Mike

I really got into following the Peking to Paris Rally when Chris Bury and his father built a car for the rally.

A great link to the cars located at the Heritage Museum in Japan. INCLUDING many safari cars. https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE_COLLECTION/fairlady_z.html

Wanted to share and archive this great article from The Gentleman Racer. Datsun 240Z Rally CarsbyMichael Satterfield 6 years ago 2 mins read We stopped in to visit the Datsun 240Z Rally Cars at the Nissan Heritage Center in Japan; for more from our visit to Japan, CLICK HERE. In the early 70s, Nissan wanted to make a splash in the international sports car world with its new 240Z; while famous road racing teams like BRE were becoming a force in SCCA racing, much of the world saw Rally as the ultimate test of a car’s endurance, so from 1970-1973 Nissan backed factory rally teams in some of the most grueling and prestigious races in the world. Rally had been dominated by European cars like the Volkswagen Beetle, Peugeot 404, Mini Cooper, and Ford Escort for over 20 years. However, Nissan and their Datsun 240Z Rally Cars would be the first Japanese manufacturer to challenge the old guard and win. Nissan’s first overall win was at the Safari Rally in 1970, with the Datsun 1600 SSS Rally car driven by Edgar Herrmann and Hans Schüller. They repeated their success in 1971 in a Datsun 240Z rally car. Nissan would be the first manufacturer to win back-to-back victories in Over-All Victory, Class Victory, Team Victory, and Manufactures Championship at the Safari Rally. In 1972, Mitsubishi won with their new Lancer 1600 GSR, but Shekhar Mehta and Lofty Drews brought home the win again for Nissan in 1973 in a Datsun 240Z rally car. While East Africa is hot, dusty, and wild, Monte Carlo is a completely different kind of rally, teams start from nine different European cities for the first stage headed to Monte Carlo, from there the stages take the teams from the coast of the Mediterranean into the hills of the French countryside. The final stage is a 12-hour overnight race through the icy roads of the Alps. The ice and darkness make it one of the most difficult stages in the world of rally racing. The first year Nissan finished 2nd in class and fifth overall, in 1972 Nissan saw a podium with a third overall finish, and in 1973 the team finished ninth overall. It wouldn’t be until 1990 that a Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 would bring an overall win at the Monte Carlo Rally home to a Japanese manufacturer. The Southern Cross Rally ran from 1966-1980 and was held in New South Wales. Australia was an important export market for Nissan and the factory had been supporting motorsports since the mid-50s, so it was no surprise that the Datuns 240Z rally campaigned Down Under. The rally started in Hyde Park, Sydney, and followed the coastline towards Port Macquarie. The bulk of the stages were at night with just two daylight stages, the total distance of the race in 1972 was just under 2,000 miles. Dan White has an amazing album of period photos, including lots of great shots of the Datsun 240Z. You have to check out HERE. While Nissan 240Z never won the Southern Cross overall, in 1971, Datsuns took fifth and sixth overall, and in 1972, the team took first in class and second overall. 1973, the best a Datsun 240Z rally could muster was an eighth place overall. Nissan later dominated the Southern Cross from 1977-198,0, winning overall victories with the Datsun 710 and Stanza rally cars. Today, many of the original rally cars are kept in the Nissan Heritage Collection at the Zama Operation Center in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The collection can be visited most days between 10 AM-12 PM and 2 PM-4 PM, and there are only 40 visitors at a time. You must make an appointment to tour the collection. Enjoy more photos from our visit to the Nissan Heritage Collection to see the Datsun 240Z Rally Cars below: Historic Photos Courtesy of Nissan Heritage Archives

I'm not a huge fan of the left menu, either. The top drop-downs seem to be the defacto standard for websites.

Hey guys, yes the biggest challenge is competing with the social media sites. As I've been thinking about our approach I want this place to continue and promote our strength. Our strength is our knowledge and large database of ideas and experience. This comes in the form of information and users who are pro's at what we do. I am far from a social media guy but it doesn't hurt to try new ideas. The best ideas will stick. In an effort to remain relevant in our purpose, we need to keep up with our code. Some of the new ideas that I've tried over the past several months is a result of new software features. Today I implemented a new idea putting the menu on the left side (desktop users only). Let me know what you think. I've also gone back to the traditional forum views since it seems nobody really likes the hybrid 'feed' views on the main page. I agree the subforum navigation (with checkboxes) was pretty confusing so I also reverted back to the traditional format. If it works better, then I think we should stick with what we are good at. Our content was based on a forum view, so that's what I'll stick to. This place will always remain free to browse. New members are no longer required to pay money to join. I originally did that about a year ago to protect our members from fraudulent accounts and scams. As you can tell, we have been seeing an uptick in spam bot accounts so I need you to continue helping me identify those. We do have an anti-spam account check but some bots have gotten through. However, if we can make this place easier for legit new members, it's a risk I'm willing to take. Lastly, guys remember this place costs me money every month. I've been doing my best to keep ads at a bare minimum but it will be impossible to exist without them. I've also got a good relationship with MSA but I have a feeling they will be focusing on the forums that bring in real sales this year. So we have to prove we are worthy of their support. Our interests are very similar, we are the go-to online resource for the Classsic Z, and they are the go-to resource for parts. I appreciate all of your feedback and have made adjustments as result. Let's keep up the healthy feedback and we can continue forward. As I learn new programming techniques, I'm sure there will be more. ;) Mike

FYI, I left the forum main page alone but I changed the subforums so they no longer have the checkboxes. While the checkboxes were useful I think it was too confusing. Subforums will now use the traditional forum layout.

The new changes are mostly to try and bring the forum together into a central place to encourage interaction. Much like a social media site. I am on the fence. As you mentioned the topics list has been the best addition so far. As I look at the overall state of forums like ours in general, their biggest benefit is their ability to keep historical data. While social media is taking over the 'live' activity, they just don't have the capability to keep information archived for future generations.

Hey all, just wanted to get some feedback on a few new features of the club. Feel free to vote but also reply with your opinions. There are two new features: Forum main page - This is a 'feed' view showing only the latest topics as a summary. In order to enter a subforum you need to click on the text below the main image (left side). See Screenshot. Forum Category - This is another 'feed' view but it has checkboxes on the right side showing filters. This view treats main categories as if they were a single forum with subcategories. Here's the main forum page: And here's the view showing a forum with subcategories (note the checkboxes on the right) N

Yeah interesting to watch your baby during this auction! Hope you can get to the reserve mark. A few more days to know for sure! But hey I am partial to the color... not sure what this guy has against yellow.. lol

If you want to go 14" wheels (most people are doing 15" or 16" now): MSA Has the Konig Rewind, which is a 15" though VTO Wheels has a 14" Classic 8. Do a search on the website for either wheel or check out our wheels/tires thread. Mike

Yeah, I just noticed the pics are gone from that website. That's why I encourage everyone to take photos and upload them here, so we can refer back to them. Maybe he's watching the thread and will get a notice (if his account is still active) so he can come back and upload the photos directly... or even provide an updated photo. ;) Mike

Image for the topic.

I want that cone.

Blue-Ze, good luck with the sale, they look clean. You may want to consider lowering the price a bit because I've noticed a freshly rebuilt set is around $950 USD.

Another post on our website here about it:

Here's a page from the 'fiche showing the part number. Looks like 76818-T3000 (or 78818-T3000)

I did some searching on this as well, nothing comes up. Do you have the original part number from the microfiche?