Datsun 240/260/280Z model chart poster

[G]

Z-BAIT: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/53266-the-primadonna-z-story-56k/

 

Should probably be added to the Ugly Car thread as well..

[gav240z]

Best thing that could happen to it.

 

 

 

In my opinion...

 

Don't worry Alan it will rear it's ugly head again in the form of an eBay ad that will read something like this:

 

 

What you are looking at is a Nissan factory sponsored redesign of the Datsun 240z and a significant car in Z-car history.  This is your chance to own a unique piece of classic Japanese car history. The Primadonna Z-car was improved in every way over the original Z with a full custom front end and a bigger better V8 engine that put out . These were even faster than the legendary Scarab Z conversion.

 

This car was personally signed by Mr K the grandfather of the Zeee Car yehhhaww!! Adding umpteen million dollars to it's total value. Mr K was responsible for the Z-car success and has fully endorsed and approved of the Primadonna Z-car himself.

 

The red Primadonna was missing for many years, and this is a true barn find that will bring joy for many years and only go up in collector value. It's been immaculately preserved and a recent details reveals many original details of this car remain intact.

 

Make your Zee Car friends jealous with this 1 of a kind Zeee Car!

 

Of course the starting bid will be $80,000 USD, with a buy it now of $150,000.

 

Feeling sick yet?

[Mr Camouflage]

I like it for its wacky, out there, bat mobile, 80's califonian drug induced crazyness. If lamborghini was asked to do an 80's Z, I think it would have looked something like that.

[Riceburner]

I'd love to see/buy one showing all the different race/rally cars 

[gav240z]

I'd love to see/buy one showing all the different race/rally cars 

 

+1 - I'd love to see something that celebrates the unique models along with some of the significant race and competition cars. The North American market received some of the most bland offerings compared with what the other markets received. I'm not a huge fan of the 280z Zap or the Black Pearl editions. I think they're still relevant but compared to the earlier Z cars like the rally cars, the 432, 432-R, Fairlady 240zg which had unique parts and designs these were just a paint scheme.

 

 

[AndrewCarGuy]

Hi everyone, been raining here in Melbourne for the past several days, but I feel for the folks up north getting hit by a cyclone!  I planted some broccoli and carrots on Sunday and they have already sprouted.  Work and a newborn have been keeping me quite busy lately so I haven't had much time to work on this poster but it is getting some attention in my spare time.

 

Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions and comments/feedback on my proposal.  Please understand that I am still learning about the whole early Z car world, so I don't mean to annoy anyone or entire countries by leaving out certain cars.

 

I've decided to "upgrade" this poster to a 20-car poster format to include more cars on it.  I've done this before with my Ford XA/XB/XC model chart and my Holden HK/HT/HG/HQ/HJ/HX/HZ Monaro model chart, and still have room for a large blurb of introductory text and labels, years and text for each specific car.  I also have a Ford Falcon GT/FPV GT model chart with 24 cars on it, but that only has a few specs under each car as there is less room.  So 20 is the most I am going to go for this poster, and so each car can have a write-up as well.

 

HS30-H, your comments certainly made me think about the planned line-up, and I have now massaged it into the following (the order will be perfected in time).  Note that some cars may not be the year they debuted, in this case it's simply to show a spread of different years.  The text under the cars mention the year they arrived.  And, like all my model charts, each new year depicted on the poster discusses changes made for that year.

 

01. 1969 North American 240Z

02. 1969 Fairlady Z432

03. 1970 BRE #46

04. 1970 Fairlady Z432R

05. 1971 East Africa Rally #11

06. 1971 Japanese police

07. 1971 Fairlady ZG

08. 1972 North American 240Z with dealer accessories

09. 1972 Monte Carlo Rally #5

10. 1973 North American 240Z with T-top and maybe another accessory

11. 1973 East Africa Rally #1

12. 1974 North American 260Z

13. 1974 Scarab

14. 1974.5 North American 260Z

15. 1974.5 North American 260Z 2/2

16. 1975 North American 280Z

17. 1977 North American 280Z

18. 1977 Zap

19. 1978 Black Pearl

20. 1972 Z-BAIT re-painted red

 

I am thinking of replacing position 17 with a car from another market country (eg. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc) since the Zap shows what a 1977 North American model looks like with the later bumpers.

 

I might also mention that I sell these as 19x13" matte prints normally, but if I can arrange about 40 sales to "launch it" then I can outlay the cost of getting them professionally printed in thicker, larger and glossy A2 size, and they will be cheaper then my own printed versions.  So something to think about when this is ready to be offered as a poster.

[d3c0y]

Might as well put a 250GTO kit in there too if you are putting that Z-BAIT monstrosity in there.

[Mr Camouflage]

 

17. 1977 North American 280Z

 

I am thinking of replacing position 17 with a car from another market country (eg. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc) since the Zap shows what a 1977 North American model looks like with the later bumpers.

 

Off the top of my head, I nominate the 1973 UK (Euro?) spec 240Z. It has different front turn signal locations, front spoiler (and rear view mirrors? or are they after market?)

eg http://www.rigsofrods.com/images/imported/2013/06/datsunLarge-1.jpg

 

And delete Z BAIT and replace it with Big Sam  Its more famous.

 

and swap : 10. 1973 North American 240Z with T-top and maybe another accessory  (T top was not a dealer or factory option, and was not available by 1973 due to the company going bust, and the owner having a heart attack. Only "several" cars has these fitted)

 

with an Aussie spec 240z (1970 to 1972, as they had no side turn signals or rear side markers eg:)http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/itemimages/146/124/146124_large.jpg

 

Also, if you had all the cars pointing to the right, instead of the left you could show the differences in petro flaps. Some had door style locks, some just had finger tabs, some had these: http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/ma8IMboL2vC21lLLo8ZX9Ng.jpg

 

On second though, maybe not. You've already got a hard enough job getting all the different model right.

 

 

 

[gilltech]

Please don't take this as a negative, but you stated a size of A2, surely it needs to be a fair bit bigger? As in A0 or at least A1?

[gav240z]

with an Aussie spec 240z (1970 to 1972, as they had no side turn signals or rear side markers eg:)

 

How cool is that photo? Notice the rear tow hook under the rear bumper? Never seen that on a 240z in AU. I guess they all went missing?

 

Also notice the early fender mirrors on the AU market cars. Which as far as I've found is specific to the AU cars only.

 

I wonder if it's a pure white car or another colour? Would be fantastic if it was a Safari Gold car, but somehow I doubt it based on the black and white colour. Where is that car now? Does it still exist? So many questions...

[PB260Z]

How cool is that photo? Notice the rear tow hook under the rear bumper? Never seen that on a 240z in AU. I guess they all went missing?

 

That tow hook looks a lot like a transport tie down point, and would normally be removed as part of dealer pre delivery preparation. New cars today have them attached to the chassis rails. Even to this day there are a few little things that are removed during pre delivery, suspension chocks for example. Being a show car it quite possibly bypassed that step so  the hook remained.

[AndrewCarGuy]

Hi everyone,  again my work and new baby have been keeping me busy but I've found time to work on this poster some more over the latter part of the week.  Thanks to everyone who has made more suggestions and helped out with info to form the models that will be shown on it.  I've decided to include a UK model, as the Aussie model seems to be a standard car just without the side markers?  Did it have less restrictions under the bonnet though?  Australia will be mentioned in the text of course.

 

I considered putting a 240-based Ferrari replica on it early on, but decided against it.  It'd be too much work to make a whole new body shape.  I'm dropping Z-BAIT from it too, as the existing cars have already taken so much time to do.  I love the story of Big Sam, so will be putting that on it.  In total, that makes 4 motorsport cars.

 

Gilltech, I'd love to have these posters printed bigger than A2, but the costs involved are way out of my league.  I simply don't sell enough of each individual poster (I've made about 115 different makes/model charts now) to outlay the costs to cover the high minimums required to get them professionally printed like that.

 

Here's some more of the unfinished illustrations below.  It shows: a BRE car, Big Sam, a rally car, a police car, the Scarab and a modified 240 from cardomain which was made for the original poster but is no longer part of the plan.

 

[gav240z]

I like the inclusion of these important cars.

 

In terms of the AU market, yes we had a few differences. For 1 thing we had a 5-speed gearbox where as the North American market received only a 4-speed. We also had a unique set of fender mirrors on the very first cars. As far as I'm aware no other market received this style of mirror, I'm not sure about New Zealand?

 

You can see photos of HS30 0004 here:

http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,13650.0.html

[Mr Camouflage]

I've decided to include a UK model, as the Aussie model seems to be a standard car just without the side markers?  Did it have less restrictions under the bonnet though?  Australia will be mentioned in the text of course.

 

Externally Aus cars didnt have side markers or side indicators and had bumper overriders,

UK ones had front side indicators, deleted front indicators (replaced with rectangular above bumper indicators in the grill area) and no bumper overriders.  So they are quite different.

[AndrewCarGuy]

Did early UK market models have the front indicators mounted in pods below the bumper, mounted off the bumper itself?  That's how it was in the image you nominated in an earlier post, and Google Images has thrown up a couple more like that.

[Mr Camouflage]

Actually I've seen both, but above the bumper more often than below the bumper (but both attached to the bumper).

 

http://wazregister.com/membercars/hayden/images/1743P8160036.jpg

http://images-2.drive.com.au/2012/05/11/3287360/datsun_2_729-420x0.jpg

http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/images/car_info/datsun_240Z.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/groups/36301434@N00/pool/with/12993786584/lightbox/

 

 

Alan....?

[HS30-H]

Alan....?

 

Datsun UK Ltd ( a concessionaire ) were so cheap that they simply used the Datsun Netherlands photo shoot car for the UK market brochure:

 

 

But apart from the door mirrors ( and the fact that this is an LHD car instead of an RHD car... ) pretty much most of the UK market cars looked like the above 'Euro' spec car. The front indicators were deleted from the corner valances ( special press tooling was made ) and moved up to the top of the front bumper, and front sidelights were incorporated into the headlamp units. All this done to meet new European standards on lighting ( height and function ). 

 

Note the front and rear spoilers, which were standard equipment on all 'Euro' and UK market cars.

[Zedman240®]

Only the 73 model Australian delivered zeds got the rectagular turn signal lamps that hang off the bumper; the previous 70-72 models just had the lower under bumper/valance type.

[gilltech]

We also had a unique set of fender mirrors on the very first cars. As far as I'm aware no other market received this style of mirror, I'm not sure about New Zealand?

The NZ market cars had the fender mirrors. IIRC the 240s had black mirrors whereas the 260s like mine had chrome ones, & they were more chunky in style much like those on the other Datsun models that were imported fully built eg 120Y hatchback, 160J SSS, 180B SSS 2-door etc.

And our side lights / turn signals remained below the bumper in the corner panels.

There were various differences between the NZ-new & Australia-new Z cars.

[phillay]

you need a devil z in there too 

[AndrewCarGuy]

Hi everyone, work has been keeping me so busy the past couple of weeks.  Picked up some new clients (two of them driving schools!) and had a rush on my other posters as eBay increased their Final Value Fee by including the postage amount in the total sale amount on 6 May.  I let all my buyers know a couple of weeks beforehand that I would be raising my prices to compensate, so people made good use of the lower prices while they were there.  The most difficult part of it was making all the poster tubes, as I make my own using recycled cardboard boxes from Bunnings, to keep it cheaper for my buyers!  I also managed to publish a limited run book about the Chrysler Valiant in Australia, which required me to work up to midnight for almost a week to get it ready for the deadline, and a Ferrari club bought a large number of my 308/328 series poster.

 

Anyway....... here is the Datsun S30 poster almost finished!  I just need to finalise all the text that will go at the top and under each car.  Right now the text shown is from another poster just as a placeholder.  I wanted to share its progress again.  Thanks to everyone who has helped work out all the little niggles on different market cars.  I started to doubt my confidence and almost gave up on this because of all the little changes to the indicators and mirrors, etc, but persevered.  This has proven to be possibly the most challenging poster I've made so far, although my Volvo Amazon poster was also reeeeeeally difficult, and I only ended up ever selling three - to one person!  If you ever look up the technical info about that car, you'll see what I mean.  All the name changing, body code confusion, years changing across different sources... argh!

 

So here it is........

 

Andrew.

 

[HS30-H]

Some observations:

 

Japanese market cars did not have the marker lights on the rear quarters.

The exhausts on the works rally cars are wrong.

Japanese market cars are all Nissans ( not Datsuns ).

Nissan Fairlady Z432 didn't come with a rear spoiler as stock equipment ( although it was an extra-cost option ) but Nissan Fairlady Z432-R did.

What's with the door mirror on the Fairlady Z432-R and Fairlady 240ZG?

Nissan Fairlady Z432-R came with steel wheels ( and no hubcaps ) as stock equipment.

The police car is a Nissan Fairlady 240ZG, as is the Nissan Fairlady 240ZG ( what's a "Fairlazy"? ).

Brock Racing Enterprises = BRE not 'BRA'.

'Big Sam' is depicted in Goodwood Festival of Speed guise ( with '240' FoS start number and 240 door numbers ) which is perhaps a little 'late'? The car has been returned to a closer approximation of one of its original liveries now.

 

Complicated all this, isn't it...?!

[Alfadog]

I'll add a few of my comments, happy to stand corrected

 

- Green colour of the first car doesn't quite look right for 907 Racing Green available in 1970

- Should the steering wheel silhouette look slightly different for RHD/LHD cars?

- Silhouettes of the seats in the Z432 and Z432-R should be different, i.e can't see them at all really since they are small bucket seats. I'm not sure about the BRE or rally cars.

- Some of them seem to have 2 interior door locks?

- Some of the rear qtr badges are in the wrong spot (e.g. Z432)

- Japanese black fender mirrors look kinda too big and bulky

- Why is there a 1974 260Z and a 1974.5 240Z?

- I think the dual exhaust of the Z432 & Z432-R is not high enough, and doesn't look like two pipes

- Front spoiler on the UK car doesn't look right to me

- A subtle detail but if you look at some photos you will notice that the body hip-line crease doesn't continue in front of the front wheel arch

- Windscreen wipers on the 240Z-G were black

- Shape of the overfenders on the 240Z-G cars, and the rivet positioning and size doesn't look right

- Alan might slap me over the head for this but didn't the 240Z-G receive a rear spoiler from factory?

[AndrewCarGuy]

Gosh, thank you for all the details!  A lot of stuff I've only been able to base on photos and isn't covered in lists like you have provided.  Spelling errors, etc, they would be fixed up in final drafts after proofreading everything.  I quickly made that layout last night to get an update to everyone.  I will go through everything you have both listed and post another update.

 

So about the Big Sam, you're saying that the 240 number (among other things) is not correct for the year stated?  About spoilers, etc, I think it's fine to include factory and dealer optional parts, as that's how some would have left the official showrooms.  I can cover that kind of note in the text.

 

Thanks again, so very helpful!

[HS30-H]

Alan might slap me over the head for this but didn't the 240Z-G receive a rear spoiler from factory?

 

Rear spoiler was an extra-cost option on the Fairlady 240ZG.

 

Everything else on your list I agree with though. I just thought it might be a bit brutal to go the whole hog...!