26th-Z

In the safe-deposit box.

Post # 19 this thread

Well that would be my first question; if they were repainted, what color were they when the came off the boat? Then there is the liability issue of selling a new car that has been repainted. Can you imagine what it would take to repaint the engine bay, for instance? The shipment repair I'm talking about would be for minor scratches / damages incurred during shipping.

Mike, My old thread was about ash trays, not the console. I agree with the pictures you posted but keep in mind that the finish on top of the chrome is old. Of course it would look gray compared to new. I'll have to go dig mine out of the box. And I agree that the map light (circumcized) and radio face plate were molded of gray plastic, but I do not agree that they were mismatched with the rest of the black interior. Hmmm...may be throwing me a loop. 26th came with the hand throttle and 27th's was either removed or never installed. All the mechanism is gone and it has been obviuosly molested.

Yes, the optional wheels do not appear to be part of the appearance / decor package. I wrote to a couple of sources that would know about the respray issue and one has replied that the S211 and SP213 Fairladys were repainted as required because of the color combination of interior / exterior. So far, to the best of my knowledge, only shipment repair painting was made in California for this conversation.

I would bet that Kats added the stickers. Both of my '69ers do not have stickers or any trace that they were once there.

I don't have an answer about the emission control standards, but British imports in 1970 had smog pump / air injection. Carl is correct - all S30 US imports (not the Canadian cars evidently) had smog pumps. Only the California imports had fuel vapor systems.

Hello all! Comment about the gray plastic interior / console pieces. They were molded in gray plastic and painted black. There is no such thing as a gray interior. If you see gray, the black finish has rubbed off.

Check out this tread http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31271&page=3&highlight=240Z+sale+values

I'll be there.

I'm not here to knock the rules but rather tip my hat to the people who put in the hard work to write them in the first place. I first judged a ZCCA natonal convention in Long Beach five or so years ago and have judged or chaired the judging every year since. I have judged three major regional events - chairing one of them - and conducted three judging schools. In my yonger days, I was a nationally licensed SCCA scrutineer. I am now part of the ZCCA car show committee as co-chair with Fred Buoni of the stock classes. Some months ago, our committee chair Paul Hollander asked to review the rules in an effort to clear up the definitions of the various categories - stock, street modified, Nissan modifed, ultra modified, and daily driver. He also asked to add the 370Z model. So, I found the original WORD file and started editing. I hope to make a presentation at the Board meeting in San Antonio and ask for adoption of the revisions. That's the reasoning behind my quieries as well as my direction. All this conversation for that one paragraph! Here's where I'm at; "The guidelines by which an object is evaluated validate the significance of the award and I would like to see the ZCCA awards ranked amongst the highest of automotive recognition". How's that?

He was emphasizing the three Zs in Zzzap, or ZZZap depending on how you pronounce it, so that I wouldn't mis-speel the term. And I don't want to go overboard on the seriousness of this topic. It seems the cars are peculiar to the North American market - fine. I'm just going to have to buckle down and search through the archives more to see what I can gleem. Here is what the ZCCA judging rules say; "* Special Note: In 1975-1978, Nissan took 280Z cars from the U.S, port of entry, repainted them and added specialty wheels at a factory in Long Beach, California. While being offered to dealers as special, they are considered STOCK. These were also offered by Nissan in nationwide advertising. The most common paint was black with special red striping." I want to clarify that ruling statement and I want to decide what to write as I am in a position to do so. That's my motivation for all this conversation. Thanks for the tip on the literature. The place I'm referring to is Lindbergh Co. Ltd. I'll look your suggestion up, Alan.

Oh, I'm so glad to see you. Carl is in Georgia for the weekend. We can talk freely! Can you shed any light on my questions? My appologies if this subject has been kicked to death previously. I don't seem to find what I'm looking for and what I find isn't accuarate - or at least I'm not convinced. BTW, I stumbled across a source in Tokyo to buy Japanese motoring literature. Pricey! Just ordered "Great Cars Memory - Fairlady Z".

Nice car. Thanks, Mike! I'm prodding the tender spot for a couple of reasons; the first being the ZCCA judging rules. I judged a 638, '78 280Z in the last couple of conventions. I also judged a Black Pearl or two. Wouldn't you imagine that the 'Special Decor Appearance Package' was applied / installed AFTER it arrived on American shores? Were the 411 and 638 colors available anywhere else in the world? And what about something I heard several years ago that the cars were actually painted in the US? In other words, how did they leave 'the factory'? Were these "promotional cars' available anywhere else in the world?

Carl, you crack me up and I am so sorry that I will miss the Mitty with you. Please work on your thoughts about next year and I'm in! Could be too much fun. FYI - Sarasota isn't what you think. You should come visit instead of making me do all the driving! Of course, any excuse for a road trip eh? But many many thanks for doing all that typing and expaining those ads. I noticed all the same stuff. Let me post them here. One ad implies to introduce the '77 model year 280Z with more Zzzap. The other specifies the special decore package available for the 411 sunburst yellow color, dated April 1977. The Zhome paint swatch page identifies the 411 paint color specific to the '77 model year and shows it with the Zzzap decore package. I would like to see more information, specifically if the 411 paint color could be purchased without the decore package as in the case of the Black Pearl. Ok, allow me a Beckism, please...Zzap = oops! my bad! Would you not agree that 'decore" and 'appearance' especially in this case, are synonymous? Point being, the Black Pearl was a '78 280Z color 638 with an optional package just as a Zzzap was a '77 280Z color 411 with an optional package.

Well then, point me to the explanation in the archives. I'll be damned if I can find it. All I find are pictures of incorrect Zzaps - Zzaps with painted valve covers, Zzaps with G-noses, Zzaps with the wrong wheels, etc. And the deal is that for the last couple of years I have seen / judged 280Zs with nothing more than the paint in the stock class. Now, Carl contends that the Black Pearl could be purchased without the stripes, mirrors, louvers, etc. However, every piece of Datsun literature I can find describes the Zzap as including all this stuff. Then Carl says; "The SAP option was only available on the Black Pearl edition." So if the Zzap yellow 411 could be purchased without the SAP, I want to point out to Carl that he is wrong once again and that he owes me $1,000;)

So...clear this up for me, please. The BP came with or without the SAP. Does that include the stripe or not? Did the stripe come optionally? Now what about the '77 280 Z Zzap? Did it come only with the stripe and SAP? Otherwise it's just a yellow 280 Z, or is the yellow a specific color to the ZZap? Paint code 411

Arnie, It has been just recently that I have picked up on the "tribute" word. And my understanding is that a "licensed tribute" from BRE has only happened within the last couple of years. The BRE web site has not been up very long. I may be wrong, but I remember when Ron Carter built his 240Z "tribute" (his threads should be in the archives) and I don't recall his project being called a tribute. Rather, a replica. I'ld like to hear his comments on this. Datsun / BRE Interpart offered a Trans-Am "tribute" package and we discussed this some time back when this literature was on eBay and this car was on eBay. It is my understanding that the optional equipment offered in this literature would be what is considered a 'tribute' and that we move on to the term 'replica' beyond that. The first time I heard about a licensed tributation from BRE was not that long ago and I think it was Ron Carter who explained it. I also want to point out that the 240Z version of the gear shift knob emblem is pure fabrication and was never an Interpart / BRE item to the best of my knowledge. I have both the gear shift emblem and grill badge, however.

Oh...and scuttlebutt has it that the reserve is $39,900.

Interesting comment but I would suggest that the ZR moniker for a performance prepared version is exactly the reference to the competition history. Another example of the shambles is the reference Carl made to HLS30-98389. This car does not appear to be in the VZ standard however it has the dash plaque and it was sitting in the warehouse with the rest of them. And as the story goes...Mr. Evanow had to go to the warehouse to see what the VIN numbers were? Ahhh...?

It should be noted that some cars were "customized" at the time of restoration. With all the buzz about the modifications, two cars come to mind and I believe they are HLS30-08808 and HLS30-29247. Neither Carl nor I have confirmed ownership records for these cars but I believe they are pictured below. One is the 240Z-R noted in Evanow's book and the other was custom built for Keith Crane, publisher at the time of "Autoweek". Keith's car had a custom suspension, cam, and polished valve cover. Keith's car was built by Pierre. The detailing of the Z-R is similar and I think it had these seats because of pictures I have from "Datsun Alley". I saw these seats for sale on eBay some time ago with a car that supposedly sold as a VZ but unfinished.

This is indeed one of the missing cars from my list and I'll have to dig through my records to see if I can find anything more about it. CDM did very few restorations; two if I recall correctly. In all probability, this is a Pierre.

Terry, From everything I can find, the American HLS30-U came with bumper rubbers. It also came with the uprights and I think the guards are unique to our American version as much as the red side-marker lights. I'm not certain about the HS30 but the S30 and PS30 are shown in the picture with rubbers - the S30-S without. The North American test cars had rubbers and both my owner's manuals show rubbers. I would say that if you are trying to go original stock original with your restoration, you need rubbers. Chris

And Datsun logos on Japanese race cars

Cool video. I did not know about it. I guess they made six cars. Also wanted to point out that Beck's car is in Autoweek, Vol. 59, Issue 8, 20 April 2009, the Amelia Island article.