HS30-H

I would certainly recommend seeking out anybody who used to be in the management structure of Nissan Australia. You might not get to the bottom of the mirror question but it'll be interesting to talk to them about *our* cars and what was going on around that late Sixties to mid Seventies period in general. I've talked to a few people who worked for Datsun Concessionaires UK - the first UK importers - and Datsun UK. Some fascinating stories, and some quite shocking stuff about the first lot (look up the name Octav Botnar...!) and very interesting anecdotes on the business trips to Japan and the whole cultural divide. All the more so considering the war being so recent in the minds of all concerned. Have done the same in Japan wherever possible, and I find the personal stories are very informative and enlightening.

Yes, sorry. I see that now. My post was in reference to the bullet-on-stalk type mirrors only. The flat (wing) mirrors for Australia thing has always struck me as looking like either a local compliance issue or a decision made by the Australian side of the equation. Maybe somebody high up in Nissan Australia pty simply didn't like the Japanese market mirrors? It might be worth seeking out somebody who used to be in a management position and asking them a few questions? Growing up in England in the 60s and 70s, the flat wing-mounted type mirrors were common on all sorts of cars - especially British 'porridge' type family cars - so they seem quite familiar to my eye. Maybe the same worked in Australia, and they didn't look so *strange* as the bullet-on-stalk Japan market type? As far as the parts lists go, I have the full size R-DRIVE parts manuals that cover the Australian market too. The first one gives the same part number for the bullet-on-stalk type (pretty much same diagram as your pdf too), calls them OP parts, and no mention of the flat wing mirrors or the door mirrors. Second manual - dated 1974 - covers the HS30 but also the RS30 and GRS30, and has a different illustration for the OP bullet-on-stalk mirrors for the HS30 and a similar (but different) illustration for the bullet-on-stalk (same part numbers) as an OP on the RS30, but also lists the following: *96301-N3400 ASSY-BACK MIRROR OUTSIDE RH - OP *96302-N3400 ASSY-BACK MIRROR OUTSIDE LH - OP ...although there's no illustration of them. Same is repeated for the GRS30. The March 1974 manual update lists a LH door mirror for the RS30 (no part number!) and RH door mirror for the GRS30 (96302-E8800 - ASSY-BACK MIRROR DOOR OUTSIDE - OP. AUSTRALIA). Have you come across those part numbers before?

The Skyline (and Bluebird) IKI mirrors look similar to the Fairlady Z mirrors, but they have a different stalk length/angle. The Fairlady Z type IKI mirrors have a unique (long) stalk and angle. All the parts except the stalks are the same.

Goertz???!!! Che Dio abbia pietà... Forse solo un po' dislessico...?

Olio due modi? 'Olio' è corretto, "Oilo" è sbagliato...

The whole 'Model Year' thing is a distraction that more often serves to confuse than enlighten. What we should be concerned with - as far as is possible - is the actual manufacturing date. Apart from model, sub-variant and target market, it's the manufacturing date that is most relevant in helping to sort out specs and detail differences.

The above thread needs to be viewed parallel to the thread which ran on the classiczcars.com forum: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/32820-hls30-ooo13-has-been-found/?page=1 Bear in mind that there were lots of immoderate Moderator deletions and edits in the ctzcc.com thread which kind of made a cat's arse out of it all. It also served to lose the context of many of the points people like me were calling into question. The classiczcars.com thread puts some of that back into perspective, but good points made by several contributors were lost because they were deemed 'off message'. You need a good few hours to chew through both threads. It might be worth having some 'accessories' on hand if you plan on doing a marathon straight-through read (like drinking water, sandwiches and a decent sized bucket...) and please accept my apologies in advance...

I'm presuming it's had a colour change when the major resto ("all new sheetmetal, all new chrome" etc etc) was done. The body itself seems to fit with the chassis number and a June 1970 build date.

'HLS30-05821' production date would be plumb square in the middle of June 1970. I'd say it just looks like a console change to the later style, that's all.

Yes, that's correct. If you see it quoted as anything different, by all means wind me up and point me at it...

Hi Nathalie! *wavey* Good to see you here. Gavin: Just to add that Geoff's silver rally car - HS30-00374 - was originally a stock Australian market car that Geoff himself imported to the UK many years back. I seem to remember that it was originally green when imported (?). I have a very soft spot for it, as I watched Geoff and the guys at Fourways build it, and even supplied a few parts for it. It led the cortege at Geoff's funeral, which was quite an emotional thing for all to see...

I am a cut and paste at this point...

*sigh* We've been here before haven't we? The 'Diplomatic Sales Dept.' cars were otherwise standard Export model cars sold new in Japan to those who had the right connections. The 'Race Use' cars were usually stock too, but not necessarily 100% complete and were not expected to be road registered. If you want evidence of the works rally cars (which are no secret) then you could start by looking at Gav's 'Early Girl Bingo' thread, which contains chassis numbers as well as photos of some of the cars concerned. We have discussed these cars - and the parts fitted to them - many times before. My mention of them in this context (chassis number sequences) is not revealing anything that isn't already known.

Yes, they look to be correct for the short-lived (and 99% recalled and re-assigned) Japanese market RS30 and GRS30 models.

Correct Gav. Proper Japanese market HS30 body serial sequence started at 'HS30-10001'. There were a few HS30s running around in Japan before that, but they were semi-official 'Race Use', 'Diplomat' and 'Export' office sales of cars that were essentially RHD Export spec. Those works race and rally cars with HS30 prefixes made before the HS30-10001 start kind of fell into a 'half chips, half rice' no-mans-land where they weren't really export cars but fell into the Export body serial numbers sequence for the sake of compliance with their homologation. This doesn't really affect things for the 'civilian' road cars all that much, but I find it hard to ignore them and the question does come up from time to time. At the very least, they make a few gaps in the serial number sequence I guess...

Obviously not enough sunshine here in the UK. All my RHD cars have lovely uncracked dashes...

I'm a long way from home at present, but just happened to have these photos on one of my camera's SD cards: Here's a comparison of an early (metal) Japanese market S30-series Z bonnet emblem vs a (plastic) S130-series bonnet emblem. Note the thickness of the S30 type on the left, and note the fact that it's not flat underneath. It has a subtle ridge shape underneath to fit the S30's bonnet crease. In contrast, the S130 type is thin and pretty much flat underneath. And here's an early Japanese market quarter panel emblem, as used on the early solid, non vented-quarter models. This too has a subtle curve to the back face, and is handed left and right (which is identified on the back face). It's a little thinner than the bonnet emblem and it should be easy to tell which is which if you have one in your hand because the bonnet emblem has an arrow pointing up on the back, and the quarter panel emblems have left and right on the back (from memory they say LH and RH, but I'd have to check that...).

I believe the Japanese dealer has an '¥ASK' sign on it, alhough I haven't seen it myself. Means it's open to negotiation and he's looking for offers. As a *late* 432 with the "240Z body" (I know - don't do as I do, do as I say... ;-) ) it's certainly less sought-after than the *early* cars, and therefore perceived as worth less amongst those who own them. It also has quite a few modifications and missing 432-specific pieces, which tend to be bargaining chips for those who understand them and therefore ought to repress the price a bit. I think things are a little strange with the S20-engined cars at the moment, and they have been confusing for the last couple of years or so. The increase in interest from outside Japan - and especially the high USA auction result of the 1970 silver car vs the lower USA auction result on the late blue car - has stirred things up a little, and my impression is that it has made some long-term owners a little uncomfortable. There are certainly well-funded people - who seem to know next to nothing about the cars - actively seeking to get hold of one either for perceived cool-factor or for short-term financial gain. These are the kinds of people who might pay over the odds for a modified and/or *late* car, and all it takes is one personal to pay. There is usually a middle man who has agreed a figure with the vendor, plus his commission.

And I'm sorry, but there are a lot of mistakes, misconceptions and important omissions in that article. Especially with regard to the 432-R. Reader beware.

Sorry if this is seen as nitpicking, but that particular car is still in Japan and is still with the Japanese dealer who is trying to sell it. Edward Lee's outfit don't actually have the car, and it could end up anywhere...

I've just checked into my hotel in Tokyo, so I'm *almost* on your timezone.... ;-) Isn't this just Edward Lee's doing an "I can get this one for you" type thing? The car is clearly with a classic dealer in Japan (I'll see if I can find out which one...) and isn't in Australia. It's nothing to do with Edward Lee's as far as I can see. It's registered on a Hachioji area plate (Tokyo dormitory suburbs), so that might give a clue to where the dealer is. It's a 'late' PS30, and in Japan they call these six-digit chassis numbered cars '240Z' shelled 432s. They kind of have *less* 432-specfic 'shell content than the earlier five-digit 'shells. They have the 'B' type transmissions, usually R200 diffs instead of R192s, the big brake booster and all that kind of stuff. I think the general concensus is that these *late* 432s are less desirable and worth less than the earlier ones. This particular car has some strange un-432-like mods - for example the front valance/spoiler - and seems to have lost its standard-issue Kobe Seiko '432' magnesium wheels. The car doesn't appear to be on the list of known extant 432s kept by Club S30 member Watanabe san. I'm meeting up with them on Saturday night for the club AGM and dinner, so I might ask him about it then. You never know, it might be one of the known "Obake" (ghost) 432s that suddenly re-appear after having been MIA. Some of them (*some* of them...) are re-shells.... ;-)

Their build and sale of a particular car (no names, no pack drill...) led to them being nicknamed 'Fakey's' in certain quarters...

There were LOTS of different designs. They made them for a long time. I have some photos and some scans of old catalogues/ads somewhere. Somewhere! Let me see if I can find them. If not I'll have to re-scan the original ads. The YJ auction link is for another one of the repro boss/horn push kits which make a modern MOMO steering wheel look like something else...

In fact, that's not an OEM three piece valance & corners set and urethane front spoiler. It's a one piece fibreglass 'replica' with a subtly different shape, and the 'spoiler' part is just painted black. The front indicators are under the bumper (mounted in the factory fog lamp holes) when they should be on top of it, and the front indicator repeater lenses are mounted upside down. Nice car (it's the Nissan UK press car, which - ironically - was sourced from Australia) but it's not necessarily a good example of OEM UK market specs.

On the Zs, I use a Peugeot 505GTI vented disc which is re-drilled to suit the PCD of the Nissan hub. I use 'late' hubs (nominally '260Z' type) to give the right offset. This centres the vented type MK63 over the disc nicely. It seems to be the simplest solution to the non-availability of the original Nissan 'Sports Option' (and later NISMO) vented disc, and the Peugeot discs are cheap as chips.