC Rally. I feel sure that these switches are the type that Enrique is looking for. I had at one point suspected that the C10 Skyline shape of fog lamp switch might have been the same - but after closer research it seems that they were quite a different shape entirely. With a bit of luck, Enrique might be able to find one now that he knows what they look like. What do you think Enrique? Do you think this is the right type? All the best, Alan T.

Hi Kats! How are you? I just got back from the NISMO FESTIVAL at Fuji Speedway and I was kind of expecting to see you there........ I thought that you might have been one of the people to ask about this question on Enrique's behalf. Seems that the Fog Lamp option was quite rare in Japan too, as I was not able to find one to photograph. However, I THINK I have a picture of what might be a factory Fog Lamp switch - and its on the dash of a genuine Works Rally car. I will hunt it down and post it up here. Nice to see that you frequent the site, Kats. Hope to see you posting more often. I saw the article about you in AUTOWORKS by the way ( very impressive! ). Just to fill everybody in on Kats' car; it has to be one of the best restored early LHD cars in the world. If he does not post any pictures of it through modesty, then I will. All the best, Alan Thomas.