HS30-H

That doesn't quite make sense, considering the numbering. Bodyshells going through the system at Hiratsuka had their prefix and body serial number combo engraved on the firewall before they were painted, and were done in logical and orderly sequence. The engines and the rest of the drivetrain were added after that, with the engine bay tag stamped to suit the engine's block number. The only reason we see a pattern relating to engine numbers and body serial numbers is that the process of building the major components and then putting them all together averaged out - once things had got up and running properly - over Nissan Shatai's maximum production capacity. In this particular car's case, it seems to me that it was more likely the engine block or engine itself that was 'late' to the production line. In the normal scheme of things, it should probably have been in an earlier car. This seems to indicate that it may have been held up for some reason between having its engine number stamped (the engine number wasn't stamped on a block until a certain stage of completion...) and being installed in a car, possibly after being 'lost' in the system (the engines were not made at Nissan Shatai) or maybe even 'sent back' to Atsugi for rectification?

Just want to say, WORLD CLASS.

If it was that "cut and dried" it would have been done and dusted by now. The problem is you've left out one vital piece of the challenge. It's the bit about such cars actually being put on sale to the general public, as new cars, and sold via a normal point of sale with an agreed, listed price as a viable and legal commercial product. They would probably want all the demon tweeks listed and unimpeachably documented too. It never happened. At least not in the accepted form that they demand to see proof of. The 432s and 432-Rs don't help you (different models), the Works rally cars don't help you (never sold to the general public) and the Japanese police cars certainly don't help you (they were almost stock anyway, and not sold to the general public). No "letter from Nissan" is going to help you. I'm not taking any joy from that. I'd like to see the cars represented in a form that they could easily have existed in during the relevant period too, but if the racing classes in question are anything like the UK's 'Historic Roadsports' classes then they've purposely set it up to try to level the playing field to suit certain participants and make it as much about good driving as anything else. All such series and classes are full of politics, self interest and smug status quo. That's just the way it is.

Huh? What's all this got to do with Nissan? It looks like an entirely local problem to me. Typically with a national race sanctioning body, a bunch of participants who lobbied to make sure things got set up to suit them, and a healthy dose of marginalisation on top. SNAFU. What jumped out at me from hmd's post: ....and I have to say (allow me this as an outsider looking in from a long way away...) all that previous talk of "getting a letter from Nissan", the works rally cars, the Japanese Police cars etc etc was just pie in the sky nonsense and neither here nor there.

Quite common for teams and/or tyre fitters to mark wheels in this way, often to keep them specific to a certain car and/or keep track of what they have been used for. Can you make out what it says?

Yes, both my ZGs were originally non-Aircon equipped cars when new. The GP Maroon car had it retro-fitted later in life (probably when it was a couple of years old) but the GP White car never had it, so both cars had the plain lower Grande Nose panel without the Aircon 'diverter' ducts. I must say that - in all the many genuine factory HS30-H Fairlady 240ZGs I've looked at over the years, the great majority of them had the simple front number plate bracket as per my photos. The one illustrated in the factory parts manuals might be somewhat misleading in its shape, as the main production parts were I believe mostly a more plain and simple design. I've seen that difference in other parts illustrations in the factory manuals, especially in the niche models (like the ZG, 432 and - in particular - the 432-R) and I suppose it is to be expected.

Some photos. Underside and inside views of an original Urethane 'Grande Nose' front bumper. You can see the steel brackets and strengtheners moulded into it. The number plate/license plate bracket mounts in the recess and is simply bolted through. No integral nuts or nutserts etc, just nuts and bolts. Not very good shots I'm afraid, but it was dark in the garages last night. Hopefully they are good enough.

Back on topic: I've never had a response to any of my direct e-mails and attempts to purchase this book. Anybody got a second hand copy they want to sell?

I'm not sure I really understand where you are coming from with this. If you think the S30 "shone" in the US racing scene, I'd come back with the counter argument that it was - essentially - superannuated club racing. Essentially private teams supported by sponsorship, no great level of factory support and rather 'local' rule sets and class structures. Some of the teams running 'Datsun' branded product got money and a few parts from Nissan USA, but it was not a factory effort was it? I often see our American friends happily stating that Datsun 'beat' Porsche in SCCA racing. Meanwhile Porsche was wrapping up the Sports Car World Championship of Makes in 1970 and 1971 and the International Cup for GT Cars in 1970, 1971, 1972 & 1973. I've said it many times but I'll say it again. Nissan's single most important market has always been its home market in Japan, and that's where you can expect its priorities have always been. Racing and rallying activities have had to be framed in the context of brand and product promotion. The 'Oil Shock' of 1973 had a huge effect and Nissan - along with the other Japanese manufacturers - had to rethink their plans and try not to fall foul of popular opinion (where racing and rallying suddenly became seen as frivolous and wasteful) and it had a lasting effect. It should be no surprise that this had an effect on their international racing and rallying plans or that most of the satellite operations outside Japan were left to look after their own local sporting ambitions. The situation for Nissan today is just as difficult. We are fast approaching a state of mind in the majority of people that sporting cars are somehow decadent, gauche, selfish and bad for the planet. Here in London there is a very militant minority taking control of local government and they are determined to restrict and ultimately ban private car use and - by extension - ownership. We know where this is going. A manufacturer like Nissan (they are not Porsche...) has to be seen to be promoting products like the LEAF. For some years now they haven't really been able to tell us what the successor to the Z34 will look like or how it will be powered, but I don't blame them. They are between a rock and a hard place there. I certainly don't understand the comment about the Skyline. There was a time where the Skyline brand was one of Nissan's flagships, but now it has been divested of its premium model (the GT-R) it seems almost doomed to middle-aged bloat. It always was a Japanese domestic phenomenon - its export sales effort being minimal - but it is being crowded off the road by hateful mini vans and faux hybrid boxes which have more in common with white goods. NO FUTURE.

Probably the best thing would be for me to photograph the inside of the Grande Nose front bumper, as it's not something that usually gets looked at. Bear with me...

"Lack of factory belief in the S30"? That would be news to Nissan. It'd be ideal to put you in a time machine and transport you back to Japan in - let's pick a date - say roughly October 1973, so that you could get an oops upside your head on the zeitgeist. Maybe you could look at a few newspapers or watch the TV news there so that you could get a reality check on Japan's situation then as a net importer of raw materials and - perhaps most importantly - oil. If the media was a bit difficult to understand you could have gone and stood outside a 'Gasoline Stando' and counted the cars in the queue... After that hits home we could discuss the Gold Standard, the end of the Bretton-Woods Agreement and the Floating Currency.

Found it. It's grottier than I remembered. The car (it's from my white ZG) had a slight whoops-a-daisy bump on the front at some point in its life, and the number plate bracket bears the scars. The vertical tabs are bent sideways and somewhat misshapen, but I think the measurements are accurate. It's covered in gross spray-on underseal (like the rest of the underneath of the car was...) which was falling off in my hands, but - amazingly - it's not actually rusty. It'll probably straighten out OK. The larger holes are the original ones, and the smaller holes are ones drilled by previous owners for UK plates. Photos: Key point is that the 90 degree bends for the vertical tabs (which the number plate actually attaches to) are 10mm out from the 45mm width of the main body of the bracket, so the bend is not level with the 45mm width point. Does that description make sense? Hopefully the photos tell the story. These brackets are almost completely hidden when on the car. The long flat part fits up in a recess in the ZG bumper and is attached with two 10mm bolts. All you can see is the two vertical tabs, and in turn you can hardly see them when they have a license plate covering them... Let me know if you need any better data. HTH.

I've got a genuine one in the garages. I'll have to go through a stack of boxes to get to it though, so it might have to be over the weekend. It's a pretty simple bit of folded sheet steel with holes in it. The factory parts list makes it look more fancy than it really is...

And have fading eyesight...

You could paint yourself a Mona Lisa too. Might make a nice wall decoration, but it's not the Mona Lisa...

That always strikes me as either lazy, or jumping the gun. They are trying to sell it from (very) limited photos, and next to no data, before they've even got it in their hands. Doesn't exactly fill a potential buyer with feelings of trust. Nine times out of ten they don't even know what it is they are selling either. "The Japanese market equivalent of the UK market Datsun 240Z" would be an HS30-prefixed Fairlady 240Z-L, not an S30 (or S31) prefixed Fairlady Z-L.

Not enough photos to tell, but I get a strong feeling this is a later (post '73) car pretending to be earlier. There's a lot of it about... S130 bonnet emblem mounted upside down gets double points!

Congrats on the purchase, Gav. I don't think you will regret it. About the blanking plate where the hand throttle lever would be: I think the clue here is that the car left the factory with the Auto transmission. I don't think Nissan fitted the hand throttle on Auto trans cars.

Ha ha ha ha ha! If "Mr K had been in control" it would have had a 3.36 diff, 4-speed trans and more ergonomic bias on the ashtray than on the handbrake lever...

One way to put all this in perspective: Factory replacement engine blocks were components. Engine numbers were only stamped on complete engines that were going into a car. The guy on Facebook is speculating that he has a "crate motor". It may well have been a complete - or semi-complete 'long block' - replacement supplied by Nissan, but I don't think Nissan supplied complete L24 engines in the American "crate motor" sense. In fact, it may simply have been 're-manufactured' in the USA using an outright factory replacement block and Nissan refurbished head etc.

For reference, a 1971 P30 L24 block supplied as a factory replacement part:

20km/h to 240km/h speedo is correct for that car. Japanese market cars got them through to the end of 1973.

Congratulations! This comment wins a free "Thank You Mr K.!" sticker.

Bonnet emblems. S30 type on left, S130 on right: (better than the 'Datsun' one, don't you think...?)

Japanese market cars didn't have the 'Datsun' logo stamped into the sill plates (because they were not Datsuns...). They had plain sill plates.