1 Bravo 6

Hey TomoHawk, You mentioned a couple of times that the Zed was the most popular Sports Car in America. Wrong old mate, Wrong !!!!!!. It wasn't just the good old US of A. In the first couple of years of production, the 240Z was the most popular car in the WORLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rick.

G'Day there Lachlan, I recently completed the Nissan Fairlady 240Z by Fujimi europa. Main problem was that a lot of the instructions were in Japanese however, the instructions included a painting chart and each part to be painted had a paint symbol and chart number. Made it quite simple really. Main disapointment, as with many models, is that after taking a lot of time and care with the engine, the bloody bonnet doesn't open, you can't see the power plant, so engine detailing is a waste of bloody time. I've only recently gotten back into model building after a break of about 40 years. They haven't changed all that much. How far do you go with engine detailing???????? While I haven't bothered recently, I used to go to the trouble of using coloured sewing thread for spark plug leads etc. Rick.

There must be a lot of bloody gullible people out there in the big wide world. Glad to see that you passed that one on Jason, You just MIGHT have saved someone from getting caught by the bloody scammers. That scam has been doing the rounds here in the Land Down Under for some time now. No way they'd get any info out of me. Heck, I don't even answer all the census questions truthfully. Rick. :devious: :devious: :devious:

Thanks Carl, LOVED 'em all. My wife doesn't have much of a sense of humour though. She reckons the only funny one was Santa and the sliegh caught up on the plane's tail. Like I said, not much of a sense of humour at all. When I told her that, she just stood there with one hand on her hip and said, "What do you mean,-- I married you didn't I ?". Do you think there's a message in there somewhere ?. Rick.

Yair Carl, your dead right mate. We've got our share of greedy, money hungry buggers down here as well. Does the name Christopher Skase mean anything to you ???? Why do I want to see the value of Zeds go UP? Because they DESERVE to be at least as expesive as an MGB or C, Healey 3000,Triumph etc. I've had my share of snobbish owners look down their noses at me when I mention the word ZED. I even had the owner of a pissy little Sprite say I was crazy. I intend for "Precious" to be passed on through my future descendants as a family heirloom. It's the recognition for a great little car that I want, not the dollars. Gavin, A snippet of info that might interest you is that in the Australian Southern Cross Rally held in 1972, Zeds took out 1st in it's class and 2nd overall. Rick.

260Det's pretty well spot on. Go to a car show. Get talking with the owner of, say, an MG or Healy. Watch his eyes, (I always do), when you say, "I own a Zed". Car shows up here usually attract over a hundred cars. A good example is Classics By The Coast, held in May last year. All the usual marques were there; Mustangs, MG's, Fords and Holdens etc. Mine was the ONLY ZED. I was amazed at the number of people who asked me what it was. Mainly younger people. Older people remembered them, some admitted to having owned one and had very fond memories. But the younger ones, ----------- "What is it?" "Is it a Jag?" "Haven't seen one of these before" And so on and so forth. Therein lies another part of the problem. Zeds are NOT WELL KNOWN. Mr. & Mrs. General Public will usually identify an early Ford, Holden, MG, Chevy, Chrysler etc., but show them a Zed and you'd have no trouble at all convincing them that it's a very rare, one off prototype of a compact E Type Jag as I did about eighteen months ago. And the poor bugger BELIVED me. :stupid: :stupid: Even if your car is NOT up to show standard, we need to put them into shows so people will start to recognise them. My "Precious" isn't up to a prize winning standard but I put her into shows at every oportunity. I'm even having people say things like, "Yes, I saw this car in Yeppoon the other day". We need to develope the public's interest in the Zed. I made up a board that I display at car shows detailing the Zeds success in events such as the East African Safari and the Monte Carlo Rally. Even people who claim to have owned Zeds in the past are surprised at their history. Rick.

Gavin, me old china, Just Cars values the '70-'71 LC Torana XU-1 at $20,000 and the '72-'74 L J Torana XU-1 at $24,000. TWICE that of a Zed. While I'd like nothing better than to see the value of Zeds skyrocket I fear that it won't be for quite a while yet. I reckon I could get around 11K for Precious as she stands. Now, if I were to put a price of, say, --20K on her, any prospective buyer would pass me by and buy yours for 10K. Sure, we can "Set the mark in terms of price", but we have to be realistic at the same time. It's not the availability or the number of cars of a model still on the road that determines it's value. It's the NAME !! The MARQUE!! The BRAND !!. There must be THOUSANDS more MGB's than Zeds around and their value is 25K. What's the answer ?????? Buggered if I know mate. Rick.

Carl, You never fail to amaze me. KEEP 'EM CUMMIN' MATE. Rick.

G'Day there JL Purcell, The Blunder from Down Under bids you WELCOME to our happy family. Rick.

Thanks for that Jim, As the old song goes, "Isn't She Loverly". Now, that's a car I might, --------I said MIGHT, consider swapping Precious for. If only,---If only !!!! Hey Lachlan, What's so special about the handbrake being on the left hand side ?????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? HUH???? Rick. :devious: :devious: :devious:

Lachlan, me old china plate, One thing that the majority of our Northern friends find hard to understand about us is our strange brand of humour. Carl, Victor and a few others are a wake up to us but you have to take it slow with the majority. I'm another fan of the 2000GT however, if I could afford to buy one, I'd prefer to sink the cash into my Zed. Hey, Lachlan, I don't suppose you'd have a photo of the Holden sports car that never got past the prototype stage ???. Can't remember what it was called but I recall seeing a pic of it some years ago. Rick.

One of the many good things about being retired is that I have the time to completely WASTE my time, whenever I have the time to waste it. Today, with nothing on my plate that really NEEDED doing, I dug out the January 2003 edition of Just Cars magazine and carried out a price comparison of cars against the current (January 2005) edition. Now, while I didn't use a calculator, I'm reasonably sure about my results. Keep in mind that this is taken over a two year period and applies to cars that are, quote, "Condition A: The car will be in excellent condition. It is likely to warrant a score of at least 85/100 in a concourse event". And, "The values shown in the Just Worls Cars guide are indicative of the prices that cars will sell for in the current Australian market", end quote. The list is far too long to detail each hike in value. Suffice to say that, if you own an early ford or holden, the value has gone up by at least $2,000. (That's for a '69-'74 Capri 1600). The biggest hike in value for Ford was for a '69--'70 Mustang Boss 302, up by $18,000, closely followed by a '71-'73 Mustang Mach 1, up by $16,000. The poor old Holden's two biggest increases were '72-'74 L.J Torana XU1, up by $9,000 and a '69-'70 HT Monaro GTS 350, up by $8,000. The biggest hikes by far go to the '62-'68 Cobra 289, up by $140,000 and the '65-'67 Cobra 427, up by $100,000. Surprisingly, the various models of MG's and Porches remained static as did, (unfortunately), all models of our beloved Zeds, which are currently valued at: Fairlady, '64-'69, $10,000 240Z, '70-'74, $15,000. 260Z, '74-'78, $12,000. 280ZX, '78-'83, $10,000. 300ZX, '84-'86, $15,000. Now, how rediculous is that ?????. To add insult to injury, one of the greatest white elephants of all time, the '73-'75 Leyland P76, rose in value by $2,000. Here we are, the proud owners of a Zed, which motoring writers regard as one of the most important cars in motoring history, yet is valued at far less than the makes and models of other marques that were outclassed in every way by the 240Z. Ah, well, such is life. OOOps, shouldn't say that, look what happened to Ned Kelly. Rick. :devious: :devious:

Chris, I loved that one. Reminded me of the time I hid in the chimney. Rick. How many male chauvinists does it take to change a light bulb in the kitchen? Who cares?, let her cook in the dark. What do you do when your washing machine stops working ??? Slap her until she starts again. Why do men die before their wives?? They want to. Why do women have periods?? Because they deserve them. Why do men pass more gas than women ?? Because women won't shut up long enough to build up pressure. What do you call a man whose been lucky in love ?? A batchelor. How much do batchelors know about women anyway?? A hell of a lot. That's why they're still batchelors. Rick.

DITTO what Carl said. Rick.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but, wasn't the design of the 2000GT originally intended to be for the 240Z but was rejected by Nissan as being too expensive ??????????????? If that is the case, it most certainly is not off topic. (I'd LOOooove to be right for a change). :surprised If I am. Rick. :devious: :devious: :devious:

G'Day there to all you Newbies. WELCOME. Yes, you'll find everyone to be friendly, informative, helpful, forgiving and patient. After all, they've put up with me for a couple of years now. Rick. :devious: :devious:

OOOhhhhh, Will. Two Eds are better than one ??????????????????????? wish I'd thought of that. :laugh: Rick. :cheeky: :cheeky:

HHMMMmmmmm, This could get confusing. Ed welcoming Ed. Maybe we need an Ed-1 and an Ed-2 ?????????????? Anyway Ed, WELCOME Ed ..............errrrrrrrr, or was that Ed ?????? Rick.

G'Day there Unkle, and welcome to the club. Well, ........there ya go. You asked your first question and received an immediate answer from Carl. That's what this club is all about mate, mutual interest, co-operation and advice from those more knowledgeable. Welcome and ENJOY. Rick.

Jerry, Simply get in touch with your local Nissan dealership mate. That's how I got the ORIGINAL colour code for my Zed. They just needed the engine number and body number. Rick.

When I went to Tasmania earlier this year, while we were waiting at the Sydney wharves to drive onto the boat, we went for a walk and, on one of the wharves nearby, there were a couple of cars, covered in a thick layer of dust, parked near the fence. I first noticed them on a previous trip to Sydney over TWO years ago and they were still there in March this year. Don't know what they were. Looked old though. Just thought you Sydneysiders might be intertested. Rick.

Lachlan, me young china plate, There's probably a Yank Colonel and a Major who still believe the story I told them of how the mail was delivered to the remote properties within the Shoalwater Training Area before the Army took over. Funny thing is........ way back then, they reckoned I was having them on when I described a platypus to them. Rick.

Check out Just Cars magazine. There's a few companies that have ads in there that import cars from the States. I'm surprised there are any left over there. Rick.