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Ross Dunkerton and Datsun in Australia


gav240z

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2 hours ago, DatsunPA11 said:

It would be a long, time-consuming job, but I'm sure Datsun fans (not just Zed fans) around the world would be enthusiastic readers :)

We are starved for books like this currently.

Have you got the San-Ei Mook 'Rally Cars' Issue No.08 covering the Violet?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/27/2019 at 8:44 PM, DerekMelb said:

The last event for this car was the 1976 Alpine Rally (late November) where Ross managed to badly damage it in a roll-over. It was given to him as a parting gift, shipped to Perth, and cannibalised to upgrade his 260Z which went on to place equal first with Fury and the 710SSS in the 1977 ARC.

I’m unaware of the exact final fate of the works body shell but, according to Ross, it was too far gone to repair at the time and was scrapped. There was no attempt to send it out of the country to recover import duty which supports my contention that it was not on a carnet.

I need to cast doubt on some of what I posted earlier. I just had another conversation with Ross about this and although he's very vague about this episode, with some prompting regarding the car being run on carnet plates and us looking at some photos, he sort of remembered doing the component swapping himself, probably in Melbourne, and then he said "and I think it may have been dumped at sea." (there's that story again). Maybe I was away on holiday at the time, I have no memory of any of this.

Strange thing memory. Note to self - always defer to the man with the documents.

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On 6/29/2019 at 11:32 PM, HS30-H said:

Have you got the San-Ei Mook 'Rally Cars' Issue No.08 covering the Violet?

Yes, I have three Japanese magazines (mooks?) that cover the works Violets. Great for looking at the photos but not so good for non-Japanese readers…

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  • 1 year later...
35 minutes ago, gav240z said:

As you can see by the tail lamps by that stage it had become the 260z shell..

Just the tail lamps and trims at that stage, I believe?

Next stage - due to damage obvious in the photo - was a "re-shell"*

*No such thing as a "re-shell" on these cars of course.  

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10 minutes ago, datsunrally said:

Whereas at some point it had 240Z tail lamps…

Yes. It was originally built around the middle of 1973 as an 'HLS30' prefixed LHD 240Z works rally car in a small batch which included two that were 'new' for the 1973 RAC Rally (one of which still exists). It was a brand new car when Fall & Halloran used it for the '73 Southern Cross in October. 

I should imagine it was given the '260Z' style rear lights and trims to make it look more current (this happened elsewhere too) and then a while later it got, er, slightly crumpled... :)    

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7 hours ago, HS30-H said:

I should imagine it was given the '260Z' style rear lights and trims to make it look more current (this happened elsewhere too) and then a while later it got, er, slightly crumpled... :)    

Ah, that makes sense, the 260Z was the model on sale at that time so why promote the 'old' product. Thanks Alan.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can I please post something kind of rally related here?

Does anyone (Alan T?) know what these seats were called or who made them? I know they're Datsun works seats, but I would really like to be able to refer to them by a more relevant / official name.

Thanks,

Jeff

image.thumb.png.0ec069f864be6b4b93c1e50bbfe0fa5e.png

 

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I believe they were based on the 87000-U0175 Datsun bucket seat but had the shoulder bolsters added.

I was speaking to someone in Europe who was trying to have some made in that style.

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20 minutes ago, datsunrally said:

Does anyone (Alan T?) know what these seats were called or who made them? I know they're Datsun works seats, but I would really like to be able to refer to them by a more relevant / official name.

I Japan they've always been known as the 'Datsun Bucket' seats. They made them for a long time (pretty much late Sixties through to early Eighties, and then a re-pop in leather for the NISMO 10th Anniversary) so there's a lot of subtle variation in details, especially noticeable in vinyl textures and head rest shape.

They were also know in Japan by their Sports Option part number suffix 'U0175'.  

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2 minutes ago, gav240z said:

Pictured in a Works 240ZG.(I'm sure Alan will correct me if I'm wrong).

received_1399254717141812.jpeg

That's the very rare variant (a few of Works-built Nissan Racing School cars only) with the shoulder 'wings'. Not sold to the general public. 

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20 hours ago, datsunrally said:

Thank you gents, I know a little more now, especially that the seats in my car are rarer than previously thought…

Careful, it's not a Zed :)

Works Datsun seats winged.jpg

Couldn't see the 'wings' in your first photo. Very nice! Have they been refurbished? Condition looks amazingly good for their age.

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1 hour ago, HS30-H said:

Couldn't see the 'wings' in your first photo. Very nice! Have they been refurbished? Condition looks amazingly good for their age.

The first photo was of a car from Zama, the second is mine.

Yes, the seats have been refurbished, they were in very shabby condition beforehand. I'm all for original, but not when it looks like they've been salvaged from a dumpster.

From the outside they seem to offer little support compared to a modern rally seat, but I find them super comfy :)

Jeff

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4 minutes ago, datsunrally said:

The first photo was of a car from Zama, the second is mine.

Ah OK, got it now. I've seen the Zama car in person. It has the 'ordinary' Datsun Bucket seats, without the rarer 'wings' seen on yours.

I'm told the 'winged' version dated from around 1975/6, and because the Works drivers were always complaining about lack of shoulder support as the cars got faster. In fact, they complained about seats full-stop. I think this only improved in the 1980s when NISMO started making much better sports and race-dedicated seats, but rules started specifying safety tested and fire-resistant race seats by that time anyway and they were using German brands such as Konig and Recaro. 

How those guys drove a whole East African Safari Rally in '70, '71 and '73 sitting on the Ikeda Bussan seats (and won!) I'll never know. Mehta was about the right size but Herrmann and Schuller were big guys from German stock. Can't have been comfy.    

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21 minutes ago, datsunrally said:

Yes, the seats have been refurbished, they were in very shabby condition beforehand. I'm all for original, but not when it looks like they've been salvaged from a dumpster.

Forgot to say, they look great. Lovely refurb job.

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