As promised to Rick:

A dear friend of mine was contacted by Nissan North America and offered an opportunity to drive one of two 370Z's for a portion of it's trip from Los Angeles to New York. Being a huge Datsun fan, he thought it would be cool to recreate a photo taken from the introduction of the original 240Z. The original photo was taken in Phoenix, AZ, and being from the area, they managed to set up the cars in just about the same exact location, in the same positions, with a brand new Maxima as the chase car (a 510 was used in the original tour). This was his tribute to 40 years of awesome cars and after telling Rick about it this past weekend, I felt compelled to share it with you guys.

The original



The reenactment

Wow! Even the re-enactors are striking the same poses! Great work.

I guess it would have been too much to ask them to erect a GREYHOUND PARK facade across the street, huh?

Carl Beck will be copying and framing this, my bet. The first two 240Zs to be tested in America, Carl? I also note both Zs bear the same license number. Probably equates to "Test Car" or something. And note the absence of nose badges on the Zs ~ I guess they didn't want anyone to know what they were before production. Is the antenna UP on the front Z?

Frank

Hi Frank:
In the original picture you see HLS30 00004 and HLS30 00005. One was an A/T and the other a 4 spd. The test drivers put about 14,000 miles on them here in the US and part of Canada.

One major problem identified during the tests resulted in the production of the Datsun 240Z's being halted in Dec. 1969 - mainly because a new and better balanced or counter balanced crankshaft was needed. Production of the Datsun 240Z's then resumed in Jan. 70.
http://zhome.com/History/USRoadTest/USTestDriveZ.htm

The license plates are "Manufacturer" or "Dealer" plates - each had their own unique Dealer Number and could be used on any vehicle before it was sold and titled.

Kats in Japan, has copies of the movies that the test crew took during the test drive. He had to play them, then used a digital video camera to copy them - so they could be placed on the Internet.. There is no sound in the original movies - and you can hear his kids talking in the background - so just turn your sound level down.. the are on the Web as .wmv movies..
http://www.geocities.jp/datsunz903/films.html

FWIW,
Carl B.

Great facts and video documentation Carl, thanks for sharing!!

Phil

Hmmmm....odd, the prototype in front of the Calgary Datsun dealer appears to be wearing the same low-belt dark stripe paint scheme as Rick's #13 has.

Hi, Carl!
It was curious to hear you say that one of the two test Z's was an A/T
model. The earliest ones I had known previously w/A/T were #09210
circa 8/ or 9/70, and #07969, a 7/70 build date.

Correct you are on the manufacturer or dealer plates. I would add, for
those who haven't been "in the business," that each mfr or dealer has
several plates of the same registration # to be used on company cars,
loaners, demos, and sometimes even as temporary registrations on
newly purchased cars.
FWIW,........................Rick (& Kathy)

Yeah, but these were prototypes. Hey, does anyone know if they used an existing A/T for the Z car, or produced an entirely new one for this model?

And you're right, Rick ~ I also recall the Datsun literature didn't start mentioning A/T options until the end of the 1970 model year, and after. If the prototype roadtests had gone well for the automagic transmission, wouldn't they have began offering it as soon as the car came out?

The Roadsters never had an A/T option, did they?

Hi, Frank!
Good observation, pardner, you can be my point man anytime!

I conclude that the cars on the R&T cover and its adjacent photo are not
the same cars as Jr. submitted because, as you said, those in Jr.'s
photo don't have a hood badge. Additionally, one of the Z's in the
"adjacent" photo has narrow white walls. For the same reason I can believe
that the Mr. K photo could be one of those cars; those in the photo
below the Calgary photo almost certainly are, being further corroborated
by the exact mfr/dlr registrations.

I'm tickled by the Z in front of Grasso Datsun having snow tires all
around; with a few auxiliary lights it could pass for a Baja car! Do they
have snow in Dawson Creek in October? I also note what could be the other
Z to the right, and a whole slew of 510's behind. The two models
which IMHO put Datsun on the map!

FWIW,.....................Rick (and Kathy)

Ah bin lookin' at Datsuns fer a good 40 years now, and ah ain't
never seen one! (Startin'ta miss TX w/the cold weather comin' awn)

~Rick~

I also note that one of the cars in Kat's film is wearing a rear spoiler and a "DATSUN" decal on the rear glass. I don't see that in any other clips of these cars. Maybe the photographer sat in that car while he did most of the filming?

or Maybe it was an Add-on, farther into the tests?
or Maybe it came from the factory with it, but it came off just after the carwash and cold weather operation clips?
or Maybe the films got mixed up to include footage of another time?
or Maybe I need better glasses?

And I also note that in the cold weather operation clip, the prototype appears to have vertical defroster wires in the hatch, while as we all know, the first 500-or-so production cars came without them.

Junior, call that dear friend of yours and invite him to join our Club! We would be honored to have him among us, and tell him we're mighty impressed by his caring enough about the 40th Anniversary to stage a re-enactment of that photo.

You can also tell him you started a landslide discussion with his photograph!

(He doesn't have to live in CT to be a member. We have nearly 30 members from other states and in two other countries).

Frank T
MbrshipDir/CTZCC

Hi Guys:
The two Test Cars {HLS30 00004 & 00005} were returned to Japan at the end of testing - and most likely disassembled for quality inspections of every nut and bolt and weld. We really don't know exactly what happened to them.

HLS30 00006, a Dark Green example - was flown in from Tokyo for the International Preview of the DATSUN 240Z at the Pierre Hotel in New York - 22 Oct. 1969. Mr. Sharp tells me that he first saw it at the New York Coliseum, then it went to the International Auto Show in Toronto, CA. {where it was damaged etc.} I've tracked the man down, that made the arrangements for the event as the Pierre Hotel... waiting on his response and hoping he can find pictures of the event.

HLS30 00007, a RED example - was used like 6 & 8 for a Press Car. It was RED

The Silver Datsun 240Z that is on the cover of R&T is HLS30 00008. Dr. Bork's Z.

All three - 6, 7 & 8 are pictured on the 1970 Showroom Brochure.

If you read Mr. Matsuo's Story Of The Z Car - he tells us that his original Plan A design, was based on the Datsun Roadster chassis, with a 4 cylinder engine. With Mr. K's input the design evolved first to a Coupe, then to a Hatchback Coupe - Then because Mr. K wanted the L24 for America the car's transmission tunnel had to be made wider to accommodate the planned A/T behind the L24. The hood line had to be raised to accommodate the longer 6 cylinder L24. In effect the original design had to be scaled up proportionally...

As I recall - JATCO the Japanese Automatic Transmission Company, was a joint venture between Nissan and Ford. The A/T used in the Z, and I'm guessing other Nissan sedans before it - is really a scaled down model of the Ford A/T.

Rick - Living in Spokane, Washington - and driving between Washington and Idaho almost daily - not to mention trips up into Canada.. I ran Pirelli Winter Tires with Ice Spikes on all four wheels, all Winter.

"Black Ice" was/is a major Winter hazard on the highways in that part of the country, especially in the higher altitudes. During the height of the sun, the blacktop roads would heat up and melt the snow/ice, then as the sun sat - the water would freeze on top of the Blacktop roads - making the road look "wet" and free of snow cover... when in fact it was pure ice... The roads were far safer when covered with a blanket of snow..

Frank - one of the problems uncovered during the Road Test - was a vibration of the car at highway speeds. This resulted in the differential being moved farther rearward - which meant that the gas tank had to be made smaller - which lead to a reduction in the weight of the car. The rear spoiler was present on several of the prototypes - so it existed before production - and it is possible they give that a try to make the car more stable at speed, or add some down force to dampen the high speed vibration. I didn't notice that being in the films - so I'll have to go back and look again.

The rear window defrosters were always a part of the plan - it is possible that Nissan's supplier simply didn't get them delivered in time to get them on the first few cars. Likewise the full carpet sets. Lots of interesting small details on the 69 production cars.

Wait ~ you've got me confused.
You first said these test cars were #004 and 005, then you named them 005 & 006. The 006 car became Bob Sharp's first racer, so you must have meant #004 & #005, right? And these two test cars were returned to the factory and probably destroyed by disassembly for examination of wear and function.

Or are my eggs scrambled?

(The rear spoiler can be seen in the carwash clip and in the one following it).

Yes - FOUR and FIVE... TEST CARS

It was late at night...

thanks frank - I EDITED my earlier POST..
Carl B.

It would be priceless to locate the photograph of the model who dented the roof of #6 in Toronto. Historical events occur in strange ways!!

Phil