Enright2

Hi Lee. Keen to try catch up at some stage. I have some photos from 2001 but none of the interior before I fixed it up from the tiger skin felt and blue dash and seats etc. got a bunch of photos from 2006 also. cheers JP

Haha, I wrote this as it all came to memory. It was both the tiger skin felt and the blue interior - mostly the tiger skin felt. In addition, the dash was the same blue!

Hi all, my name is JP and like so many others I have been a long time reader/follower on this fantastic forum but have not involved myself. After reading Len Brennan's awesome story about the purchase of his 240Z I have been inspired to get involved here and share my story with anyone who cares to read it. I first fell in love with Z cars when I was 5 years old and I saw the first series 300zx at the motor show (1984/5). As I got a bit older I decided I actually liked the 280ZX more and decided that this was going to be my first car. When I was 16 I started going to a private school in Melbourne's eastern suburbs and walked past a 260 2 plus 2 every day. I then fell in love with these cars and eventually knocked on the owners door once I got my licence and almost purchased it. At 18 I purchased a red 1978 260 2 plus 2 auto with an L28, with plans to convert to manual and restore. These plans were thwarted by my mother who instructed my Father to instruct me to get rid of it immediately or get out of the house ( or something similar). I sold the car to Lindsay at the z shop at the beginning of 99 and later found out that the L28 had a P90 head and ended up in a white 240Z he ran at targa tassie in 2000. I was a regular visitor to the Zshop with a mate of mine rough out 1999, dropping in there every 2 weeks or so to look at the cars in the place. It was at this time that I really fell for the 2 sweaters and after many months and visits fell for a particular vehicle. I headed down to glen iris with my mate from school/uni on Nov 11 99 just to drop in and gawk at the nice Z's in the workshop. I had a quick chat to Lindsay and he said he had just bought a 240 off an old aquaintance and that it was down the back and he hadn't looked at it. I strode down the back of the workshop and parked around the corner was a very sorry looking series 1 240Z. I didn't know what a series one 240z was, but the rear quarter badges had an immediate impact on me as I had never seen a 240 with the 240Z rear quarter badges. When I looked inside the car it was a mess. There was tiger pattern felt stuck in the roof lining and the doors and it looked like perhaps a few rats were living in there. The diamond pattern vinyl and the seats were a crazy shiny blue colour and I remember thinking how weird the previous owner must have been. This did not put me off. I then popped the hood and saw the 2400 OHC valve cover which again impacted on me as I had not seen one of these before. I then checked the chassis number and it was HS30 00063. At that moment I knew I was going to buy this car even though it was knackered. Then I checked the engine number and it was matching. I went straight to Lindsay and said " how much for that 240 that just came in"? He replied $2500 and I said sure and headed straight Pune road to ge some money out for a deposit. I paid him further for mechanical check, resprayed in the same colour as it was at the time (silver) and to have the floor welded up and interior repaired. My paid for my dash to be reskinned by the dashboard doctor as my 21st birthday present. Unfortunately the work was painfully slow and being young and inexperienced I thought that throwing money at the Zshop would result in more work being done. I paid another 5000 to speed things up but it was more than a year after fully paying for the vehicle itself until I actually received it. The wait was agony, all I wanted was to drive this special machine! A few mons after I received the car, I took it back to Zshop as the head gasket went. When I went to pick it up there was an older gentleman there who said to me "that's my old car, I want it back, it looks great." The gentleman's name was Frank Guilfoyle? From memory, and I asked him about the car. He said that he had purchased number 63 unregistered and did a lot of work to it at his own datsun garage and had it back on the road in 1987 ( vic reg DHB 123). When I asked him about the blue interior he said that number 63 was a show car at the 1971 Melbourne motor show! and that the blue interior was a special option with a white car! and that the car was originally white! I found the story entertaining but though not much more of it again. I drove the car from late November 2000 until June 2009 as my daily driver, driving it as it was meant to be driven. The 40 plus year old engine never let me down and continued pulling strong. In 2012 I was looking at old photos of datsun dealerships etc on the net, and came across a photo of a white 240z taken on March 5 1971 at the Melbourne motor show. I knew it was Melbourne because clearly visible in the background read "Rathdowne St Exit". Having grown up in Carlton I knew it was the exhibition building ( I would post pic but not sure how yet, but I'm sure many people know it). I couldn't believe that this matched the story told about my car and planned at the moment to restore it to white with blue interior. Then came child one, then child 2 and I decided I could not afford the 50 - 100 K resto that it deserved. I sold number 63 to a nice gentleman over here in Perth and bought myself a nice 1975 260 2 seater that has just been triple webered. I am rally enjoying this car but still wish I was able to hold onto number 63 and see her back in the white with blue interior. Anyway that's my introductory rant I hope it wasn't too boring and some people will respond. Great wealth of info on here and I hope that now I have broken the ice by posting that I may be able to contribute. J-P

When I bought no. 63 in 1999 it had the 2400 OHC cover.

Howdy all, my name is JP. I bought my series 1 240Z in 1999 (HS30 00063) and it was silver but had blue interior. I had it resprayed silver again and had the interior redone as it was shabby. This included painting the interior panels and diamond pattern vinyl black and installing some reasonable seats from a 260 and chucking the blue ones which were in a horrible state. A year or so later I had some work done at Zspares and an older gentleman who happened to be there on the day said "that's my old car!". He told me he had sold it to Lindsay at Zspares and that is where I purchased it . I remember when I first laid eyes on it, and that the series one 2400 OHC rocker cover, rear quarter badges and the fact it had matching numbers engine pulled me in. I had to have it. Anyway, the older gentleman's name was Frank from memory and he told me he had his own datsun workshop back in the day and that he had bought number 63 in 1987 and put a lot of work into getting it back on the road. I asked him if he new more about the car and he told me that it was originally white with a blue interior, and that it was purchased by the previous owner off the floor of the 1971 Melbourne motor show. I drove this car as my daily driver until 2010 when I parked it up. In 2011 I was doing some surfing on the net and found a photo on the national library of Aus (trove) site of a white 240z at the 1971 motor show. I thought WOW, that could be my car!. I then decided that when the time came, the car would be restored in the white with blue interior combo. Unfortunately, with young kids and house improvements, I decided that I would have to let someone with more time and money do the job right. I sold my old 240 in 2013 and purchased a 75 260 2 seater in much better condition. I am very happy with this 260z but feel a bit sad when I think if my old 240 and the potential of the white with blue interior and the background story of the car. I have seen many on here talk about the kalahari tan/920 gold being a great colour, and I agree, I love the Z in that colour. White with blue interior is the ultimate look for a Z in my opinion and I really enjoyed reading Len's stories! JP