oh yeah the math does work out that way doesn't it.

A web page I found on vin #'s.

http://www.300zx.cl/ga/300zx/images/ser ... %20Car.htm

_________________
Pat & Regina
Current Inventory
73 240Z Gray (in fostercare)
74 260Z White project car (back on the road)
74 260Z Brown triple webers
75 280 Z stroker
82 280ZX
91 300ZXTT
12 370Z Black

That appears to be the same VIN information found in the Black Dragon magazine. However, I know that at least the numbers for the 1981 280zx turbos are not accurate.

Being that the 81 280zxt was introduced mid-year (4/81 - 8/81) and was the first turbo model in the Z line, I've always felt that it should have some sort of collectibility other then as donors for first gen Z's LOL. Being that my Z was built in 8/81, I set forth several years ago to determine if my Z was possibly the last 1981 280zxt built. I wrote a program which read through the NISSAN FAST database looking for 1981 turbo VIN numbers.

In my "mining" of the FAST database I actually found that the 81 turbo's ran from VIN 600001 to 608101 and did not end with VIN 606102 as listed in most publications. Oddly enough that means exactly 8100 turbos were built in 1981.

However, that interesting fact was blown when I discovered another batch of 1,862 81 280zxt's with VIN numbers between 255015 and 279567

The earliest 600000 series turbo was manufactured in 2/81. However, manufacture of the early 255015 series VIN's actually started in 8/80. I wonder how many were test mules that never made it to market.

In addition to identifying VIN numbers, I also collected the various options of each Z. I was able to determine that for instance, only 1 81 280zxt was painted Regal Mist Poly (926) and only 1 was painted Med Gray Poly (720). There were only 2 81 280zxt's painted two tone silver over black (885).

A total of 1,420 81 280zxt's were painted two tone silver over blue (663 Diamond Mist Poly; 926 Regal Mist Poly), my personal favorite .

I think I have too much time on my hands....

_________________
Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

These are the highest VIN's reported to, or collected by me to date. Some are from people that did not want their personal data published publicly.



None that I have ever found for North American Z's. Only begining VIN's...
The 71 Model Year, that meet the 1971 Federal Safety Standards started at HLS30 21000. They had to change the steering wheel construction to make it collapse with less force.

FWIW,
Carl B.

Hi Phil
Have you ever found a 280ZX with a VIN of 255015 though 279567 - that you have verified it to be a "Turbo" with a Date Of Manufacture to match?

Interesting...
Carl B.

Surely, the factory kept log books. How long and where they kept them is the question.

I own a 1936 Old Town Canoe in disrepair. I can call them up today, give them the serial number from the keel, count the ribs of my boat and tell them which rib I need. They will pull the prints, make the rib, and send it to me. Some prints were lost in a factory fire but many, exist. I even got a copy of the original invoice from them!

Nissan must have kept something.

_________________
-Dave
76Z Turbo'd
72 In Progress---DONE!

Funny you should ask Carl. I ran into the owner of VIN JN1CZ04S2BX269676 a few years back. It is owned by Tonyw on zcar.com. It has a build date of 12/80 and is Thunder Black Poly with Gold Stripes (879).

The "C" in the 4th position of the VIN designate it as a turbo.

The inaccuracy of the Black Dragon VIN listing is what actually got me started on my quest when I noticed my VIN of 606859 was 757 higher then the last VIN listed in the catalog.

_________________
Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

HI Phil:
That is interesting. According to everything Nissan has published that I have seen - they did not start using the new 17 digit VIN numbers until March of 1981. 269676 would have been in the 12/80 production, but Nissan lists it as HS130 in 1980. The Model Identification Data Plate would have contained the info about color, options etc. So perhaps the FAST system ties the VIN to the Model I.D. info.

All this is one reason I started tracking VIN, Build Date, Original Engine Serial Numbers for the 240Z's decades ago. Nissan's published info was confusing at best and misleading at times. "Who? Us targeting the U.S. Market??? - - no way!"

FWIW,
Carl B.

People within Nissan Motors, years ago explained:
Because of Legal Liability... Nissan Motors keeps records only so long as required by law. The potential of records being used against them in U.S. Courts combined with the cost of storing paper records - simply makes it undesirable to retain records.

Many of the records that we did gain access to - was because individual Nissan Employees keep some of the records for historic research...

FWIW,
Carl B.

That makes sense Carl, especially given that they came over to the US as Datsun, not Nissan. I have heard this was at least partially due to their insecurity about placing their cars into the US market. Keeping that in mind, I see why they wanted to keep the records on the down low. Just in case the cars were miserable failures, and turned into Pintos or Corvairs, they would shred the build records and claim the 5th. Mr. K who?? 1960's Japanese business practice perhaps?

Looking at the cars with todays legal eye, you could see why they were timid. The wiring diagrams are inconsistent, the builds are inconsistent, parts were substituted with no supported documentation....and so on.

_________________
-Dave
76Z Turbo'd
72 In Progress---DONE!

(Yeah, they didn't know if these carz were gonna sell or not!!! )