26th-Z

Alan, Just a poke of Z fun and I know exactly what you speak about. Over the past few years, I have taken great delight from learning about the cars that never arrived in America and thus what made the American exports the popular cars they came to be. I find it highly ironic that a society so engrossed in options and luxuries received the basic stripped down version and point to this as evidence of how unsure Nissan was of their world marketing ideas at the time. Thanks for posting the pages of model information again. My last post came from those references. It seems I have made a mistake. I said that the correct way to designate the HLS30 U was with a space as the parts manuals I have indicate such for the four-speed transmission type. However, to answer Dan's question I see the information typed differently on the only source I have indicating the U, UV, and UN suffix. I'll have to go looking for the other thread you speak about, Alan. Research through the parts manuals will provide evidence of the various parts associated with the Canadian and California variants. Chris

Enrique, Alan is only partly correct with his "encompassing" description of the HLS30U. I would never jump down Alan's case like he does to me about something like this. I'm what is know as "rice rocket appreciative" and take his comments within the intent of his conversation. Happy New Year, Alan! The HLS30 U is the general designation of the cars exported to North America. The HLS30 UN went to Canada. The HLS30 UV was specifically sold in California and because of the numbers of cars sold in California, probably makes up the configuration of most of the cars we see. The plain HLS30 U, like 26th, is the standard "Federal" car imported in the United States. I have the papers from 26th. She was imported in Jacksonville. If 27th was imported in New Jersey, she would be an HLS30 U also. Few know that I also own 403rd and in all probablility was an HLS30 UN. Generally speaking, the difference is that the UNs got higher amp generators and starters and the UV cars had different emmissions parts. HLS30 Us that came equipped with an automatic transmission were HLS30AUs, or HLS30AUVs, or HLS30AUNs. The five-speed transmission was designated with the letter F which would derive a designation along the lines of HLS30FU. For the four-speed equipped North American export version the correctest way to type the designation would be with a space indication such as HLS30 U. 26th's correct title is HLS30 U-00026. So! The "other" model designations came the same way and as much as Alan has tried to explain it to me, I am confused as hell also! The S30 and the HS30 came in two variations based on finished trim; what we would consider "options", not export destination. The "ZL" we speak about is a description of the delux version which included such items as headlight covers, 8-track player, foot rest, carpet, etc. The S30 and the HS30 were fitted with five-speeds and the delux finish whereas the S30S was fitted with the four-speed and no "options". It is the S30S which most resembles the HLS30 U. The HS30s came with a five-speeds. The same suffix A indicates the automatic trans. The PS30 and PS30SB represent the Z432 with an S20 engine in delux format and racing version accordingly. The "ZG" is similarly designated HS30H and HS30HA. Note that there is no HS30HS. One only got the delux version in either five-speed or automatic. Hope that helps.

Will, That picture I sent to you was just the only picture I had available of an early seat belt buckle. It didn't come off 26th. And the reason I took the picture was because of the oddity - a later date on an early buckle. Chris

Just got my calendar from the Z Car Club of Northern Virginia. I am in the September picture judging the Gold Medalion winner from the Dallas convention. It's a real nice club calendar with a lot of member cars from this club.

The matchbook texture you describe, Dan, is the result of lacquer paint.

You are correct, the color name is Racing Green and it would be very difficult to compare it to the obscure terminology of "British Racing Green" other than to say, yes, it's the same. 907 is correctly described - http://zhome.com/History/ZColorGallary/index.html The Racing Green color scheme came with both black and butterscotch (tan) interior.

Same thing Dan just said. And yea, they are all from Japan...Merry Christmas, Alan!

I was surprised to see your figure as low as it is, Tom, but you hit all the high points including the two "grand statements"! I would comment to throw in the cost of a trailer and tow vehicle, spare wheels and tires, supplies. F Prepared today is very much like what F Production was to me years ago when Zs were in C Production. I marvel at what it would cost me to go road racing today. Good answer!

The Z is a world class sports car. A sports GT. Always has been. Still is. It has an incredible history - world wide. A great deal of that history is the "American story". My special greetings to Kats from whom I always enjoy hearing! I like to think that the line between what we "believe" is a grey shadow of a line and most around this web site talk about the American version simply for ease of discussion purposes. It is easy to loose sight of the big picture as most of us have only the local cars to deal with. Local issues. Local questions. However, one cannot escape the big picture if we are to discuss the peculiarities of our local cars. It is true that Nissan was seeking to expand its market to significant export around the time of the Z conception, however when one considers just exactly how the North American export cars were configured, the whole idea that the Z was intended soley for American consumption blows off the wings of a kite. In this thread, "Series" can have a deeper meaning when all the elements of design and marketing thought are taken into consideration. We don't have any clear records to point to. We have a lot of evidence to present in our particular point of view. We even prioritise our evidence to strengthen our case. So be it. We see all sorts of build peculiarities for all sorts of reasons and it is a gas to sit around and discuss them. Clear glass, hatch vents, chassis reinforcement, sway bar mounts etc. all come with a stronger meaning when consideration is given to the whole group - the whole "family". S30, S30-S, PS30, HS30, and HLS30. Personally, I just can't get over why we didn't get the ZL, the 432, or the ZG. Cry'n shame.

The headlight covers and fog lamps are not stock

Thank you, Alan. I'm flattered. Will, the elephant (I believe) represents what I know as The Elephant Oil Company but may be the Indian Oil Company. It is common for automotive manufacturers to endorse a brand of lubrication for their products and that is what I think the elephant is all about. No one has ever confirmed this with me but I think this is some history of the company represented in your parts book and on the oil cap. I believe the "Safari Commemorative" / Ebay jargon is crap and the oil cap is the IOC logo. Assam Oil Company Ltd. (AOC) was one of the earliest enterprises in the world engaged in exploration and production of oil. Oil was discovered in Digboi in northeastern part of Assam in 1889 by Assam Railway & Trading Company (Originally formed with the object of drilling for oil, later on Assam Oil Company was created to carry out exploration work in Assam and adjoining areas), which established the predecessor company to AOC that was later acquired by Burmah Oil Company Ltd.(BOC), founded 1896, which played a major role in the oil industry in South Asia for about a century through its subsidiaries and in discovery of oil in the middle east though its significant interest in British Petroleum, and also discovered Yenangyaung Oil Field in 1897 and, in 1901, discovered Chauk (Singu) Oil Field, both in Myanmar. Assam Oil Company was taken over by the BOC in 1910, and between 1910 and 1930, the BOC carried out extensive exploration work in Assam and adjoining areas. In 1937, BOC, Royal Dutch/Shell, and Anglo Iranian Oil Co applied for exploration licensee in India and started geophysical survey. Due to World War II, all activities were suspended. Assam Oil is now a division of Indian Oil. It seems so matter of course to recognize the whole family of Z cars and the first thread makes no distinction which is why I made my initial comments, moonpup. There is no question we are talking about a slang and I believe everyone understands that because we understand the "whole family" concept. Your comments made me wonder. I plan to visit a RHD Fairlady this weekend and will take this conversation in mind for a further look at the Japanese Z.

Carl, I recall talking with Kats about the reason the hatch vents changed to the B pillar location. From notes during the North American tests, the hatch vents filled up with ice. Matsuo san discussed this with me in Long Beach.

Hey thefastestz, we have the same birthdays. 907 racing green would have been an appropriate color and only the ZG came in maroon. As Carl pointed out, this is only an HLS30 with all sorts of parts on it. Personally, if I had gone to all this trouble, I would have shaved the rear marker lights and I would have used a plain Fairlady emblem on hatch instead of "Fairlady Z / 240Z". But to each his own. I DO like the direction the guy took with customiZing his Z - plan a similar approach, as I said - and admire some of the odd parts. The hand throttle / choke knobs are the later style. Did you notice the parking light switches? From the looks of it, this could be a very nice car. Somebody go look at it and give us a full report!

That's a lot like what I plan to do with Her Majesty - Watanabes and headlight covers.

The very early cars came with an interior valance without the tail light access holes. The dome light trim in the headliner is not notched for cars equipped with clear hatch glass. As there were no wires to connect to the defroster, the notch for the wire in the plastic cover is not present. The switch plate for the defrosters has a blanking plug in the center console. On and on.... Oh! Great one! Early cars had only one stop on the door spring mechanism. Not two stops like we usually see. It is very rare to find a one stop door hinge. They were weak and wore out easily.

Carl, I just wanted to get the slang out in the open and alert the crowd to the fact that Nissan offered aerodynamic devices on the Z. I think Car and Driver missed the boat on the "chin" spoiler. Obviously, no matter how small, it has some effect. So I don't subscribe to what they said. Poor journalism, in my opinion. Glad to hear that headlight covers decrease drag. How many miles of driving do you think it will take to pay off the amount I paid for them?

Nice conversation and a couple of comments; This conversation is limited to American import HLS30 versions and we should make it clear that similar variations encompass the home market cars and other exports. In those cases, parts and accessories never included with the American exports are included in this subject. After discovering what the differences are between the various model years we got, it is fun to explore what the rest of the world got. Her Majesty will sport some of those differences. The subject is quite wide. Zhome has a pretty darn good explanation of our production changes, but indeed, parts were used up in production across the official change date. That seems to be quite common. In the case of my early cars, certain parts were used that were part of the prototype development as well as standard parts from other cars - like the roadster - seat belts and ignition systems, for instance. The parts themselves changed during their production runs and we see evidence of various manufacturing changes not necessarily associated with a specific model change. The screws holding on the face plate of the speedometer (early, early) are slotted type and not phillips. I own three distictly different series one air cleaners. So this is a great subject and can get quite trivial. I know Carl is collecting photographs to establish a "concours" reference. Post pictures!

Ben Millspaugh wrote a wonderful article about aerodynamics in the March / April and Summer 1995 issues of Z Car magazine. As much as I admire the effort going on over at HybridZ, and I will keep up with their reports, I don't suspect much new ground will be broken. In my opinion, it is going to be difficult to beat the stock Nissan front spook and rear spoiler - ala BRE to us "Mericns" call them. Should be an interesting project.

Sorry to come into this so late. The engine comp. ID plate is attached with phillip head screws and the door jamb ID plate is riveted with an aluminum rivet smaller than 1/8" diameter - obviously metric size. The plates for 27th are the same however they are still on the car.

These scans from the latest issue of Sportscar magazine

Thanks for the link, Arne. At first, I was quite skeptical, but after reading the Triad article and then realizing who wrote it, I find validity in what appears to be outright craziness. Learn something new every day!

I second the recommendation for Norm Murphy.

I would have to agree with you on this one, Carl. From what I have seen recently, and I'm not paying close attention like I used to, choice cars far superior to this auction example are trading privately. I am just astounded at what I have seen lately.

Oh, now you got me jealous, Will. I finally found a red dot, Mark!

I have two Z friends with convertibles and I think the 240Z looks sharp topless. A stabilizer bar across the rear shock towers would easily solve the chassis stability issue and depending on how well the body was done, what condition the rag top is in, as well as the rest of the car, $5,700 could be a deal for a very interesting and attractive Z modification.