Sean Dezart

Z-priv, I see that is some surface rust - how far does it go ? Also, are you able to organise shipping it (to up your % of course)? Sean ps real sorry the car has to go !

Zvoiture - congrats for coming outa the closet and joining us pommie poofters ! BTW, I think that the choke(starter)lever is better angled for RHD than left but perhaps that's just how my fingers are bent ! zrally, so what does a '90s Capri look like - remember here in 'sophisticated' europe we don't see half of what's produced in the rest of the world ! I'd love a '67 vette but a Z beats it in almost every way except for how long the car has been produced which seems to be the crunch with most car snobs - they can't respect that for a small emerging mass market producer to throw out a car like the Z so soon was what helped make it an 'instant' classic ! When LOtus put out the 'new' Elan there was criticism of it being front wheel drive but it calmed - after all it was LOTUS ! Since then we've seen many performance pullers (as opposed to pushers), perhaps as a direct consequence of the touring car series of races ? Yeah me too I like early '70s 'sports cars/slaoon sports - perhaps we should start a new thread ?

Aah trs, someone IS curious after all. My car will be ready for the end of July, I collect it and will drive direct to Billing - the UKs 'annual Z convention'. I don't want to 'let the cat outa the bag' until then BUT i will inform you all about the car in August with photos. Nothing so dramatic as transplanting the in line with a Skyline engine but nize even so. Thanks for responding mate. Sean

Thanks Enrique - I think I'm gonna check out their site 'Angel Eyes' and see what the deal is - I'll feedback.

-I'm gonna tread carefully here - my 240 was too often mistaken for a CRAPri and this is a Z forum ! The UK series ran 4 pot 1300 cc engines, 1200 and 1500 (I think), 1600 and 2000. I believe at some point there was a V4 2.0 ? The continental market also ran 2.3 V6 and 2.6 sometimes in RS form) V6. The top of the range in all markets was the V6 3.0 and later the 2.8 V6. The Capri could be a lot of fun, in later cars you had to drive around with a sandbag in the boot (especially in the wet). Interms of price the Capri 3.0 just undercut the 240Z in the UK with a 4 speed and unsophisticated suspension, about the same bhp but a lot more torque. The starting image of the first Capris was young, trendy executive who wants a no frills sporty car for the weekend - it ended up as a wannabe car ! A car using the same running gear, the Reliant Scimitar had a classier image but a MUCH higher price tag. I believe anyone who bought a 240Z much as now wanted to be different (perhaps is already different), especially as at that time Jap imports were blamed for everything from cows milk running dry to the national debt. Whenever someone criticised me for driving Japanese, quoting what these cars did to our manufacturers, I just reply no-one forced the British to buy them - natural market conditions prevail - you buy the best for less ! A Z has a hard time with a lot of cars in straights lines (and sometimes approaching round-abouts after fast striaghts) but those bends and country lanes in 3rd !!!!!!!

Hey daddz, Don't say that about Alans' car, well everyone to thier taste. Me, I don't like G-noses ! The best G-nose I ever saw was on a 280 ZX ! There, I've said it but again that's what is so great about these cars, yes, the mystery, the different things people have done and tried over the years in varying degrees of taste and also the variety that left the factory ! It would be arrogant in the extreme to say that one model is better than another 'cos it has a higher level of trim or because another sold more. Before judging a car, judge the judges ! I begin to think that the 240 sold itself and wasn't really helped by Nissan or their seemingly hotspotch chain of dealers/importers ! It was only 'cos the car was so good and in several countries so cheap that there was that flood of demand - I'm not sure it was in response to the admen ! Certain publications getting their hands on one obviously did no end of good but word passed quickly.

Sorry about that - the cat walked over my keyboard ! The fact that the designs and prototypes were RHD just reflects the designers country of origin. After that, if the car was primariy for a LHD market, the design team together with the money men would redesign what was necessary to sell that car in that particular market. In this case the US and it was decided that the car would sell without the anti_sway bars, with a 4speed gearbox and without the nice rear diff. Maybe you guys over there weren't fussy enough or the current choice of car (and you can bet your a*** Nissan compared what was on offer) was still found to be inferior against the limited trim US HLS model ! So it can be said that the US Z was specifically made for the US market - but that is not exactly a reference (lacking so many goodies). Perhaps a coincidental reason why the Nissan competition parts dept. was set up and did so well over there and not in other Z markets. Certainly the dealers made extra money by selling 'options' on many Zs - why not Nissan too ? Enrique, the UK Z customers had to have a lot of spare cash at the time to buy their Zs - in Aussie land what did the Zs compete with price wise ? ps there is a French 240Z sitting forlorn in my garage, formerly the property of Fred which has a foot rest !

Gee, great thread - over the past few days I sipped several bottles of Pomerol in contemplation end re-education ! I strongly believe that the Z was created to be RHD (although Alan, the fact th

Thanks guys -yeah Enrique - it was your photo I saw. Are you pleased with them - what bulb power do you have, mods. necessary to standard wiring and if it's not too indiscreet, how much did you pay ?

HI all, In a response to a lighting query, someone downloaded a photo of their front lights which look very similar to those on a new BMW 5series. I 'll explain: at the outer EDGE ONLY of the SIDELIGHT is a circular beam of light. Please would that person email me the photo again with details on how to get hold of lights like that for my 240 ! Thanks, Sean BTW I solved my steering wheel void - I bought a Nardi but I'm not using a Datsun boss - why ? I can't tell you yet but you're gonna love it (the purists won't though!).

Hey Enrique - I love it, whip Alan again (he loves it too!). So perhaps, all you poor isolated (ignorant?) Left hookers had better get over to an Aussie or UK Z meet and be educated on the 'flick 'o the (left) wrist' style of driving ?

Permit me to digress slightly (and Fred will like this one Alan), Was it a factory option or home market standard item to have a passenger foot rest ? If so, are there bolt holes on both LHD and RHD passenger foot-wells ? If not, did Nissan really expect owners/dealers to drill holes ? Sean

"Did Nissan think it was not important enough to make both LHD and RHD handbrake positions and their appropriate consoles? " Money Alan, just money !

If you are talking about just using the turbo engine (without the turbo), write to Dave Jarmen of DJ Road and Race: david.jarman@bt.com He's building me an engine and I've seen the rolling road print outs of similar spec engines and it's not far from 300 bhp ! Photo (I hope) enclosed !

Thanks for the advice ES. That way, Fred will be able to follow me that much easier ! Still no pussys here ?

You want cats - go check out a Jag club site !

Dry Alan ? Don't change - you entertain me enough on circuits ! Anyway, if you want to wet it down - come over for a Club Zen weekend and help us promote these cars to the French ! I never found the handbrake to "get in my way" in a RHD car and I aint lookin' forward to driving LHD and leaning over to pull a tendon to apply and release the brake ! I for one stand up to be counted and say - the Z was built as it was to be a multi market car (certainly in terms of interior size and equipment levels) ! I agree Alan that it was as much coincidence that there existed other RHD markets. The Japanese domestic cars were not inferior, they were tailor made for their market (eg car tax over 2000cc), windier roads (sporty diff and anti roll bars). Remember that the Japanese are experts at cornering Niche markets ! Finally, the Zs were not designed exclusively for the States. That you guys received lower equipment levels (perhaps in part due to you had the cars at the beginning early evolutive stages) jsut proves that your dometic manufacturers couldn't compete and the european imports were either overpriced or couldn't match the poor (by other market standards) levels of equipment / performance ! You all basically took what was offered and the marketing was so good (hats off to Mr K and also the racing programmes) that it sold !

Jaguars also had this 'umbrella' type of handbrake but there was no specific pedal to operate it - one simply depressed the brake pedal, pulled on the lever and turned it to engage the handbrake ! If there was an effect on the UK car market from the importation of Japanese cars, it might possibly have been the installing of more extras such as a heated rear screen, a heater, a radio and eventually - an electric ariel !

Alan, I just got hit by all the other (RHD) responses and something you said made me react. Here in France, the French manufacturers loads their export cars with extras sometimes never seen on domestic models or, at the least are costly extras. Can't we assume that Nissan did the same with the Z ? Rather than quote the ZL and other models as models made cheaper for the Japanese market (because of the tax cutoffs?), shouldn't we be saying that the export markets got the top of the range domestic model (432 excepted - is that synthetic or mineral oil change?) ? Big mistake not to have at least exported a limited number of Skylines to each country and let the motoring journalists have a go. This dreary Datsun image would have been shortlived ! Fred, if you speak nicely to Steve, he'll sell you his 200 brake 1983 Skyline !

Alan, Your (mass) debates are dry but informative - especially to the owners who've accepted 'that's what I've got - it sold by the thousands so it must be right (even if it does give me a frozen shoulder every time I want to hang a sharp turn) '. Personally, my favourite way of taking a sharp turn was to point the front wheels more or less in the direction desired then squirt the gas - she's such a lovely car to drive and you always know what's happening. I've been out in her in the snow - yes, sacriledge but, dammit, it's such fun and the car will wheel spin in a STRIAGHT line, no fish-tailing ! I want to pose a question though, being a new to LHD zedding, has anyone tried to mount the handbrake on the drivers side - how much work is involved ? No purist thought please, the car is already well past the original concours stage ! Over to you, fifth columnist !

2manyZs, your anecdote on your girlfriends' legs reminds me of a poll I once read: 100 mem were questioned on thier preferences, 22 % said they liked short legs and 33 % long legs - the rest preferred something in between ! I never understood why you staters call it an emergency brake - what are you going to do in an emergency , pull it up and spin off the road ? In all the TV programmes and films, I always see the cars rock forward as the driver sticks it in gear or 'park' where the locking bolts slide across into the transmission / wheels or whatever ! I also am disappointed that I can't cruise comfortably with my arm outa the window. I nearly always drove with the window open to hear the exhaust - even in the rain 'cos with the guttering, rain hardly ever came in ! Another pleasure is that (and it's been a while since I drove a Z) I don't remember a blind spot with the 'A' pillar. In fact I always found the all-round visibility to be excellent, even when driving my RHD in France for example. Alan, you 'agent provocateur' you, there is no right or wrong side, they built it like that and that's that. Someone obviously asked "which side should it be put on ?" And we all know the answer ! But reading the replies, as it is high on the tranny tunnel, and it is less of a struggle to let off the high handbrake when it's closer, maybe that plus the fact that the domestic market drives on the rhd side.... After all, cars made by a native company are usually made to conform to the domestic market first before exports !

Thanks Alan - so these were put on by the French authorities at port entry or perhaps by Nissan under State control ? I'd like to reply privately to your last question but your private message box is full and I can't find your email address sakit..... You can't be in the UK at the moment, or perhaps you sleep less than me ! Cheers

Hi Zedrally, I've done the same and I am very surprised that no-one has OR CAN answer my question. Anyone ? Alan...?